Tennessee Volunteers

At our medical team's clinic at Armenia, we benefited from having three volunteers from Roane State Community College in the morning. Call us the Tennessee Volunteers in Armenia. Sue, an RSCC occupational therapy teacher, served as a Spanish translator. Roane State students Kayla and Jessica took and recorded weight, height, pulse, and blood pressure measurements. Mary, who registered patients in the morning, and Carolyn took over their jobs in the afternoon. Carolyn pricked fingers, transferred blood drops to test strips in a glucometer, and recorded measurements of blood glucose. Only one of the 55 patients we saw today had a high glucose level; Dale determined the reading was due to the woman patient taking Prednisone. Teresa served as pharmacist, and Dale saw the patients, including many cute children and babies. Filberta of Armenia served as Dale's translator. She can speak Creole, Kekchi, Mayan, Spanish, and English, of course. The clinic is in the preschool building. Hannah, who drove the van, took the medical and table-building teams to Armenia, both in the morning and afternoon. Anne, an industrial engineer, organized the table builders into an assembly line. She, Ellie, Caleb, Hannah, and Ashley, working with Abner and Abraham, completed eight tables and part of the ninth. They worked in one unfinished room of the new second story of Armenia elementary school; kids were in classrooms on most of the second floor. (Martin told me that the school has 1000 kids and Armenia has a population of 4000.)
Caleb played soccer with the boys during two recesses. He also helped the medical team by     moving heavy tables and carrying the bulky medical supplies suitcase. After sanding tables, Hannah visited the preschool and registered patients at the medical clinic in the afternoon. It was a successful day.
-Carolyn