Reports from Ecuador

FYI: Given the unreliable internet situation, Lila and I have decided to split up blogging responsibilities so that our entries do not overlap.  To read about our experience in its entirety, visit ecuador.blogs.rice.edu.  Thanks for reading!

Wednesday marked our first day back in Planchaloma and another medical brigade to Yugsiche Alto. This time we were accompanied by Maria Alicia, Monica, a gynecologist at the clinic, and Don Juan, another health promoter from Planchaloma. When our truck pulled up to the school, we were greeted by a mass of smiling kids running up to greet and hug us. They even remembered our names! Once we got them to settle down a bit, Maria Alicia reviewed with the kids and parents what Lila and I had taught them the last week about hand hygiene and recycling. And they did very well on their little quiz! They remembered the important points that we covered the in our lesson week before. This is great news for Lila and me: our ‘charlitas’ with the kids are a success! The kids are actually learning and retaining the knowledge that we give them. Now, we just hope that they are using it as well.

During the brigade, the doctors from the clinic, including Lorena and Monica, took every child’s height and weight. Sandra, a health promoter in training, sat behind a small table and gave the kids bottles of multivitamins. Monica also gave all of the kids de-parasiting pills, which essentially will detox them of all the parasites that linger in their bodies and could potentially cause them extreme harm. Lila showed the ever-curious kids all of the devices in the backpack and how they worked. She also took care of various cuts, scrapes, and burns that the kids complained to her about by using the First Aid items in the CHO pack. After the wounds were taken care of, the kids found serious interest in Sally, which she demonstrated to them and let them take turns pushing the button for the allotted 10 minutes. I had most, if not all, of the adults ask me to take their blood pressure and glucose, a few of them telling me they were concerned about their health because of diabetes. I used the glucometer, test strips and antiseptic wipes from the Lab-in-a-Backpack to test their blood glucose levels and also used the blood pressure cuff from this backpack. There were no more lancets in the Lab-in-a-Backpack, so I used the ones from the CHO pack. I tested over 25 people and of these, one woman had a glucose level of 319. This is extremely high, given that normal is between 80 and 120. When I told her this, she said she knew that she has diabetes and has painful headaches all of the time. I asked her if she had medicine for this or if she had even been to the clinic to see a doctor about her condition. She responded no because she didn’t know that they could help her or give her medicine.

The kids using Lila´s Sally Centrifuge

After the brigade, the teacher and parents expressed their thanks to us and the doctors and health promoters that had done so much for them. In particular, the woman whom I had spoken to about her serious condition stood up and said that, if not for this brigade, she would never have known that anyone could help her, let alone give her medicine to help get her condition under control. She, along with other families, declared that they would be visiting the clinic in Planchaloma very soon.

The kids curiously watching as I take their teacher´s blood pressure

Once back at the clinic, Maria Alicia thought it would be a good idea for me to teach everyone who works at the clinic how to use the glucometer. It is a very simple machine to use and they caught on quickly. Now the health promoters as well as the doctors can use it for patients. Also, after seeing me use the blood pressure cuff on the patients in the clinic one day, Marta asked me if it was easy and if I could teach her how to use it. So, this next technology lesson will hopefully take place tomorrow, in which I will teach the health promoters in Planchaloma how to use and read the blood pressure cuff.