Clinic Day 4

Religion plays a large part of life in Guatemala.  In contrast to the plain cinder block homes, the churches are ornate on the outside.  As Cortney mentioned, our work today was in the school behind this church.  The patients today were more affluent than what we had seen so far yet the needs are still great.  Among the 435 seen today were cases of scabies, amoebas, gastritis, rashes and joint pain.  I had the opportunity today, though, to witness two cases that will stick in my mind forever...cases that impacted even the docs who have done this for years.  First was the little girl pictured above, probably about 6 years old and had severe sun sensitivity.  Because her family is so destitute, they did not have the means to buy sunscreen and thus her face was infected so badly it was bleeding.  Today was her birthday.  I happened to have a Disney princess sleeping bag that had been donated (thanks, Isabelle and Christine!) and she gave me the sweetest smile although I know it had to hurt incredibly.  The second case was another little girl.  Our students tried and tried to get her to tell them where she hurt and she just kept saying "everywhere".  They brought the translator over for help and he and they worked together to identify what I had worried was the case:  there was violence in her home.  Lots of quiet tears were shed today.