The time between Christmas and New Year’s was very relaxed and low key. Only about 1/3 of the kids were present on the Ranch, as the rest were granted permission to visit extended family between Christmas and New Years. Every day we spent the afternoons and evenings watching or playing in a giant soccer tournament that was organized for kids of all ages. We female volunteers made up a team, and we played 1-2 games a day against the older NPH girls in year of service, high school, or university. We ended up making it to the finals and winning in a shoot-out; apparently making history, as it was rumored that the women volunteers had never won before. It was really fun to play a team sport again and winning did a lot for our status as female volunteers.
Here in Honduras we rang in the new year with a huge bonfire, my roommate Caro walking on stilts, a disco-light dance party, chocolate bars, and of course, fireworks. We volunteers spent days choreographing a dance to the song “Party Rock” by LMFAO that we performed that evening, dressed up in very brightly colored clothing. One of the Honduran traditions I witnessed that intrigued me is to stuff a human dummy with fireworks, representing the ‘old year’ and at midnight, set it on fire until the fireworks inside explode. The party went on until about 3am, and by that time we had many children passed-out, sound asleep in the grass around the bonfire. Just before the night came to a close, one of our kids with epilepsy began having a seizure, and we got him into a truck and rushed him to the clinic. He became responsive and stable again shortly after we arrived without much intervention. It was a reminder that a nurse is never off duty. Once we got him situated it was nearly 4 am, and I found it humorous that this was probably one of the latest New Years eve’s I have ever had, at an orphanage no less.
A few days into the New Year, a medical/surgical brigade of 70 people came, this time offering orthopedic and urology services. As the consults were held in the external clinic, I was put in charge of coordinating the urology brigade with the help of two Urologists and several translators. Over two days, we saw 120 patients, and later that week operated on 14 patients. I learned a lot about urology problems and even got to watch a trans-urethral resection of the prostate (TURP) surgery and scrub in and assist with a knee surgery. I got back in-touch with my acute-care surgical nursing side, and stayed overnight in the surgery center with 4 patients who needed extra recovery time. I always enjoy the brigades because they bring such a positive energy to the ranch, and they are a great group of people to meet and network with. It was during the brigade week that I found out I had been accepted to the University of Minnesota, Doctorate in Nursing program and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner specialty. I am very excited, as were many people in the brigade who are from Minnesota. This program is one of my top choices and I am currently waiting to hear back from a few other schools. However, it is nice to know that I will for sure be attending Grad school in the fall!
The following weekend after the brigade left, a small group from Naples, Florida came to run an Ophthalmology brigade for three days. One of the couples, Marylou and Leo had been to visit the Ranch before and identified a need to improve the access to vision care here. I had identified a similar need and was planning to investigate solutions in February once I changed job roles, but prayers were answered sooner than expected and thanks to them, it got taken care of sooner than expected. Marylou and Leo donated to NPH a very wonderful machine called an auto-refractor, which can measure the lens and eyeball, and diagnose vision problems without requiring other tools, personnel, or equipment. They also brought with them Ophthalmologist Richard and his wife Sally, to train some of us in how to use the machine and run the brigade. Over the three days we saw 212 people, both kids from the Ranch and people from the surrounding communities, and fit 89 pairs of glasses. Richard and Sally will take the lens prescriptions back to their business in Florida and construct the glasses there, then return them to us in February. We trained several young people and a few nurses on the Ranch who will be around long-term on how to operate the auto-refractor, diagnose the vision problem, and fit the patient for glasses so that this can be a sustainable program that can continue to run without our visitors. When the glasses return, I will be responsible for the follow-up with each child to assure that they have a smooth transition into wearing glasses. We fitted several of our kids for glasses who could not see the chalk board in the classroom and were having to copy off of their classmates. Now their schoolwork will come much easier, and their eyes will be opened to a whole new world in front of them.
Finally, I am no longer the only registered nurse on the Ranch. A new volunteer nurse, Jen, arrived on the 14th, along with 5 other volunteers who will fill various roles. I will begin training her in the external clinic this week, and stay with her until she feels comfortable with the aspects of the job. This new transition reminds me of when I first got here, and how overwhelmed I felt, especially with Spanish comprehension and trying to understand what my rural patients were saying to me. It was strange to only be 23, have 1 ½ years of nursing experience, and be put in charge of a community clinic, on very little resources at that. It also gives me perspective on how much I have changed and learned about myself this year. This experience, through the struggles and the joys, has helped me to understand much better who I am as an individual and the person that I hope to continue to become.
