These children don't have access to regular health care. Many of them die from diarrheal illness, or pneumonia. If any of them had asthma, they don't have inhalers, and probably if severe, they would die. Children go to school until their parents can't afford them not working. Medications cost money and these family live on dollars a day.
We had a trash pick up day on Monday after clinic, and we tried to clean up some of the trash littering the village. The children were so eager to please! They climbed up hills and clambered down into ditches to gather up soda bottles, chip bags, candy wrappers, old shoes, ecetera, touching trash that I would cringe at touching even though I had gloves on. They worked so hard, it was so endearing.
At the end of clinic on Wednesday, we had lunch delivered to us: yuca with ground pork with pico de gallo, and many of us could not finish our portions. A number of little boys from the village asked for the leftovers and happily finished our half eaten portions. Can you imagine being so hungry that you would gladly eat what someone else picked over and didn't want?
On Thursday, I was part of a group that applied fluoride treatment to the children's teeth, and so many of them had cavities so bad, there was more cavity than tooth left! I hoped that all the rotted teeth were baby teeth, but if their baby teeth were so bad, one could only wonder what chance they really have growing up.
One afternoon, a number of us rode with Don Israel up the mountain road in a pick-up truck to visit a child who was blind. He came out in a hurry to greet us and he was so excited to show us how he could ride his bike. He then went into the house and played us a song on the piano - self taught! It really brought tears to my eyes. It never ceases to amaze me the enthusiasm, resilience, and bright spirit of children everywhere.
-Helen Lam PGY3
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