Three days after the departure of the last construction team we welcomed a group of college students from Lee University! Although they experienced some troubles in customs and arrived at the hospital a day later than expected, the team came to us with huge smiles and hands ready to serve. Saturday and Sunday they helped us finish setting up the hospital with everything we needed to host a “brigade style” clinic.
Monday we opened the clinic for the first time in nine weeks! I cannot express the amount of joy our long term staff was experiencing after the hospital had been closed for such a long time. Monday through Wednesday we hosted clinic here at the hospital and Thursday we went to Los Limpios for a brigade. Friday we had the privilege of visiting Instituto el Rey, the High School across the street. We got to talk with their students and play games with them to help them practice speaking in English. It was a special day at the school as they had their “sweetheart elections” where they chose a young woman to represent them during their independence day festivities that will come later this year!
Halfway through their two-week stay here, the students and visiting providers got to have a fun day of snorkeling and spending time by the beach! The students certainly deserved a day to relax after the week of hard work they had just experienced. We also had the opportunity to participate in a church service together on Sunday morning. It was a relaxing time to remind ourselves of our dependence on God and His faithfulness to provide for ALL of our needs.
The next week we hosted clinic here in Rio Viejo on Monday and Tuesday and then drove out to La Lucha for a brigade on Wednesday. Each and every day the Lee students conducted themselves with so much professionalism and compassion for our patients. We were all truly so impressed by them. Because our patient loads were not overwhelming we had the opportunity to engage in case studies as well as a suturing workshop led by Earl “Chunky” Miller and Brandon West. It was without a doubt an incredible two weeks!
Written by guest blogger: McKenzie McLeod
