More Pictures

Most patients walked, but some had horses.

School kids stopping by.

Phamacy Setup.

Bron fitting sunglasses on Carla's Mom.



Elizabeth with her new boyfriends!



Dr. Pete after a patient.

Nancy performing cleanup.



Chalino our driver and Marcos the District Superintendent/Interpreter

Breakfast (from left to right) Austin, Dianne, Lynda, Mary, Elizabeth,  Julia, Kayla and Kiara
(standing) Rhett and Amy.

Breakfast (from left to right) Tracey, Rich, Jane, Harvey, Dr. Pete, Nancy (hiding) Steve and Janet.

Breakfast (from left to right)  Mary, Elizabeth, Kiara, Rhet (hands) and Julia

We arrived to the community center each morning for breakfast then work.

We've started...

Half the Dental Team

Triage and Medical Team

Eye Center

Youth Center

Austin(17) and Elizabeth (gotta ask her..thirty something I think)

Julia(13) and Kayla(17)...another year older

Whew! We made it!!

Kayla, Julia & Austin

After our arrival on Friday night, the group had breakfast and arrived at the Panama Canal by 9 a.m.  We were able to see several ships pass through.  By 11:15 we were on the road heading for Chiriqui Province in Western Panama, where we will be working with Ngabe Indians there.  On the way, we picked up Rhett Thompson, our host and Dr. Barry Kram, who had come to Panama in advance of the team. On the way, we stopped at our mission work site and unloaded all of our supplies there before going on to David.  Today, we are in David and will attend the local Methodist Church.  There we will present them with a gift of several Spanish Methodist Hymnals.  We will then change clothes, have lunch and proceed back to the Cienaguita Mission site to set up for Monday's work.

Dianne & Rich Buy Group Tickets

Group Members Wait in Canal Theater  Line

The kids having fun

Canal View

The Kram's Pack Supplies in Michigan

Supplies being brought down for this trip generously donated by Zurich Insurance and  the congregation of FUMC - Palatine.

New Health/Children's Team Prepares for 2013 Visit

Twenty volunteers from three states are busy gathering supplies and preparing credentials for their upcoming Panama Mission Trip.  The group will be traveling via Panama City to David, which is near their mission worksite in Cienaguita, Panama.

The group is comprised of specialty units who will be collaborating with local Panamanian Methodists in David to provide Medical, Dental, Vision Care supported by a well-stocked pharmacy. Health education of local health promoters regarding mother/baby care will also be a focus. Patients from the nearby Ngabe reservation who come long distances will stay for the day.  Their pre-school children will be able to enjoy planned early intervention activities in the morning.  School aged children will have a planned afternoon program.

Please visit this site in the coming weeks as the group posts notices about their preparation and March 8-16, 2013 trip.

Thursday we are finally getting our act together.  Mickey Dee's for breakfast, blogging and shopping for lunch materials, then on to the camp by 9:15 where we already had a crowd waiting.  The dental team had 20 people waiting, plus 8 left over from Wednesday and the medical team about the same number (with no leftovers).  When we arrived there was an electrical team stringing cable (hopefully for the campground) but the electrical at Pablo's Casa was erratic so the generator had to be fired up.  The Dental team started out with a difficult molar extraction (hard to keep your cool with a studio audience in attendance!) but the rest of the day went smoothly.

The Kids Kamp had the morning off but at noon about 50 kids came and spent the afternoon playing soccer, climbing trees  and playing hide and seek with the parachute.  There was the usual craft time with clay monsters--this was very popular--along with using markers which ended up on walls, clothing and faces.  Kristen showed the children how to make "God Eyes" with yarn and popsicle sticks and there was the usual fun with Luz Rojo--Luz Verde and Simon Dice.The medical clinic and pharmacy were moderately busy--the pharmacy ended up with about 55 cards but some of the cards went to the vision and dental clinics so an exact count is not available.  Carol was the Gyne Consultant and had several women with mysterious unsolvable problems.  We ran out of prepackaged adult vitamins and will count them out as needed tomorrow, with the surplus (some 12 suitcases full) going to Cienaguita and to Javier in Darien Province.

We had our celebratory "Farewell" dinner with the translators from David, Rhett and his mother and a hitch-hiker from Stuttgart who was supposed to be dropped off at the grocery store but instead joined us for dinner.  Lovely restaurant, great food--Rich had fried chicken AGAIN!--and luscious desserts.  A very successful evening.  Janet did devotions about water and thirst (we are experts in that field) at the Pool Terrazza and then we returned to our rooms to pack.  Friday is our last day.  What will the morning bring?