It has only been two weeks on the island, but I already feel my medical Spanish improving, as it’s taking me less and less time to formulate questions and record answers while triaging patients. Although triaging exposes me to the variety of illnesses from which Honduran children suffer, I have learned the most through shadowing the physicians and asking them questions. It has surprised me to find out that the patients here only have to pay around 15 lempiras (equivalent to a little less than a dollar) in order to see a doctor. Furthermore, medications only cost about 3 lempiras each, which is affordable to most patients. One particular mother came in with a child who had a high fever and chills; because the doctors suspected she had malaria, they ordered a malaria smear. The first thing the mother asked of course, was how much did it cost. I was very relieved to tell her that it cost only 30 lempiras, which was luckily inexpensive enough for her to have the lab test. Incidentally, the results were positive, which immediately influenced the doctors to prescribe Chloroquine to treat her. I am glad that the public health care system in Honduras makes it possible for many patients to be treated for their illnesses; however, I also realized that this came with a 12% sales tax, and the help of many social service and volunteer doctors.
One of the most interesting medical cases I encountered this past week was an umbilical hernia, which presents itself as a two-inch protrusion of the belly button. Although this was the first time I had witnessed anything like this, I quickly learned that they were very common in Honduras, which again reinforced the notion that the children here suffer from so many things that we do not really worry about when in the United States. And although the public hospital does offer their services at an affordable price, the problem is that they do not offer many services—thus, those who needed complicated surgeries or chemotherapy treatment needed to be referred to the Mainland for care. This of course, would involve at least a two-hour ferry ride, following a by nearly a seven hour wait to arrive to one of the main hospitals.
This past week also included my first time volunteering at the eLearning Center. There, half of the children were doing computer activities that helped them learn English, while the other half were listening to cassettes that read aloud children’s books. However, I noticed that the children were requesting the tapes to be in Spanish! It was then that I began to read to the children the stories in English, teaching them to point at the pictures that represented certain words. I think I will start with these baby steps in teaching English before moving on to more ambitious lessons, such as how to maintain a healthy diet on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, I’ve had the chance to hang out with the locals more. In addition to eating out in West End with friends, I snorkeled in the mangroves, swam in the ocean, and even had a dolphin encounter!
