El Salvador Take 2-day 3

Today was a difficult day. More people showed up than we anticipated with soooo much rain!! In fact, they were arriving by 8:00 before our slated start time at 9! We started early, even though we didn’t have all of the supplies or the interpreters. My Spanish is WAY better this time than it was 2 years ago!!! But I’m still so bad!! I can speak sentences but when they answer I struggle to understand! It’s so isolating!!! I am a woman of MANY words..and so struggling to communicate is very hard!! The people are kind tho, and they like to try to teach me..and I like to try to learn!!! Much laughter has been had these last 2 days between new friends who are teaching me to speak!!! Love and laughter are the absolute same in ANY language!!

Unbelievably, people stood around outside for HOURS today…in the rain…missing lunch…holding sleeping babies…chatting with friends and neighbors just to be seen!! Unfortunately, our pharmacist didn’t come…but the suitcases of medicine did…so trying to locate the medications I needed in a suitcase full of medicines with a Spanish name and directions in another language was a major challenge! It took a lot of time and some frustration trying to figure it out on the fly!! Thankfully many medications have similar names that we use in America! 

The patient challenges were also huge…I’ve had 3 patients with blood sugars over 450 in the last 24 hours. The story is the same. No money. No medicines. No resources. Because the water here makes them sick or gives them parasites, many drink coke and sugar laden “fruit juice.” There is no fresh water on the island and they buy little tiny 10 oz bags of water to drink. Or sugar. Many choose the sugar. Education takes a long time in one language at a time, but much longer if you go between two languages!! Thankfully the nutritionist came today as she has diagrams and lots of helpful information to teach them! They also fall into the information trap…much of their information comes from misguided friends and sometimes even medical providers that they see if they have enough money to get to the mainland. Most don’t have the funds to do that. It’s so hard to imagine what you do when your medical access is soooo limited! 

We saw many people with colds, stomach pains, headaches, and  joint pains. Most have tiny little flip flops here too…so foot pain and even arthritic changes are occurring due to bad foot wear! I wear a different pair of shoes every day to keep my feet from hurting…and today I felt guilty about that! 

The glasses are a hit again!! This lady wanted some for far vision! She tried on several pairs before she exclaimed AHHH SI!! She was thrilled to be able to see better than she did when she came!!

This crew heard there were reading glasses available and came in specifically for those! My old eyes depend so heavily on that resource that it is worth it a million times over JUST to see them so excited about being able to see close up again!! Such a simple, simple gift to give!

We see lots of kids and their moms and elderly women! There were quite a few men hanging around too, but I suspect that Dr Miller saw most of them!! Today I was also able to hand out some sweet little dresses made by a church group in my hometown! The girls loved them!! Monica interpreted for me this afternoon…her beautiful smile and heart inspires me as well!! She has a passion for these forgotten people and is giving her life to make theirs better too!!

We finished our last patients around 5:30 and then caught a ride on a mototaxi down the muddy roads to eat Pupusas…a national dish…at Sister Magdalena’s! HOWEVER…the roads were SOOO muddy…and our 6 bodies were so heavy that the taxi got stuck twice. Once I got out to help push 😳!! After that she decided she didn’t have the skill to drive us, so we walked the rest of the way!! The trash piles up in the streets cause there is no where for it to go!! Also the leaves fall down and they are huge…and mangos are always falling…and rotting!! It made a quite a mess!! 

We had to deliver some eye drops to the little girl I diagnosed with an eye infection yesterday while visiting Luis…the boy with cerebral palsy. Her eye looked much worse today…so I was glad we were able to get back to her!! I picked out and  brought her a little pink dress from my stash that she loved! After I showed her grandpa how to put the drops in, she jumped off his lap and gave me the biggest, tightest, life-giving hug I have ever received from a 6 year old!! “Te amo…y Jesus te ama también” I whispered in her ear!! I love you and so does Jesus!! I’ll not soon forget her precious little face and soul!

When we got to Magdalena’s house, the girls picked some mangoes off the tree for us to eat!! Monica and I each ate two!! They are out of this world good!! The girls were trying to catch them in their hands before they hit the ground! They weren’t very good at it! Haha, but they sure were giggling!

As we sat, exhausted at the table tonight…devouring cheese and meat filled pupusas…the chickens were roosting 6 inches away on the ledges and the chairs…the dogs were running around in the patio under our feet…stories were being passed around…partly in Spanish and partly in English…and some Spanish and English spoken in the same sentence!! It was a sweet time of fellowship…and a reminder that one day, we will all be together!!! Gods children from US…from El Salvador…and from all the corners of the earth!! We will all understand one another in speech! For now, we will continue to understand one another with a hug, knuckles, an eyebrow raise, a wink, or a big belly laugh!! God made us all…in His image…for His glory! Today, despite the overwhelming tasks at hand…the hard truths of an unfair system and unfair circumstances…and wondering how THIS could be enough…I found myself camping on the goodness of God…that He orchestrated all the things about our encounters today…for a reason…because He has a purpose. It was ultimately impacting to my core. May He protect the words spoken in His name today…and that He would fulfill His purpose through them!! 

Tomorrow our whole team will be together!! It will still be raining…but it is another day that the Lord has made…and we WILL rejoice and be glad in it! Praying that the surgeries will go forward as planned since there wasn’t the manpower to do them today! That the dental work will go forward as well…that service is soo needed here!! And that people would continue to come forward with their families physical needs and that God would show us their spiritual needs at the same time!!

Dios te bendiga!

God bless you!