Monday, October 20, 2008

First clinic day!! The church was swept and cleaned, and a neat little pathway cut through the prolific weeds. Dad and Joby hitched the trailer, and Isaac was instructed to be the “hitch angel” as we pulled it the less than quarter mile from the De Hoyos’ house to the church building where we would set up the clinic. He rode the hitch until it “popped” into place, then clambered onto the back of the van. Joe jumped on, and somehow in the interim, the trailer bolted free. Joby ran to help hook it up again, and rode the rest of the way. We had three hitch angels!! Talk about a blessed little trailer!


Many parts of the clinic mean many hands are needed, and we all helped to pull the boxes from the trailer and set up all the chairs, tables, and other various equipment which I will not detail here. The plan for the day was to start a bit later, take a late lunch, and work late enough that the church members with jobs could get off work and make it to the clinic. It was so nice to be so close to our home away from home as we worked, but the one complication was the distance to the bathroom. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, because a trip to the bathroom included a relaxing quarter-mile walk in the sunshine. =)

Our first patients of the day were a crew from the local “orfanato” or orphanage. It was a crew of mostly 9-13 year old boys and a few younger girls. We fell in love with them. There were a few especially inquisitive ones, but it was a delight to engage them in conversation. When you only know a little bit of Spanish, it is much easier to talk to a child. They are far less intimidating and extremely forgiving. Miram was one of those who was confident, curious, and super outgoing. We taught the little girls the proper way to brush and floss, and let them try on a huge plastic model we brought along for such purposes.

We settled into a routine quickly, each with jobs in our particular capacities. Dad, our clinic director and general everything man. Paula tackled the difficult cleanings ... “Dad, this lady is a class 5!” (That was for you, Shay!) As well as following up Dad’s drill job by filling teeth. Mom ran the reception notebook and kept patients flowing in and out at a steady rate. Jamie is our resident x-ray technician. She does best at the language when she can learn a few phrases and repeat them ad nauseum. In spite of this, she is excellent at what she does, no doubt! Jamie is also one of the first people that most of our patients interact with, so with her enthusiastic ways and radiant smile, she wins them over from the get-go. We are so grateful also to have Leslie with us, first because of her recent scare with the headache-slash-surgery, but also because she is our “Jeffa” (lady-boss) of the sterilization department. A little-known fact about Leslie is that she is also the DJ of the clinic, and keeps us humming (literally) to all the catchy tunes pumping out of her little blue and sliver stereo. Lily is comic relief … j/k! She works hard doing polishing … most of the cleanings are completed with her expertise. The 3 Amigos, Joe, Isaac, and Dany, hang out and are available for whatever is needed at the time. Dany does the bulk of the translating for the clinic, and knows more about dental procedures than your typical 11-year-old. I, Dena am extremely happy filling my role as support person for the team. My common summons these days .. “Dena, I need some suction!” and I hop-to! ;) I now pause in the writing of this blog to respond to the call …

The schedule worked out like a dream. Jamie and Zelina were a welcome sight bringing snacks around noon, and we rotated through taking short breaks in between fillings and cleanings. The gusts wind that had bombarded us in the morning abated later in the day to an occasional pleasant breeze. We were able to see some of the De Hoyos family in the clinic this day too, which is great because they are the ones that do all the work to bring us down and host us. Here’s a shout-out to our Mexican family! We love you guys!

It was a full day of work, but the time slipped by quickly until it was time to say, “Adios” until the mañana. Those of us who still had energy to burn went on a run. We had a good time of fellowship in the evening, walking under the stars, talking about life, and playing sequence until we could barely keep our eyelids propped open.