Lamay OK

(by Basil)

So up until now, you have heard about the wonderful world of Urumbamba. “But, wait,” you say, “weren’t you supposed to be doing a medical service mission in Lamay?” To that I respond, “Do you really care when there are such great photos of Rhoda?” Okay, so now on to the Clinic. As I mentioned in the last post, there was a strike (“Huelga”) on Tuesday when we were supposed to go up to the Clinic. Wednesday became our first day of work and it was amazing.

On the trip up, Kit got some great pictures of the countryside. That first picture kind of looks like Utah doesn’t it?

The next one might too except for the terraces. In order to make the most arable land possible, the Incas would build terraces on mountains. Fairly ingenious and when you see the photos of Macchu Pichu you will be blown away by the terracing. The town of Lamay itself, is rather small although our clinic was built to serve all of the small towns surrounding Lamay. In those small towns, most people speak only Quechua although there is a lot of Spanish now mixed into the language.The first thing you notice when coming in to the clinic is the motorcycles parked in the waiting room. I don’t know why motorcycles. Maybe cars just wouldn’t fit.By the motorcycles, there were also wheelchairs one of which had been donated by the LDS church. I heard about this program during conference and it is so cool to see it in action.That first day, we spent a good deal of time organizing and honestly it was a little crazy. Patients started showing up even before we had unpacked all our stuff. I started on triage and ended up doing a lot of blood pressures and translations. Kit took a couple of great pics showing what the triage room was like when I first started there.This is a picture of Marissa. Marissa became one of Kit’s good friends on the trip. They seemed to have a lot in common including interest in shopping for deals and they both have little girls.The clinic was actually better organized and had more in terms of medical supplies than we had originally anticipated. They even ran some basic labs and had their own pharmacy. They had recently built a birthing room that has one of the few baby warmers in Peru. They are very proud.Kit ended up spending a lot of her time chasing Rhoda around. Rhoda made quick friends within the clinic. Here you can see here playing with her new friend Fabrizio.The OR became a major sorting area and was later converted into an optometry office/break room/storage facility. We also set up a pharmacy for storing and sorting medications.Our first day, we ended up seeing around 45 patients. Respectable, but nothing compared to what was waiting for us on Thursday.Next to the clinic is a courtyard labeled Mama Wasi with a washing area and little rooms coming off of it. It is a place for ladies who live in the highlands surrounding Lamay to come when they are about to give birth so they didn’t have to travel to the clinic.Here Anna is explaining to Marissa, Satoko, and Alida how she hates having her picture taken while she is talking.In the center of the clinic is a little garden. Each of the plants is labeled with its medicinal purpose and name.When Kit and Rhoda weren’t out visiting the patients, they were in the OR where Maureen Fike ran the optometry stuff and made a lot of people very happy. Honestly, I think a lot of them wanted glasses more than medical care.Kit also got a couple of pictures of people eating lunch. Yes, I know, a very official looking break room with plenty of seating . . . if you are willing to sit on the floor.The girls also went for a walk around town where they met many nice people including this adoring abuela. In the clinic, there was a little boy that Rhoda could not help but hug. She wasn’t coerced. No one offered her Inka Cola, She just genuinely wanted to hug this little boy and she did! As usual in Peru, the dogs rule the town. The one below wandered in off the street to watch the proceedings. He wanted to be treated too, but I said “No way, I don’t care if you do have a number!