Today's medical clinic at the Armenia community center was less hectic than yesterday, with around 60 patients seen, the majority of them children. There was enough time today for Sue, Sumner, and Sarah S. to hand out toothbrushes and clothes and sing nursery rhymes with the children. Still, Bob and Dale saw a steady stream of patients through the morning until the pace slowed in the afternoon.
One particularly heart-rending case was a 6-month old baby named Miguel Barera whom Dale noted with a serious heart defect. The mother said that she had seen a pediatrician who said he needed heart surgery. The family needs $400 Belize to even start the process of getting the surgery. Miguel is much smaller than a normal 6-month-old. Dale treated him with a nebulizer because he was having trouble breathing, but it didn't help as much as she thought it would. She referred him to Penny in Roaring Creek who has a fund for Knoxville Children's Hospital. Dale hopes that Miguel can travel to the US for the surgery.
At lunch time, Dale discussed community health issues with Filaberta who is vice president of the Health Council of Armenia., a village organization. Filaberta said the number one concern is clean water. They expect the new well will be completed in two months or so, and it will have a purification system. Doug was brought into the conversation and described different ways of purifying the water in the meantime. The water people are currently using is well water that is contaminated. Filaberta will take the different options described by Doug to the Health Council who will decide how to proceed.
Another local person, Erica, had been helping with intake interviews and translating today and yesterday. Erica's mother Odelia was also helping yesterday. Dale showed Filaberta and Erica how to test blood glucose levels, among other things. Dale also left Filaberta with three bags of supplies and will send educational material on clean water for Filaberta to use to educate her community.
The community center has a library with several shelves of books. During a slow moment, Shirley found a book entitled "Christian Ethics" that contained the following:
"Justice distributes power so that the weak become stronger and better able to care for themselves. Charity meets people's immediate needs in ways that keep them dependent."
Although we are meeting immediate needs, such as acute health care, during this mission trip, we hope that we have to some small extent empowered the people of Armenia, or if not, will be able to help do so in the future. But the underlying poverty and lack of power is a long-term problem that will not be solved easily.
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