the one in Belize.

CAUTION: extremely long post ahead - but pictures are included to keep your interest!

Sometime between the months March, April and May last year my friend Laura came up to me with an idea.  The idea of going to Belize for two weeks on an International Service Learning trip.  On this trip we would provide health care to women and children in remote communities.  We were stoked and all we needed was to ask our parents.  We get all the information together, ask our parents & through some convincing, they said yes!  The only other issue was money.  It was a little pricy but we figure it would be worth it.  ISL gave us the idea of sponsorships, so like asking your neighbors, friends, parent's friends if they would like to sponsor/support me on this trip.  Seriously, it was the Lord's blessing.  If it wasn't money, it was prayers.  (and not to mention, my trip was 80% paid for from all of my loving friends & neighbors).

So again, this is a very long post, but for the record I am keeping an insane amount of detail out for the sake of time.  I sent a detailed thank you to all those who sponsored my trip in a way to share & show them how their money was used -- so Im taking most of my post from that sponsorship thank you letter.

Funny quick story:  The fella working the Immigration booth and I started up a conversation leading to where I went to school.  I told him NCSU and he immediately held up the Wolfpack hand gesture!  I was so excited!

Our first meal EVER in Belize.

It came from old buckets filled with chicken, rice & beans.

Served to us via super small spoon // their hands. (eeekk!)

On the drive from the airport to the guesthouse, as I stared outside the super cramped, beat up van I knew that I wanted to remember everything that I was about to take in on this medical service trip.  I wanted to forever remember my first sights and feelings of this already seemingly different country.  The word “broken” kept coming to my mind.  The roads had no boundaries and randomly drifted into gravel and weeds.  It seemed as though none of the houses had any foundations, windows or doors to fit their frames and the same was true for the buildings.   I felt like all the buildings were three-fourths of the way complete but never fully finished even though I am sure they were as complete as they would ever be.  At the point I was way nervous but extremely intrigued to learn how other people in different countries and cultures lived and worked.  

However, we stuck out like a sore thumb as we shacked up in this place for our two weeks! :)

On our first full day of work, our group of 11 girls ranging from freshman in college to third year medical students, spent the day learning what I like to call  “Belizean Health 101” from our leader, Rose, and a Cuban doctor.   We learned about the undesirable conditions in which the Belizean communities live everyday.  Some of the things that were first taught to us were; Tylenol is something that is very rare and considered as valuable as money in most communities.  We learned that the kids who didn’t have worms were very, very lucky but more than likely the symptoms had not added up to a full diagnosis yet.  We spent the entire day learning about how to interact with the patients, how to give a physical exam, how to check glucose, how to perform a Pap smear and also how to speak “medical Spanish”.  It was a lot to take it but considering all of the girls having a genuine interest in medicine (and some about to become doctors in a matter of months) it was easy to absorb and gave us energy for the next thirteen days.

The remainder of the trip was categorized as a “Wellness Day”, “Home Visits “ or a “Community Clinic”.  Wellness Days were arranged in large communities in the local church or simply the cleanest empty building we could find.  On these days, the word was spread fast that “American Doctors” were coming to provide free health care to those willing to show up.  Not that we are considered doctors but their health care is almost non-existent and anyone willing to show up to help out were considered “doctors”.   Our main focus group was pregnant women, young mothers and children.  We measured pregnant mother’s bellies to make sure the size of the fetus was growing at a healthy rate.  We cleaned up cuts on children and provided multi-vitamins.  We informed the mothers the importance of shoes on all the kids to prevent infections and parasite-related diseases.  We also informed all the adults on certain health risks such as diabetes and high blood pressure.  Rose told us that our purpose in Wellness Days were to show Belizean people our loving concern in them and also to plant “information seeds”, so that that seed will become fruit and scatter more seeds.  Rose would always say, “We must always leave our mark in each community and EDUCATE THESE PEOPLE!”  

We got a flat tire in our mini van one day. :(

Lunch one day.

We learned how to give patients shots via hot dogs!

People! This is what a cashew looks like!

Getting cokes were a huge deal!!

We learned how to suture via raw chicken!

