Translated by Joanna Cheng

 

 

Despite the small classroom, more than one hundred crammed into the room. “Señor!” An old woman clasped my hand, told me she suffered from high blood pressure and did not want to wait inside. I looked at her white hair and pushed away some chairs and tables, which were used as barriers to contain the crowd, to let the old woman through. Just as she stood up, a whole mass of people began to move forward as well; one held my left hand saying his foot hurt, another on my right told me she had 2 children at home, waiting for her return to cook for them. There were ones with stomache cramps, eye sores, knee pains. I could only use my own body to shield the old woman from the pressing crowd and let her pass. Facing the agitated crowd on the verge of breaking out in disorder, I shouted, “Siéntase!”

 

Don’t worry, the chaotic scene I had just described was one of the rare moments during the medical mission. Throughout the entire mission, I had learnt a lot about the process flow for registration and was able to make it run more and more smoothly each time. In oversea missions, the most important part of registration is to ensure that the patients are kept in an orderly manner for the doctors, by systematically measure the blood pressure, body temperature and weight of the patients. In Honduras, registration was divided into 3 groups: 1) information group, where local health authority staff helped with filling out each patient’s basic details, 2) measurement group, where body weight and temperature, and blood pressure are taken, and 3) reception group, where patients are systematically and orderly led to each doctor for diagnosis and treatment. Having tried out other methods of the registration process, we finally settled upon the one just described and was able to run through nearly 900 patients in 1 day, with hardly any trouble or disturbances. For me, participating in the registration process provided me the valuable opportunity to learn, and to actually put into practice, management; something that cannot be learned from school.

 

 Chris and Huey-chun(right) work at the register.

 

I had learnt Spanish in high school, so I was able to chat with some patients and listen to their stories, which was one of the most memorable experiences for me. Let me tell 3 of the more unforgettable stories:

In Panama, I had the opportunity to chat with 2 of the local policemen who were assigned to accompany our volunteer team for security measures, and we talked about the local health needs. The policemen told me, “Actually, Panama does not lack doctors. We are a lot wealthier compared to other Central American countries. The real problem is that the doctors are unwilling to go to the rural areas and provide medical care. As a result, the doctors are all concentrated in the cities, so that a sick person is obliged to travel into a city to see a doctor. Also, the treatments are not free! I’m a policeman, so my income is better than most working people, but most of my salary is spent on my children, and other living expenses. With hardly anything money left over, even I’m not that keen on seeking medical treatments, so do you think others are?”

 

Chatting with a woman holding her child in Nicaragua, I asked her when she had left her house to come see us. She replied, “Early this morning when it was still dark! I live in another county and it’s about 5 hours’ walk to get here. Obviously it’s faster if we get a lift from someone, but we’re not always that lucky! The vehicles only travel on the big roads, but not everyone is willing, or able, to give us a lift. My child was already feeling feverish last night, and luckily we heard the broadcast about your activity today. We left our house so early because if we had missed seeing your doctors, I do not know how long we would have to wait to see another doctor!”

 

 

Finally, in one of the villages in the mountains in southern Honduras, a staff of the local health department told me, “There are no doctors in this village, only a midwife. In fact, there no doctors in the surrounding villages either, the nearest one is in Nacaome, a city that is about 1 hours’ drive away from here. Patients will need to somehow go to the city if they want to get medical treatment. It sounds simple enough, but dengue fever is a common disease here, and when a person gets the fever, do you think he will still have the strength to travel to the city (Note 1)? The fever is actually a huge problem here, especially for babies. Not only do we lack doctors, even the most common anti-inflammatory and anti-fever drugs are barely available. If you walk further up the mountain, the infant mortality rate is really high there. A lot of the times, a life is taken because the fever cannot be reduced. Today, you see a lot old people coming to see your doctors. The truth is, many of them think this is their last time seeing a doctor.”

 

Having heard these words, I glanced at our boxes containing medicine. Underneath the brilliant blue afternoon sky, I couldn’t help but think, “Central American, we have finally made it here!”

 

Note 1: Although transportation into the city is available, it is often infrequent and requires payment; so if the matter is not urgent, most people choose to walk to the city. (end)