A little bit about what’s been going on in Roatán, and what I’ve been up to.
There are currently two projects with the community of Las Colonias, made up of Policarpo and Balfate. These residents are mainly Spanish-speaking Latinos from the mainland that immigrated to Roatán not too long ago after the hurricanes. They live in shacks, in mud/wood houses, and have running water only for two hours every ten days. The housekeeper for Peggy, Earma, lives there and is also one of the 8 community volunteers that we train to monitor high risk infants. We check for diarrhea, respiratory illnesses, and malnutrition, among other things. My goal is to see that they monitor the infants correctly by going with them for the first couple of times and to make sure that they go every month. The project also gathers data on these infants to use as grant material and research data. These are collected monthly and input in a database. We’ve already had two meetings, and I’m planning on going with a volunteer this Wednesday on his rounds.
The other project in Las Colonias is establishing a waste disposal system. The area does not have trash cans, so it is littered with garbage that the garbage men don't want to pick up. Our goal is to make dumpsters out of barrels with holes in them (so the residents won't use them for water storage) and situate them around a wooden fence so the dogs can't get in. We have already located about 15 spots where we need to put these 78 barrels. Our current objective is to get the materials ready by next week; a group of thirteen students from a private boarding school in Colorado is coming down, and I'm thinking of putting them to work on this project. We can use the free labor, but first we need the wood so that it can dry by the time they arrive.
Another project is one regarding hypertension and diabetes in Flowers Bay. The community volunteers there are already trained also; we just need to start monitoring. We had our last meeting yesterday about how to take blood pressure, and today we accompanied one volunteer on her rounds. The objective is to raise awareness in the area and to successfully identify and treat high-risk diabetic and hypertensive individuals.
Our newsletter was written and finished yesterday, with five articles on Global Healing activities. Also, the Global Healing president will be coming down to Roatán next week to assess healthcare needs and resource distribution.
As a pharmacist in Peggy’s clinic, I have learned all about medications and treatment. Sorting her donations, organizing her pharmacy, and working in the morning have made the highly eclectic medical vernacular much more accessible. Last week we went over all her medications and threw out/burned the expired ones. The Ministry of Health came by last Friday and closed down another pharmacy due to expired medications (as well as fining $2000). We decided not to risk holding on to expired medications. But I’m not sure what the Ministry of Health did is noble; after all, expired medications, with a possible decrease in efficacy, are better than no medication at all, right?
I'm also planning a categorizing system for triaging in her clinic. I’ve made a spreadsheet so that it will be easier for the nurses to locate the names/numbers of patients. There has been a large problem organizing the card system that we have now since some of the nurses don’t know the alphabet. Plus, this way, finding names and entering them will be much easier. I need go through over a thousand cards and teach the nurses how to use the database by Monday.
Lastly, Peggy's new hospital needs to be built. Her current clinic is only four rooms borrowed from SonRise Missionary Inn. I'm working on writing grant proposals to the Gates Foundation to get funding for the completion of the project and, hopefully, its sustainability as well. Peggy introduced me to a couple of contacts that are already working on the project; hopefully I can help them do the research they need (as they are currently living in the US) and write the proposal.
Jaime left today. We went ziplining in West Bay to see her off.
