My second week in Roatan began with the arrival of New York’s Dr. John Dunlop to clinic. This week I’ve been getting to clinic slightly earlier. This gives me an early start on triage, which I’ve found to be especially helpful now that there are three doctors seeing patients and the pace has picked up. It also gives me more time to survey patients after they’ve seen Dr. Welcome, Dr. Rhee or Dr. Dunlop.
One day this week, a little girl with a heart murmur came to the clinic with her mother. Dr. Dunlop explained exactly to me what a heart murmur is and then allowed me to hear for myself. First, he gave me the stethoscope and told me to listen to my own heartbeat, followed by his. After having listened to two “regular” heartbeats, he brought me into the room with the little girl and asked her mother if it was alright for me to listen to her daughter’s heartbeat. I was given the chance to listen to her heartbeat, a distinct sound that was very different from the heartbeats I had just heard. Another day this week, a mother came in complaining that her daughter was eating dirt. After Dr. Dunlop examined the little girl, he explained to me that eating dirt if often a symptom of iron deficiency. Also at clinic this week, a mother brought in her 9-day-old baby for fever. After taking the baby’s temperature, which was 101.2 degrees, Dr. Rhee ordered that the baby be rushed to the ER. He let me accompany him as he walked the mother with her baby to the ER and later explained the dangers of fever in newborns.
After clinic on Wednesday, the three doctors and myself made our way to the daycare I’ve been volunteering at in Coxen Hole. The doctors came to look at the children, specifically those that were sick or had any conditions at the time. There ended up being three children with skin conditions. The doctors examined the children and then delivered the extra medicine they had brought for the daycare. They wrote down the names of each on a piece of paper with their use, so that the teachers would know in the future. These ranged from hydrocortisone creams to cough suppressants to fever reducers.
I’ve really been enjoying my time at clinic. It’s been especially rewarding to be able to speak to patients directly. A mother came in to clinic this week, and right away I recognized her from a few days earlier, when she had brought in her first child. She asked me how long I was going to be in Roatan and at the clinic. After I explained to her that I would be here until the end of August, she seemed genuinely disappointed and asked when I was coming back. I told her that I had to go back to school in August, but that I would try to come back when there was time. This conversation made me feel welcome and it made me feel like I was making a difference to someone.
Aside from clinic and daycare, I started teaching Maria Cristina English. We met twice this week, and she is putting great effort into learning the language. We started off with useful phrases, simply vocabulary, etc. After just two days, she can introduce herself and tell me a little about herself, including where she is from and how old she is.
On my free time, I’ve been spending time with the other volunteers. We went to the crab races on Thursday, which raise money for the schools here in Roatan. The winner gets to choose what to do with his or her half of the prize, but everyone usually gives their part to the schools. My crab (#28) came in first place! I was given a sash and certificate, and I of course gave the part I won to the schools. We’ve gone to dinner and spent time in West End. This coming week I’ll be looking into the canopy tours and diving.
Many of the other volunteers left this week. They included Krista, Raquel, Diana and Asha. I thought I would feel lonely without them all here, but more people have arrived. When we went to drop Asha off at the airport today, we picked up Dr. Patrick and two physician assistants that have come to volunteer. Peggy also mentioned that two more volunteers will be arriving tomorrow.