Home Visits were exactly that.  Rose would find a community that seemed isolated from other communities to hold a clinic.  During Home Visits, all the girls were divided up and sent walking in thick wooded areas to find homes with either Rose, her husband or the Cuban doctor so that we remained safe and help guide our broken Spanish.  We had slips of paper with appointment times and the location of the clinic that we would hand out if there were any pregnant women, children and sick individuals in the household.  Before the household was given an appointment time, each group would ask about the family history and if all vaccinations and anti-parasite treatments were up to date.  This was one of the most humbling parts of the trip.  We were invited into these homes and got to see first hand how people of this country lived.  One of the different aspects I noticed was the mass amount of farm animals living in and around the homes.  I’m talking from cows to dogs to turkeys hanging out in the kitchen or under the mango tree.  Again, most homes did not have doors to close  which lead to an uncontrollable risk of mosquitoes and malaria is still a huge health concern in these areas.  Clotheslines hung from every branch to the stairs leading up to the living area.  Occasionally, there would be a radio and it was very rare for a television to be found in the homes (something you usually see in every room in America).  It is impossible for me to put in words on how to accurately describe these ‘broken’ communities but what really hit home for me was that every single person during these home visits was extremely happy.  I was constantly thinking, “How is it that I have honestly everything at my fingertips back at home and still find something to complain about when these people use sheeted cinderblocks for chairs?”  Seriously, I have never met such happy and welcoming people especially knowing that they are truly struggling to merely survive.  

It was at the Community Clinics where we really got to get our medical ‘feet wet’.  In an empty building, our group set up two triages to get medical histories and perform physical exams.  After those patients were triaged they were sent to get their vitals and glucose checked and the doctor would be presented with the patient’s information to help diagnosis and prescribe any treatments.  All women were encouraged to get a Pap smear because their culture expected young women to marry early and to become pregnant quite frequently.   In our clinics, we would be as cautious as possible when it came to privacy and most importantly sanitation.   The Pap smear room can be described as thick sheets or blankets blocking off a small table or pile of cinderblocks covered by a sheet.  Luckily, a lot of women decided to go through with the Pap smear once all the other women “doctors” encouraged it for their safety and explained that they are something that we all do back at home in America.  Each one of us would go back in the Pap room to watch the Cuban doctor perform one by himself, then help with one by providing assistance with the process and eventually all of the girls on the trip got to perform them without the aid of the Cuban doctor.   This is was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.  Everyone I’ve told did not seemed impressed by my excited state, but I don’t think people realize the opportunity that was presented to me with my education, and this doctor’s trust in my ability.  Also at the clinic there was a pharmacy where one of the girls would fill the doctor’s prescribed medicines for the patients.   I worked in the pharmacy at one of the clinics and one of the patients cried when I gave her a three weeks supply of ibuprofen, which was bought using some of your donation money.  Remember when I said that pain relievers were considered as valuable as money?  This was one of the communities where medical attention was rare and seemingly priceless.  The clinics were very humbling as well as they provide insight to how people are willing to get medical attention but just cannot afford to pay the high costs of healthcare services provided in Belize City.  The pharmacy was filled only with the medicines the eleven of us brought overseas.   We packed more medical supplies than our own clothes.

The Pap smear room.

Busy, busy clinics!

Isn't she precious?

The pharmacy at the clinics.

My man! (We had a great conversation about our love for superman!!)

They loved our cameras!

We had some down time too!  We went to the amazing Mayan Ruins!

We also went to the zoo.

Some nights (not all), our showers were like this -- filling up our water bottles with the dribbling water from the head of the shower. :(:(

&& then the last day we went Caye Caker to have some funnnn!

The trip was amazing to say the very, very least!  I learned about a completely different world than what I experience every day.  && I met a bunch of girls who I grew to absolutely love & admire.  Rose told us that our trip was based on the bible verse Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act [proverbs 3:27].  Something I can daily apply to my life back in the States.  I am forever thankful for the opportunity and all those who supported me & prayed for me.

The point blank worst part of the trip.  Our flights got delayed in Belize City, making us miss our flight in Houston. We stood on stand by for 3 different flights as weather ultimately cancelled the last stand by flight at 11:30 that night.  We had been in the airport all day long.  So we kind of freaked out, but we handled it like adults as we got reservations at the Hamptons.  We took long, hot showers and washed our clothes in the sink.

Long story short.  We got up went to eat with Laura's aunt, then headed home.

Home, Sweet Home.