Delivering rice & beans in Arizona, Belize
Organizing rice & beans at the mission
Well-child check-ups at the Good Samaritan Clinic, Roaring Creek, Belize
Good Samaritan Clinic where we worked for 7 days
Clinic 'pharmacy'
Check-in
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Hola!
MSD: This morning I am sitting here surrounded by the smell of fried bread and bananas! mmm... We will open the doors to the clinic in an hour.
Every morning we begin our day with groups of families (mostly women and their children) sitting outside the clinic doors.
After organizing our med room and deciding which faculty we will work with, the busy morning begins.
With the help of Mrs. O, Mrs. Ritchie, and my mother, I have assessed patients anywhere from 16months to 68years old. I have been challenged to gather complete histories that are sometimes difficult to obtain. However, with the great support of intelligent nursing minds, including every student, I believe I have grown in my confidence. These are experiences I never could have had if I hadn't had this opportunity.
As a BSN student, I feel I have learned the difficulties and responsibilities an APN must deal with every day. I have a new found respect for their role.
I have also learned how to link symptoms and social histories together in order to discover a diagnosis. Communicating with the others in the clinic has added to my knowledge-adding perspectives that i might have missedwhen discussing treatments.
I feel I have grown in confidence and knowledge as a nursing student. Thank you everyone at UAMS for supporting this once-in-a-lifetime experience for us.
Dona: Just wanted to share about our journey into the community yesterday. After our morning in the Good Samaritan Clinic, our students boarded the ministry's bus (literally a school bus) and traveled to a nearby community called Tea Kettle where there is special need for outreach and resources. The students hopped off the bus at intervals and walked down the hot, dusty dirt road handing out bags of rice and beans that they had purchased and sacked earlier that morning. This was a moving experience for them; seeing many large families living in small makeshift homes of cement and tin, grateful for the food and attention. The students expressed mixed emotion at the beauty of the landscape (lush greenery, palm trees, vibrantly colored hibiscus and bird of paradise growing wild in the hillsides) and the beauty of the children's smiles and the poverty of their living situation.
This led into our post conference last night as we discussed everything from their improving assessment and interview skills to the influence of local culture in the larger context ofpoverty. The students expressed many ideas about possible solutions and the need for hope and the importance of community-wide programs to bring about positive change.
This is one great group of BSN nursing students. They represent UAMS incredibly well. They are the future of nursing and we are in good hands. I am so blessed as an instructor to share this time with them!
Every morning we begin our day with groups of families (mostly women and their children) sitting outside the clinic doors.
After organizing our med room and deciding which faculty we will work with, the busy morning begins.
With the help of Mrs. O, Mrs. Ritchie, and my mother, I have assessed patients anywhere from 16months to 68years old. I have been challenged to gather complete histories that are sometimes difficult to obtain. However, with the great support of intelligent nursing minds, including every student, I believe I have grown in my confidence. These are experiences I never could have had if I hadn't had this opportunity.
As a BSN student, I feel I have learned the difficulties and responsibilities an APN must deal with every day. I have a new found respect for their role.
I have also learned how to link symptoms and social histories together in order to discover a diagnosis. Communicating with the others in the clinic has added to my knowledge-adding perspectives that i might have missedwhen discussing treatments.
I feel I have grown in confidence and knowledge as a nursing student. Thank you everyone at UAMS for supporting this once-in-a-lifetime experience for us.
Dona: Just wanted to share about our journey into the community yesterday. After our morning in the Good Samaritan Clinic, our students boarded the ministry's bus (literally a school bus) and traveled to a nearby community called Tea Kettle where there is special need for outreach and resources. The students hopped off the bus at intervals and walked down the hot, dusty dirt road handing out bags of rice and beans that they had purchased and sacked earlier that morning. This was a moving experience for them; seeing many large families living in small makeshift homes of cement and tin, grateful for the food and attention. The students expressed mixed emotion at the beauty of the landscape (lush greenery, palm trees, vibrantly colored hibiscus and bird of paradise growing wild in the hillsides) and the beauty of the children's smiles and the poverty of their living situation.
This led into our post conference last night as we discussed everything from their improving assessment and interview skills to the influence of local culture in the larger context ofpoverty. The students expressed many ideas about possible solutions and the need for hope and the importance of community-wide programs to bring about positive change.
This is one great group of BSN nursing students. They represent UAMS incredibly well. They are the future of nursing and we are in good hands. I am so blessed as an instructor to share this time with them!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Hello from Linda Ochterbeck
Greetings from Belize. Thought I'd write to tell you all about the incredible experiences we are having here in Belize at the Roaring Creek mission in Belmopan, Belize.
My first impression of Belize is that we have no poverty in the U.S. as compared to Belize. There is massive unemployment opportunity, lack of medical care, poor sanitation, drugs, alcohol abuse, dog fighting, abuse of women and children, and I could go on. The people we have met, however, have been wonderful, grateful, kind and sincere.
