With the start of April, came Semana Santa or Holy Week, thus beginning 7 days of religious celebration and vacation. That first weekend, my friend Jared Brandell arrived for a quick three day visit to see what the Ranch was all about after finishing a church trip in Guatemala. The Palm Sunday procession was a fun event with the kids as we waved our authentic palms in the air and sang celebratory songs. Simultaneously there was a forest fire passing through, so some of the older boys missed mass to go put out the brush flames. Jared was a good sport as I dragged him along to go camping with about 150 girls and women. After a 5 hour drive to the south coast, we arrived at the beach. It was a nice location for the girls to relax and swim in a sheltered bay with very little waves, especially since many do not know how to swim. For many of the girls, it was their very first time ever seeing the ocean, and it felt special to share that day with them. There was definitely no shortage of inflatable whales, dolphins, and rafts, as the kids floated about in the warm water. The only downside was that a girl would occasionally come out of the water screaming with a leg welted up from a jellyfish tentacle floating by. After experimenting with a couple of different suggestions (and turning down the urine technique) such as dabbing vinegar over the wound, we found that a numbing spray that I happened to have in the first aid kit seemed to provide the quickest relief.
The next day I dropped Jared off at the airport and simultaneously picked my parents up for yet another visit to Honduras. I took some vacation days and we spent two nights at the giant Lake Yojoa, exploring the nature around us and relaxing at an American run brewery/hotel. Just in time for the peak of the Semana Santa celebrations, we arrived to the historic capital and colonial city of Comayagua. In addition to exploring the historical cathedrals, we took part in some processions, watched some theatrical renditions of Jesus’ last days, and soaked in the community feeling amidst us. The most incredible sight to see, and the reason for us being there on those specific two days was the construction of the ‘alfombras’ or carpets. Starting before midnight on Thursday, and working all through the wee hours of Friday morning, various different groups of towns people use sawdust, both plain and colored, to construct beautiful pieces of art that appear to be like ‘carpets’ lining the streets all throughout the central part of town. In the morning the town swells to the brim with Hondurans traveling from all over to come see the beautiful art before the sawdust tapestries get trampled in the later hours of the morning as the processions and Stations of the Cross pass through. This event was the most impressive display of Honduran culture and tradition that I have witnessed in all my year here.
We came back to the Ranch in time to participate in our own sunrise mass on Easter morning. Before my parents left that day, we did a little Easter egg hunt with the girls in my hogar. Instead of hiding all the candy stuffed plastic eggs (in the interest of time) we rolled them out on the floor and all the girls had to find the nine eggs with their specific number on it. It was super cute to watch them crawling around on the floor, investigating the eggs and calling out numbers to help each other find their respective treats. And to share a little bit of my own childhood traditions with them. After my parents left it was back to work as I had a big couple weeks of activities and a medical brigade ahead of me.
The weeks prior to Easter, I had been intensely planning a Health Fair for both the elementary school and middle school to help raise awareness for different wellness issues and also allow the kids to have some fun while learning about the importance of their health. When the big day came, 13 people from our health-team turned out to help run the 8 different stations that the kids would rotate through. The themes ranged in everything from nutrition, hand washing, self-control, disability awareness, why say no to drugs, how to avoid getting sick with Dengue, colds or parasites, personal hygiene, and dental hygiene. Each station was very interactive with games and activities so that the kids could have fun while learning. Our doctor dressed up as a clown to teach about drugs, the kids got to put glitter on their hands to simulate the passing of germs, or wear blurry glasses to help understand their peers with disabilities. It was an exhausting day teaching the subjects from morning until late afternoon as the kids rotated around the stations in small groups, but hopefully very effective. I hope that this trend of health education can be continued for the kids after I am gone.
Shortly after, it was brought to my attention that one of our ‘abuelos’ from the grandparent house had been in the hospital for almost a week after getting very sick during a visit to his extended family over the holiday. He had been diagnosed with a heart block and urgently needed a pacemaker to be installed to allow him to ever be able to leave the hospital or do any sort of activity again. The pacemaker was $520 and the leads another $350, an amount that neither his extended family, nor NPH in our current financial situation could come up with. In a desperate plea for help, I turned to all of you who have been so supportive of me during my time here in Honduras. I was overwhelmed by the rapid response of donations that we received when I checked my email the next morning, a mere 14 hours after I sent my original message. Thanks to all of you, Don Santiago is happily back home here on the ranch and quickly on his way to a full recovery, where I’m sure I will soon see him out watering the plants in front of his home as I pass by on my way to and from my work.
Yesterday concluded another Orthopedic surgical brigade at our on-site surgery center, the fourth one that I have participated with since my time at NPH began. This one was slightly more exhausting as it not only consisted of the typical orthopedic specialty, but also the specialties of Ear-Nose-Throat, Gynecology, and General Surgery. I often started my day around 5am and worked until almost 7 or 8pm when I would come home for dinner and promptly disappear again into my room to go to bed. Jennifer, my partner volunteer nurse, and I helped run consult clinics for these specialties to screen patients for surgery. Several of our own NPH kids were able to get much needed tonsillectomies or ear surgeries. During the 8 days of the brigade the team saw 700 consults and did almost 100 surgeries and minor procedures. When there were no consults, I assisted in the admission room preparing patients for surgery and when there was down time would occasionally peak in on some surgeries to see some interesting things. One of my highlights was scrubbing in on a surgery where an older man had a large cyst in his scrotum, the size of a softball. I got to assist holding instruments and eventually pop the fluid-filled sack as 400ml of fluid rushed out. I then helped to stitch the incision in his abdomen closed, another first for me! Needless to say, I’m sure he felt much better after the surgery!
The final countdown has begun, but not necessarily in the exciting sense of the term. In 14 days, my time at NPH will come to an end, at least for now. I feel that my work here as a nurse has reached a good closing point and I look forward to the new chapter of nursing that lays ahead of me while attending the University of Minnesota in the fall (yes, it’s finally official now). However, saying goodbye to the kids and my hogar never really does get easier, no matter how long you stay. So with that said, I will just have to make the absolute most out of my next two weeks here while wrapping up the loose ends of my job and enjoying every moment with the girls.
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