I met the group on Saturday in Quito and we rode the private tour bus that we would call home for the week to the Santa Rosa Convent in the city of Santo Domingo. While the town is not known for it's charm, and it happens to be one of the most dangerous places in Ecuador, we were safe sleeping, eating and hanging out inside the former nunnery! The only two people I knew from the group at the beginning were a coordinator and a Peacecorps volunteer. But I quickly made lots of new friends from Kentucky and among the other translators, who were all medical students from Quito!
Santa Rosa Convent in Santo Domingo, where we stayed for 4 nights
Sunday was our first clinic day, and the entire group went to a very underprivileged neighborhood outside of Santo Domingo (SD) called Plan de Vivienda. The patients had to stand in many lines, first registration, then the nursing station, then to see a doctor and sometimes to dentists and physical therapists as well. Finally they went to the pharmacy, where every patient expected to get some free medication. We worked surprisingly well together as one big group, but nonetheless, it was a hot and hectic day. Thankfully the Ecuadorian translation crew was ready to unwind that night by celebrating a birthday with 13 bottles of watermelon flavored liquor!
After that night, it was a miracle that everyone made it out the door on Monday, as we started our second clinic day. This time we split up into two teams and my group went to the Shoulder to Shoulder Medical Center in another squatter neighborhood of SD. I had visited the clinic back in February on a field trip with CIMAS, but this visit was so much better because I actually got to help treat patients! I spent the morning translating for Tom Young, a pediatrician and professor, who also happened to be the director of the Shoulder to Shoulder program at UK. In the afternoon I translated for Jennifer, a Internist Resident at UK. We ended up seeing only women with gynecological problems, so she was a little out of her element, but I had a ball working with her. Both doctors were very inspiring and I learned so much from them! For dinner that night we got to eat outside of the convent at a fancy restaurant, which (like everything) was paid for by the brigade. After the meal, the main Ecuadorian doctor at the UK clinic sang and played guitar for us.
Ronald the Peacecorps volunteer and me in front of a mural at the UK Shoulder to Shoulder Medical Center
Outside the clinic at the end of a busy day!
Tuesday was our third, and last clinic day in the Santo Domingo area. My group traveled outside of the city for about 30 minutes on a dirt road to the Tsa'chila community of El Poste. I again translated for Dr. Tom in the morning and we saw a constant stream of kids with parasites. In my spare time, I played games with the kids and after lunch we had lots of fun hanging out with them, coloring, playing soccer and taking pictures. At about 2:30 pm we got back in the bus and drove further into the jungle to visit their community tourism site. They told us about their history and demonstrated their traditional hair painting, dances, medicinal plants and artisanal work. I got to translate again, but this time for my brigade group of 20+ people! Afterwards, we returned to the Medical Center in SD, where the other half of the group spent their day. That afternoon, the local community put on an appreciation show, which included another dance performance! That night, the whole group went out to a karaoke discotech, which turned out to be a hilarious experience!
Future Med Student Kristin putting fluoride on kids' teeth
Dr. Tom examining kids from the El Poste school
Coloring with the kids
Friends from the Tsa'chila community (it was the same one I visited back in February on a CIMAS field trip...they remembered our group!)
Dance performance at the Medical Center
Wednesday was our community work day, so we painted and laquered all over the Medical Center to spruce it up a bit! After lunch, we said goodbye to Santo Domingo and drove about 6 hours north to Cotacachi. We checked into our hotel which was a former hacienda, ate dinner and went straight to bed!
Hotel Rancho Santa Fe in Cotacachi
Thursday was our one and only clinic day in the Cotacachi area, and we split up into our two groups again. My group drove up on the side of the Cotacachi Volcano to a small agricultural Quichua village called El Cercado. We set up our clinic in a dirty and neglected community center. For part of the morning I translated for doctors in general medicine, although the majority of the patients were little tykes from the school next door. By midmorning we were running short on translators, so I had to go into the dental and physical therapy room. I was the only translator there for most of the time, so I was running between 5 different providers who needed translations. Dentistry was immensely busy that day, between the 3 dentists they pulled a total of 60 teeth just to relieve people's pain. There were many more teeth that needed fillings, which we weren't able to do. On top of being overwhelmed with people, we were also inhibited by a double language barrier, as many patients only spoke Quichua and not even Spanish. At the end of the day I felt worn out, but not accomplished because this community needed so much more help, like a nearby clinic and health education. Afterwards we drove back into town and perused the main street, which is lined with nice leather shops selling all sorts of beautiful coats, purses, belts, etc. I was a little too shocked by the extreme poverty that we'd seen during the day to make any purchases.
View of Imbabura Volcano from our clinic site on Thursday
The dental and Physical Therapy team!
Shoulder exercises with a broom!
One little guy is not so happy that his teeth are getting pulled!
My team (half of the entire group) after our final day of brigade clinics.
I'm in the front row, second from the left.
After a few solid days of working, we got to do a little sightseeing on Friday and Saturday. In the morning we drove back towards Quito to check out the Cochasqui ruins. I had visited them before on a CIMAS field trip, so while they took the tour, I went on a 2 hour hike up in the hills. It was a gorgeous morning and so incredibly clear that at least 10 volcanoes were visible! We headed back to the hotel for a late lunch, and then in the afternoon most people took the bus to Laguna Cuicocha, just 12 km from Cotacachi. However, we didn't have much time to hike before it got dark and we all wished that we'd been able to spend the whole day there! Friday was our last night all together, so we enjoyed another tasty meal and had a group reflection meeting in the hotel's silly "casino room". Most of the medical providers said they planned to come on another brigade trip in the future because they enjoyed their experiences. Overall we all agreed that the 50-something of us had worked surprisingly well together!
Cayambe Volcano during my hike
A lonely little goat that I ran into
Llamas at the Cochasqui Ruins
Laguna Cuicocha in the afternoon fog
On Saturday we got the true gringo experience of shopping in the Otavalo market during it's busiest and biggest morning. Everyone was let loose for 2 hours and most people went a little crazy on the souvenirs! I was quickly overwhelmed by the market, so I took a short hike around the surrounding hills, but like a few other people on the trip, my stomach was starting to feel sick. After our last meal altogether in Otavalo, we drove back into Quito with a stop at La Capilla del Hombre (the Guayasamin Museum, my favorite in Quito) on the way. That night, the Ecuadorian translators made reservations for us at one of the wildest restaurants I've ever been too, call La Boca del Lobo (Wolf's Mouth). It had such weird decorations and was pricey for Ecuador, but we had a great time celebrating the end of the brigade! Afterwards we hung out at the Bungalow bar and many people attempted to stay awake until their airport shuttle left the hotel at 4 am. I didn't quite make it until then!
My favorite painting from the Guayasamin Museum the second time around
Sunday morning there were only about 10 of us left from the brigade and all the others were flying out that night, so I said goodbye and headed back to Tena.
What a week it had been! I learned tons about health care in general and health workers motivation for paying over $1500 to volunteer for a week in another country. The reaction of the local people to the brigade was also very interesting, but to me it's still unclear whether or not we really made a lasting difference in the health of impoverished communities.
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