This is a very matriarchal society---in clinic we have seen many families, usually consisting of grandmother, mother, and usually several children. We have seen very few men in the clinic.
Most of the mothers in Belize breast feed--which is a good thing, because most people don't have enough money for formula, and the water would most likely be contaminated. The mothers of Belize would make excellent lactation consultants.
Today was our second day in the clinic---people do not make appointments--they just show up.
Many of the cases we have seen have included pregnant women, we've done lots of ultrasounds and listened to fetal heart tones and seen baby's miraculous heart beating on the ultrasound. One thing I've noticed about the mothers of Belize is how universal a mother's love is for a child.
We have requested our patients to allow us to take pictures, and they always have responded with an enthusiastic "yes"--and they proceed to straighten the baby's clothes, smooth his hair, and wipe his face. The children of Belize are absolutely beautiful, also very kind, polite, and well-mannered.
Other cases we have treated include intestinal parasites, rashes, fungal infections, urinary tract infections, cellulitis of an abscessed leg wound, impetigo, diabetes, and miscellaneous "cough due to cold", well baby checks, and much more. The people we have seen have been profoundly grateful for the care they are given.
Our UAMS students here in Belize have been absolutely INCREDIBLE. The faculty here, including Susan Ritchie, Dona Dorman, and myself have been so proud of all of them. The rest of the UAMS faculty should also be proud--they have shown initiative, done excellent assessments, made many recommendations re: treatment, presented their patients to the faculty for our supervision, and handled the challenges of providing medical care in a third world country with professionalism and grace.
Have I told you it's hot here? And it's not a "dry heat?" All of us are doing amazing well with the heat, and staying well hydrated.
We have also had many incredible "off duty" adventures, which I'm sure you've read about in the student blogs....horseback riding in the Belizean rainforest, a visit to a beautiful Mennonite settlement, and had ice cream there at a store which was AIR CONDITIONED, we all thought we had died and went to heaven. Today we went to a local outdoor marked, where we shopped for vegetables, which we are craving, and also bought some clothes and toys for the children. Many of the children here do not have shoes, and thus develop intestinal parasites, such as pinworms. The mothers of Belize routinely "worm their children" once every six months.
We are experiencing culture shock, but every day gets easier and better in every way.
God bless all of you, and a huge thanks to UAMS for providing this wonderful opportunity for our students, and our faculty.
My first impression of Belize is that we have no poverty in the U.S. as compared to Belize. There is massive unemployment opportunity, lack of medical care, poor sanitation, drugs, alcohol abuse, dog fighting, abuse of women and children, and I could go on. The people we have met, however, have been wonderful, grateful, kind and sincere.
This is a very matriarchal society---in clinic we have seen many families, usually consisting of grandmother, mother, and usually several children. We have seen very few men in the clinic.
Most of the mothers in Belize breast feed--which is a good thing, because most people don't have enough money for formula, and the water would most likely be contaminated. The mothers of Belize would make excellent lactation consultants.
Today was our second day in the clinic---people do not make appointments--they just show up.
Many of the cases we have seen have included pregnant women, we've done lots of ultrasounds and listened to fetal heart tones and seen baby's miraculous heart beating on the ultrasound. One thing I've noticed about the mothers of Belize is how universal a mother's love is for a child.
We have requested our patients to allow us to take pictures, and they always have responded with an enthusiastic "yes"--and they proceed to straighten the baby's clothes, smooth his hair, and wipe his face. The children of Belize are absolutely beautiful, also very kind, polite, and well-mannered.
Other cases we have treated include intestinal parasites, rashes, fungal infections, urinary tract infections, cellulitis of an abscessed leg wound, impetigo, diabetes, and miscellaneous "cough due to cold", well baby checks, and much more. The people we have seen have been profoundly grateful for the care they are given.
Our UAMS students here in Belize have been absolutely INCREDIBLE. The faculty here, including Susan Ritchie, Dona Dorman, and myself have been so proud of all of them. The rest of the UAMS faculty should also be proud--they have shown initiative, done excellent assessments, made many recommendations re: treatment, presented their patients to the faculty for our supervision, and handled the challenges of providing medical care in a third world country with professionalism and grace.
Have I told you it's hot here? And it's not a "dry heat?" All of us are doing amazing well with the heat, and staying well hydrated.
We have also had many incredible "off duty" adventures, which I'm sure you've read about in the student blogs....horseback riding in the Belizean rainforest, a visit to a beautiful Mennonite settlement, and had ice cream there at a store which was AIR CONDITIONED, we all thought we had died and went to heaven. Today we went to a local outdoor marked, where we shopped for vegetables, which we are craving, and also bought some clothes and toys for the children. Many of the children here do not have shoes, and thus develop intestinal parasites, such as pinworms. The mothers of Belize routinely "worm their children" once every six months.
