Day 3 – Tuesday 30th

Today, the team split into two. The medical team had an early start to meet up with the Ficker's in Canilla, which was 30 minutes away but that was only the start of the travel. Then, majority of the team went to an aldea (village) to interact with the community through hair styling and games.

Stories from the Aldea (Village) visit:

We went to a school in an aldea about 30 minutes away. We rode in the back of two pick up trucks, labeled the “fun bus” and the “geriatric bus.” The ride was a little bumpy, but the scenery was incredible. Once we arrived at the school, we gave a presentation on teeth brushing and hand washing. We also gave the school two Wordless Book soccer balls. While a few of the men took the boys to play soccer, the girls lined up to get their hair washed (some of the men handled that), combed, cut, and styled. It was amazing to see how a simple hair ribbon, comb, and hair clip could make so many women and girls happy. God truly does work with what we think of as the “little things.”

Enjoy a clip from the day

Stories from the Medical Clinic:

Today's medical clinic was at 10,000 ft in the mountains. For around 30 minutes from Canilla, we rode in the back of a truck while grasping tightly to the cattle bars that surrounded us. Then, due to the conditions of the roads during the rainy season, the truck had to stop for the medical team and translators to head to the clinic on foot and the supplies on a back of an ATV. The hike to the village took 20 to 30 minutes, which was filled with awe moments as we took in the views of the mountain and valleys. We arrived at the clinic to find a large number of women and children mostly waiting for care. After a gospel presentation, the patients filed into the small, one-room clinic.

Many illnesses would be common to any doctor's office in the states; colds, ear infections, head aches, and various muscle/joint pain. We really appreciate the Fickers' (Medical Missionaries) emphasis on prayer, even in the common illnesses. Like mentioned on Day 1's clinic, the need here is too great for man and we must rely on God. Leslie Ficker identified the first patient, a girl of around 2 years of age, by the dire condition due to pneumonia. Leslie and Kim were very concerned on how the child was laboring to breath and was not very responsive. Different members of the team would frequently stop and either audibly or silently pray for the child. Treatments were administered to rehydrate; reduce fever; and open airways. However, even after an hour of treatment, the vitals continued to drop to levels that only a fully resourced hospital could do something about. As Americans who feel they can fix anything and everything, we had to let this child and mother, who recently lost her husband and raising 4 other children, go home. Many prayers and tears were shared with the mother. As hard as it is to understand, God has this situation in His hand. We have the hope that either God will heal the child physically or make the child perfect before His throne in Heaven. Our heart weeps with the mother and pray that He will reveal Himself to her so one day they will both be with Him in Heaven.