February 1, 2010

Weekend Update

We went a few days without an entry.  Here is the update for the past few days.

Wednesday: We went from house to house doing nutritional assessments and administering vaccinations.  We gained a better idea of the living conditions around Las Salinas, the area served by a public clinic.

Thursday: We delivered our 2nd part of a refresher first aid course.  This time, we covered CPR.
 
We even made our own CPR dummy, as Josh explains.



Friday: We started the day viewing surgeries in Rivas. First I saw above-knee diabetic leg amputation.   Then I took a tour around the hospital.  It's a public hospital and Sukhi mentioned the large difference in between public hospitals and private hospitals.  Private hospitals are much more well equipped, but don't have nearly the patient load of the public hospitals.  Public hospitals are free and are seemingly always full. After the tour I saw a woman give birth. It began vaginally, but became a C-section when the baby's heart rate dropped and the woman grew tired of pushing. Thankfully, the baby was ok. It's a boy!

Then, we took a trip to the island of Ometepe for some hot volcanic hiking action.

Statue in Rivas:

We arrive in Ometepe, in time for full moon beach photos.


Saturday: We hike up to the mountain and get plenty muddy on the way up.  Ask Boramee how the way down went (hint: there's even more mud involved)
Sunday: We leave back for Limon, prepared for another week of awesomeness.

5 comments:

MSU CHM Saginaw said...

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for the great pics and video. I LOVE Annie. Super smart. Good luck heading to your next adventure in CR.

Unknown said...

Yay! Gotta love your blogs :) So, thank you ´cause in all my life I´ve never been enlightened by the amount of functions that a plastic coke bottle may have until I met your group :P (coke bottles for beer goggles, coke bottles for imitation of lungs, coke bottles to create lovely Annie...wonder what´s next...)

Anonymous said...

you are just awesome---i am so proud of you--you are creative, enthusiastic, accomplished and just the best darned people! you make MSU CHM proud!!!!!! thank you for all of your hard work, embracing your assignment, and setting the bar at a new height! Hug and be safe!

Anonymous said...

Annie is tres cool and very MacGyver. Thanks for the blogs and the great work.

Cheers,

Aron Sousa

Anonymous said...

This is fantastic, you guys! I'm so impressed by your ingenuity with your CPR dummy. I hope your work continues to be meaningful and that you learn a great deal as you touch the lives of the people with whom you are working. Thoughts and prayers are with you as you continue your work down in Central America!

Laura Hoffelt

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