We are experiencing culture shock, but every day gets easier and better in every way.
God bless all of you, and a huge thanks to UAMS for providing this wonderful opportunity for our students, and our faculty.
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Belizean Amazingness (if that's a word)
Lisa: Day One--We arrived in Belize City safe and sound...no one's luggage was missing and we didn't get lost or anything. The flight from Houston to Belize City took about two hours. Once we arrived Joel, Damaris and Brian, the wonderful folks from the mission picked us up and took out to eat and then gave us a brief tour of Belmopan. One of our first visits was to the swinging bridge which was in one word AMAZING! Below the bridge ran the Mopan river which looked a tad scary...current was very fast and the river was a long ways away from the bridge. One of the most intimidating parts of the bridge was the distance between the slats and the fact that it was missing some of the side railing...oh and did I mention it was a SWINGING bridge, so it wasn't very stable and having a little boy (Brian) run across it while you're trying not to fall through the slats was pretty nerve racking. Any who, while on the bridge we had the wonderful opportunity of seeing some of natures most beautiful creatures including some parrots and two howler monkeys! Oh and a tarantula too!! After that we finally went back to Uriah, the compound (mission) were we're stationed for the week...we set up our so cool mosquitoes nets and went to sleep!
Day two: After a somewhat eventful Saturday... I woke up at the crack of dawn (or at least it seemed that way) and decided to shower and get ready for the day. We are very fortunate to have a great cook, Yvette...she cooks the best food ever...we had some Jacks that are something like fried bread and are wonderfully delicious. After that we had adult Sunday school and got the opportunity to meet some of the Belizean locals...they were are very nice and happy to have us here. And since we cannot have a day without an adventure we were taken horseback riding that's not the coolest part of all...we went through the jungle...we got to see some amazing sights and heard some pretty cool sounds... this was all great up until we got to the dreaded mud slide and my horse Bonjo freaked and sort of rammed my leg into a tree and then caught his head on a dry, thorny vine and well being the animal lover that I am I grabbed the vine and stuck my fingers (which are still hurting today). Well, finally one of the horse pros came and saved me and my horse and finally we went down the mud slide and all was fine and dandy. Needless to say, we had an action filled Sunday...we ended or day with an evening church service and a wonderful Yvette dinner. By the end of the day we were dead tired and slept through the night.
Day three: So this morning we woke up to the wonderful sound of rain...and again to a wonderful breakfast...pancakes with homemade syrup, papaya and watermelon, and of course a cup of coffee. Today was the first day we held clinic and we saw a good number of patients with a variety of conditions...it was pretty awesome!!!! One lady came in with a lesion on her leg that looked pretty painful...so we got to clean it and then numbed it Lidocaine and then Mary Shannon drained it. Pretty cool stuff...we took a break at noon for a quick bite and then went back...to reward our hard work we went to Spanish Lookout, a Mennonite village for some delicious ice cream...it was deliciosa! Any who, I have people wanting to use the Internet so I guess I will quit being a hog... I will come back on here and give another update soon.
Signing off...Lisa
Day two: After a somewhat eventful Saturday... I woke up at the crack of dawn (or at least it seemed that way) and decided to shower and get ready for the day. We are very fortunate to have a great cook, Yvette...she cooks the best food ever...we had some Jacks that are something like fried bread and are wonderfully delicious. After that we had adult Sunday school and got the opportunity to meet some of the Belizean locals...they were are very nice and happy to have us here. And since we cannot have a day without an adventure we were taken horseback riding that's not the coolest part of all...we went through the jungle...we got to see some amazing sights and heard some pretty cool sounds... this was all great up until we got to the dreaded mud slide and my horse Bonjo freaked and sort of rammed my leg into a tree and then caught his head on a dry, thorny vine and well being the animal lover that I am I grabbed the vine and stuck my fingers (which are still hurting today). Well, finally one of the horse pros came and saved me and my horse and finally we went down the mud slide and all was fine and dandy. Needless to say, we had an action filled Sunday...we ended or day with an evening church service and a wonderful Yvette dinner. By the end of the day we were dead tired and slept through the night.
Day three: So this morning we woke up to the wonderful sound of rain...and again to a wonderful breakfast...pancakes with homemade syrup, papaya and watermelon, and of course a cup of coffee. Today was the first day we held clinic and we saw a good number of patients with a variety of conditions...it was pretty awesome!!!! One lady came in with a lesion on her leg that looked pretty painful...so we got to clean it and then numbed it Lidocaine and then Mary Shannon drained it. Pretty cool stuff...we took a break at noon for a quick bite and then went back...to reward our hard work we went to Spanish Lookout, a Mennonite village for some delicious ice cream...it was deliciosa! Any who, I have people wanting to use the Internet so I guess I will quit being a hog... I will come back on here and give another update soon.
