This past Sunday we had a huge fundraiser for the clinic at Gumba Limba park in West Bay. I haven't been able to upload any pictures yet from the event but here is a link to the website for for the park: http://www.gumbalimbapark.com/index.html. There was both a silent and live auction, a raffle, a live musician, and catered food. People could use the beach, dance, or have drinks at the bar while the auctions were happening. I believe about $10,000 was raised for the clinic, and I fell in love with Lion Fish which was one of the dishes served. Pretty sure I ate enough for 10 people that day. After the event was over a group of volunteers walked on the beach to get back to West End. We didn't think about the fact that it would be high tide so we got a little wet and had to climb over some rocks, but we made it and got to see a beautiful sunset!
Yesterday I went along with some volunteers to help do eye exams in a local school. In a few weeks an ophthalmologist is coming to volunteer along with a team of helpers. They are going to be donating a bunch of glasses, so we are doing the initial screening to see which children may be in need of them. It was fun to get to use my Spanish and really become immersed in some of the culture here. One of my favorite parts was on the way back when our volunteer coordinator (who is a local) stopped at a roadside stand where he said they sell the BEST pastries on the island. I decided to try their specialty - the coconut puff. Let me tell you, you have not lived until you have eaten a coconut puff made by the ladies who live in Roatan.
Eric is continuing to enjoy his work at the clinic and is starting to have an increasingly more important role here. He has started to run the morning meetings with all the medical volunteers and schedules presentations that are given by the other medical students. He has seen some really interesting cases lately too, and has a new best friend in an 11-year-old boy who was brought in the other day. The boy had 3rd degree burns covering his body - he had been burned 12 days prior by boiling soup and the family had waited almost 2 weeks to bring him to the clinic, using butter to cover the burns. However, amazingly the burns were not infected and Eric and another doctor have been seeing the boy regularly to work on removing the dead skin and starting his healing process.
Unfortunately, these aren't the only burns we've seen lately. On Monday night we were at a potluck for the clinic when we got a phone call from a restaurant in West End. One of the volunteers who had not come to the potluck had been at a bar watching the NHL playoffs. Someone sitting next to her had ordered a shot that requires the bartender to light the shot on fire. When the bartender did so, the flame jumped onto the volunteer who had just recently applied bug spray. She has 2nd and some 3rd degree burns covering her chest and neck. Eric and some other volunteers left the potluck to go open the clinic while the owner of the restaurant drove the volunteer to meet them. Fortunately the burns were not life threatening but she has been in an incredible amount of pain. She did have emergency evacuation insurance so they are hoping to get her home either today or tomorrow.
Otherwise, things have continued to go fairly well. There are always the headaches of figuring out how to get minutes added to our cell phones, how to cook Honduran food, how to deal with the 50 new bug bites you get everyday and so forth, but nothing we haven't been able to handle. Below I posted a picture that another volunteer emailed me the other day - just so you know we are still alive and kickin'!
Miss you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment