This week has been my final week in Roatan and it is sad to think my time here is coming to a close. The week has been quite uneventful in terms of triage – many of the same families have revisited and I have noticed many patients outside of the hospital in Coxen Hole. Almost always they stop and tell me how they are doing and it is so lovely to feel a part of the care of each patient and to know they are aware of how interested I am in their wellbeing. It has been sad saying goodbye to many of the patients I have come to know better and many of the staff at the hospital who have offered kindness, translation help and medical information throughout my time. In the afternoons I have been working at the pharmacy at Clinica Esperanza. The work is very similar to what I do at home (where I worked in a pharmacy on weekends). When I am not making up prescriptions for patients I use the free time to bag medicines according to dose, refill shelves and to reorganise some of the medication. I have learnt a huge amount in the pharmacy – often, as the medicine initially prescribed is not available, the prescribing doctor will come in to find a similar drug and explain the logic behind each decision and the impact the particular medication will have on a patients’ life. It has been very informative and I have enjoyed it immensely.
This week some of the other volunteers and I have spent some evenings out in West End which has been lovely. Another night some of the newly arrived doctors came over and we played board games, made Mexican food and had a nice catch up. We also spent an early evening out on the sea – Mr. Dee kindly lent us his kayaks and we kayaked out to Anthony’s Key to see the dolphins. They were absolutely beautiful and the breathtaking sunset completed the adventure. It was a lovely thing to do and something I definitely recommend! The kayak back was a bit harder against the current but not too problematic and was lovely to be around the water too.
On my last day a trunk full of volunteers (including Miss Peggy and Mr Dee) went to Frenchies, a little island just out from French Harbour. It was actually paradise – beautiful white sands, water so clear it looked like it was from a bathtub, palm trees, sunshine – I would happily have stayed there forever! We had a lovely day snorkelling, swimming, relaxing in hammocks and sitting in the sand. It could honestly not have been a more perfect end to the trip.
As I write this now I am currently in transit – my journey home has been a traumatic 23 hours so far but only 6 more hours to go! I already miss Roatan – the people, the lifestyle, the clinic and the sunshine. I have learnt a great deal about healthcare, both good and bad. My Spanish has improved, I feel much more confident triaging, I have learnt about many conditions I have never seen in the UK and many new ways of treating things. I have also learnt that urgency in healthcare can make all the difference, that infection control really is very important, that many mothers cannot find the time to take their children for treatment but positive reinforcement significantly helps that. I have also met some truly inspirational people whilst here: Miss Peggy, who is changing the world one person at a time through her kindness, efficiency and unwavering motivation; E, a nurse at the hospital who is getting involved in community prenatal projects in La Colonia which they are aiming to implement soon and will hopefully bring improved health to mothers and babies alike. She has also brought her own children into the clinic and her care and concern for them has been incredibly touching; also J, another volunteer who was paralysed from the waist down at 21. She came to Roatan as one of her rotations and despite the inconvenience of being wheelchair bound, she has managed to get around the island, become fully immersed in volunteer life and I have so much admiration for how positively she approaches life despite all she has been through. I hope to come back one day – Global Healing and Clinica Esperanza give the people of this island a new hope for health and are helping to bring happiness and wellbeing to this wonderful population of people.