Signing off...Lisa
Sunday, August 3, 2008
A spectacular day!--according to Brian
Paige: Well, we just returned from horseback riding through the jungle. It was great!! I had a brown horse called Sampson. He took great care of me...we went a little on the slow side, but I definitely didn't mind. We went down a few steep muddy hills. One of which I was pretty sure I was going to fly over the top of Sampson's head because his hoof got caught on a root. It was a tad scary...but it was a great experience. So far everyone has been so nice and grateful that we're hear to help. Since we arrived yesterday, we have been taking it easy. We got a short tour of Belmopan by Joel, Damaris and Brian. We went to a wooden swinging bridge which I wasn't really comfortable going across, but I eventually made it halfway. The spaces between the slats were at least a few inches wide! And, with Brian running across it, it was definitely swinging to its limits. Before we went on the bridge, Lisa and I almost stepped on a tarantula...but I got pictures! We made it to the middle (almost) and came back, but then we were told that there were parrots up in the trees and we needed to come back to the middle to see them. So we slowly edged back to the middle and...we couldn't see the parrots so we went back to the end. Well, then they called us back because there were monkeys in the tree! So again, we went back to the middle. We DID see the monkeys and I took a few good pictures. Unfortunately, we don't have any of the pictures up yet because the computer is slow with downloading. But, we hope to get some up soon.
Well, it's dinner time here so we gotta go...the cook, Yvette, is the best! Love you all!
Well, it's dinner time here so we gotta go...the cook, Yvette, is the best! Love you all!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Arrival!
Mary Shannon: Well, we arrived safe and sound. No traveling hitches thankfully! Though I had been informed of Belize's landscape, climate, etc, it was still odd to descend from the clouds without any view of a tall building or industrial park. Instead of the ground being peppered with identical suburbs, there was an endless view of trees, ponds, creeks, and dirt roads.
Joel and "D" (as I call her since I cannot pronounce her name) from the ministry picked up us in an old white van with a trailer attached for our luggage. With the windows down to let in the breeze and fight off the heat, we set off towards the capital Belmopan.With them was a 14-year old boy named Brian who reminds me a lot of my cousin. He is from Roaring Creek Village and lives with Joel and D. He is a fun kid, but he keeps threatening to attack me with water balloons when I a least expecting it...
Everyone we have come in contact with speaks English so far, including store owners, and people we've run into in th street. My Dad was a little shocked when I revealed to him our first lunch spot was Cheers (however, its quote was, "-with a tropical twist"). It was open air and filled with other tourists, including a large group from what I'd guess was European.
The ministry compound is very nice. When we arrived we eight had the choice of splitting among three small cabanas, each with two bunk beds and a fan :).
The compound also includes a small church, learning center, the clinic, bath house, kitchen/dining house,and a set of small dorms.
Evette, the cook, is every bit of the good cook we had heard about. Last night we had chicken, rice, and fried plantains.
After settling in, 'D' took us her to her Dads house. (She is from Roaring Creek and was one of the sponsored children from the ministry. She is 19 now, and very witty and a great help to us. She and Joel married nine months ago after two years of dating. Joel is originally from TX and moved down here to help about three years ago).
Her parent's home was truly Belizean. Her Dad had landscaped their yard with all types of flowers and fruit trees . Together they created a nice amount of shade, and a pleasant honeysuckle smell from a tree I cannot pronounce.
Then, Joel and D took us on a small driving tour of Belmopan (about a four-minute drive from the clinic). I was amazed by the lack of what I'd consider for the capital of a country. It was mostly all dirt roads, covered by small shops and makeshift homes. Ironically, the one large compound surrounded by a concrete fortress, with a parking lot full of nice cars was the United States Embassy...
Joel and D also brought us to the place he proposed to her-a swinging bridge over Roaring Creek. Through the fog of acute motion sickness, I saw a flock of parrots flying overhead, and monkeys resting in the trees.
After dinner we mostly unpacked and settled in.
Well everyone, we will try to keep you up-to-date. The computers have been a little difficult, but are working (I am currently on a child's laptop so I apologize for all the misspellings and such-will just have to fix it later...)
love you all-miss you all.
MSD
Beth: we're in belize! we had a great day yeterday, but this morning has been what i've enjoyed most so far. we woke to a cool breeze and the faint smell of something deliccious in the air. yvette made some wonderful fried bread treats for breakfast--along with eggs, beans, and freshly sliced watermelon. yummmm...not a bad way to start the day. plans for the day include church this morning, somethimng tasty for lunch, and then horseback riding this afternoon! if we can keep this breeze and the few clouds in the sky, it should be a pretty great day!
more soon!
love, beth
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