Day 3 in the Clinic

Sorry there was no post yesterday. The dental folks were very busy and we got back late. We only had time to get cleaned up, eat, and get to bed. Even if we had time, the internet access was down in the hotel. The following picture is the dental clinic in action. We have an oral surgeon and a general dentist on our team. There is no shortage of work for them.

Today was our busiest day yet. We registered over 80 patients. The clinic ran smoothly and we wrapped up the day just as it started to rain. We did have to send one patient to the hospital as he had an abscess with fever that we were not equipped to handle. The picture below is of one of the regular missionary docs, an interpreter volunteer from the local church, and one of our patients.

Pictured above is our pharmacy in action. The formulary is quite small but meets most all of the clinic's needs. If something is missing, it can be picked up at the local Farmacia and brought to the clinic the next day.

Over the past two days we have been able to go "over the river" and "through the woods" to visit the home of one of the Ngobe. It is not an easy trek as the river bank is steep and the trail is long. The first house is about a quarter of a mile down the foot path. Also, in the rainy season you have to swim or take the bamboo bridge.

We were greeted with open arms and fresh mangos. These were picked from a tree that provides shade for their house. We ate them on site and on the way back to the clinic. In addition to the mango trees, there are cashew trees everywhere. The cashews are ripe but they have to be properly roasted to be edible.

This is the son of the Ngobe pictured above. He uses a chinese replica of a Singer sewing machine to make the dresses worn by the Ngobe women. It is a pedal driven machine like the ones that our grandmother's used. He is very talented and is one of the few Ngobe men does not earn a living working in the fields.

The Ngobe children appear happy and healthy. The girls in this picture are wearing dresses typical of the Ngobe women. More to come! Thanks for your prayer and support!