September

Update on changes...

• Cindy, the PT, and I have been eating lunch together in the cafeteria so I am learning my food terms a little better. It has been nice to have someone else to talk to and her family is very nice.
• I have been spending many afternoons, after work, with Jenny. We go grab some food or run errands, or go to the Wednesday movie showing.
• The puppies have all been delivered to their new homes. They were fun to have but they will be well cared for.
• Gaby will be having a girl in December!
• I went rafting the other weekend, which is always a fabulous time. One of the nurses asked if I wanted to go, cause they needed more people so I joined her family for the trip. It was fun and this time we stopped in a little canyon and got our faces painted with different colors of mud.
• Work continues to be pretty busy, unless it is raining hard. The hard rain is nothing like it was when I got here though. It is now hot for much of the day. The windy season has ended.
• At the beginning of each school year the parents have a meeting with the teacher to decide what they are all going to chip in and buy for the classroom.
• The garbage truck plays music as it picks up the trash each day. The music is a song adapted to sing about the mayor.
• A popular drink here is gelatin. Think jell-o that is not ready to be finger jello but is on its way.
• Many kids here are forced to grow up fast! There are little kids that help out at their parents´store, young moms taking care of their own kids, and little ones taking care of their siblings. Their is an 8 year old that brings her 2 year old sister in for therapy each week.
• There are a number of kids who are having seizures during their therapy time, so we can only imagine how they are doing at home. They are encouraged to go see the doctor and the need for medication is re-inforced. I recently had to explain to a mother that her son has to continue taking meds until the doctor makes a change. She had stopped giving him his anti seizure meds because the seizures had stopped. I explained that it was because the meds were working!
• Unfortunately, many of the school aged children that come into the clinic, do not attend school. Sometimes it is because they did not realize that their child was capable, other times because there is not a location close to where they live. We were able to catch a few before the school year started this year and get them signed up. It is hard to see this situation, especially when there is so much potential and school is where a kid needs to be!
• Here I am considered blonde...not because I act like a blonde, thank you. Everyone else just has much darker hair.

Life as of Late

We have had soccer games about once a week and it ends this week. I have been able to score a couple goals!

The puppies are getting big and fluffy. They now leave their little area and wander around but still do some crying. They are really cute though. (So is the mouse that is in my room as I am writing this – but I do not want it there. I cannot say I am surprised though because there are rat races on the roof every night!) - turns out they are bats!

Last weekend we made a home visit to a patient in order to deliver his adapted chair. It was interesting to see the way his mom brings him into therapy every week. They almost never miss a session. We took a bus ride lasting about an hour, then caught a 10 minute canoe ride, and then walked for about 10 minutes to get to the house. It is shared by 10 people total. There was one building that was all bedrooms and a separate building for the kitchen. The stairs were narrow and steep and the 3 year old patient had fallen off them a number of times. The chair will provide the patient with a safe place to sit for meals in the kitchen that is not separate from the family and a place to play seated. On our way back we stopped at another house to visit a baby recently given to another family. There are already 7 children in the family. The rooms were big open cement rooms. There was one bedroom for everyone with 3 queen size beds. Neither of the houses we visited had bathrooms but I do believe there was a latrine at least at one.

The other day, someone came in at work and handed me a note from the doctor. I thought I had done a fine job answering the question in Spanish and providing the needed information. The woman continued to stand there though she had nodded as I spoke. Then the mother of the patient with whom I was working explained everything to the visitor in Kichwa. That, I do not know…though I am learning some words!

Something I do not understand is the use of cat calls in Latin America. I remember them bothering me in Nicaragua and luckily they are not as frequent here, but they bug me. Everyone says that you should ignore them as they are just bad mannered people. It is hard to not snap though because I do not know that silence is helping either.

Friday was the last day for some people at work. Kevin gave his last educational PT presentation and is off to continue his 2 year journey with Andrea. Pamela finished her 6 month school placement. Jenny has to work later at the school this year so she will not be able to spend afternoons at PediHabilidad anymore. Today, Cindy who is a PT from Canada, starts. She has come with her husband, who is from Ecuador, and 2 kids. The students who we thought were coming have decided on a different location due to some issues with housing. Lots of changes!