Funny how when you say The Remote in the USA, you are usually referring to the television channel changer. On a mission trip, a Remote is a medical clinic held a distance from where your mission base is. On Monday of the mission trip, I got to experience my first Remote. Keep in mind that because you are going to a "remote location", you must take everything you need with you. This includes clean water, tables, office supplies, medical supplies and medicine. We packed our breakfast and lunch as well. Therefore, we were up and loading the bus by 6:30am and on the road in the Big Yellow School bus by 7. Marlon, our driver, seemed to know the way. Oh, one other thing we packed: our interpreters. They are invaluable when it comes to registering patients and also when explaining how the meds are to be taken. So off we went, 1.5 hours up mountains, down mountains, and through valleys. We went by a sugar cane plant that was guarded by men with big guns. The scenery was beautiful. We ate breakfast on the way out of baggies (french toast with a little syrup in the bottom of the bag) When we arrived at the Remote, I saw that the clinic was going to be in the local church. It was not bad for something so far out of the way. Please don't think that means it had indoor plumbing, because it didn't. We quickly set up our tables and supplies, as people were beginning to gather. There were two medical doctors and two eye doctors with us (the dentist had enough work back at La Villa San Francisco at our base location). My job was at the pharmacy. As the line of people snaked around the building, we gathered to pray. I was honored to be asked to lead in prayer for the doctors. Once we opened the door, I took my position. I greeted each patient by name ..."como se llamo?" and gave them a smile and a handshake. I supplied each person with liquid vitamins, and passed the other prescriptions on to the nursing staff to decifer the doc's writing and fill. My interpreter taught me several phrases that were useful to my post: para dolar (for pain) and si lo necessito (as needed). We saw 190 patients in five hours. At the end of the day, we got word that a woman who had had a stroke needed to be seen but could not make it to the clinic. So, the doctor got in the back of an old jeep truck and made a house call. After checking her over and doing what he could to aleviate her suffering, the husband went out back and chopped off a limb of a banana tree as payment. That's how things are done in Honduras.
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Remote
Funny how when you say The Remote in the USA, you are usually referring to the television channel changer. On a mission trip, a Remote is a medical clinic held a distance from where your mission base is. On Monday of the mission trip, I got to experience my first Remote. Keep in mind that because you are going to a "remote location", you must take everything you need with you. This includes clean water, tables, office supplies, medical supplies and medicine. We packed our breakfast and lunch as well. Therefore, we were up and loading the bus by 6:30am and on the road in the Big Yellow School bus by 7. Marlon, our driver, seemed to know the way. Oh, one other thing we packed: our interpreters. They are invaluable when it comes to registering patients and also when explaining how the meds are to be taken. So off we went, 1.5 hours up mountains, down mountains, and through valleys. We went by a sugar cane plant that was guarded by men with big guns. The scenery was beautiful. We ate breakfast on the way out of baggies (french toast with a little syrup in the bottom of the bag) When we arrived at the Remote, I saw that the clinic was going to be in the local church. It was not bad for something so far out of the way. Please don't think that means it had indoor plumbing, because it didn't. We quickly set up our tables and supplies, as people were beginning to gather. There were two medical doctors and two eye doctors with us (the dentist had enough work back at La Villa San Francisco at our base location). My job was at the pharmacy. As the line of people snaked around the building, we gathered to pray. I was honored to be asked to lead in prayer for the doctors. Once we opened the door, I took my position. I greeted each patient by name ..."como se llamo?" and gave them a smile and a handshake. I supplied each person with liquid vitamins, and passed the other prescriptions on to the nursing staff to decifer the doc's writing and fill. My interpreter taught me several phrases that were useful to my post: para dolar (for pain) and si lo necessito (as needed). We saw 190 patients in five hours. At the end of the day, we got word that a woman who had had a stroke needed to be seen but could not make it to the clinic. So, the doctor got in the back of an old jeep truck and made a house call. After checking her over and doing what he could to aleviate her suffering, the husband went out back and chopped off a limb of a banana tree as payment. That's how things are done in Honduras.
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1 comment:
You guys were meeting needs just like Jesus did. That's awesome.
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