On Thursday (July 10) Doug drove all of 20 minutes to the town of La Concepción (affectionately called La Concha for short), where Renee and Amanda are working at the town’s public health clinic. Although close to Jinotepe, the students report that it feels like they are in an entirely different part of the country, mostly because the countryside is hillier and has different kinds of farms. This area is fruit and vegetable land; it supplies the bulk of produce to markets in Managua, only about 45 minutes away.

Doug arrived at the health center to find Amanda (a nursing major) and Renee (a pre-med student) in medical gowns busy working with clinic staff, attending patients in separate rooms. Outside the doors waited long lines of patients for medical attention. As a public clinic, all the services offered are free of charge, which is essential given that many Nicaraguans earn less than $2 per day.

The GC students take turns rotating through different rooms and offices at the clinic. Today Amanda was working with a nurse interviewing patients, taking blood pressures, weights, and temperatures. Renee was working in Curación, where the doctors clean wounds, give stitches, remove stitches, and give injections, among other things.

Periodically Amanda and Renee accompany the clinic staff as they go to outlying areas and set up temporary clinics with all the same stations as the permanent clinic in town. People are also creatively taught health prevention, such as washing hands and brushing teeth. On another trip they went to a barrio where several people had contracted dengue. The team sprayed for mosquitoes and went door to door telling the local residents to get rid of containers of standing water, where mosquitoes can breed.

Although work at the clinic begins at 8 a.m., Amanda and Renee start their days at 5:30 a.m. as they accompany Renee’s mother on an hour walk. The stroll through different barrios in town, as well as walk into the countryside on narrow paths. After the walk they have breakfasts in their respective homes, and when they get to work at 8:00, the waiting room is already full of patients.

.

A journal entry from Renee, “Trip to Barrio Panama.”

About the third day of working in the clinic, they asked me if I wanted to accompany them (one doctor and one nurse) to one of the poor barrios that they visit once a month. So I enthusiastically agreed to go to a barrio called Panama.

I expected us to visit different houses to vaccinate children, but instead we announced through a loudspeaker attached to the top of the truck we were driving that we were in the area and would be taking consultations in a room attached to one of the houses in the barrios.

At first, for at least an hour, no one came to the makeshift clinic, which was okay because we had time to setup the table the doctor would use and several chairs outside for the waiting patients. The single room also had a curtain for privacy and an examining table. We had also brought along a scale, an electronic blood pressure measurement device (a donation that turned out not to function at all) and a box full of medicine.

Once people started coming to the clinic around 10 a.m., there was a steady stream of patients until 3 p.m. Most of the patients were women and children, and while I had seen poverty in the clinic in San Juan, these people seemed to be much worse off. Their clothes were very worn and most of them had collections of dirt on them because of the lack of running water in this barrio. However, I was surprised to see that a lot of the women still wore dressy high heels!

.

A journal entry from Amanda, “Living in Nicaragua”

In the beginning of my SST experience my family talked about how many people who came here, such as the Peace Core people, end up living here for years because they fall in love with the country. I really didn’t understand this when I first arrived, but now, after living here longer, I’m starting to understand.

There is so much culture, history, and pride for the country which I really don’t see in the U.S. The main thing that I love that is lacking in the U.S. is the culture. I love how they have so many parties to celebrate whatever they feel like and the parties always include dancing. All the dancing is beautiful, from folklore dancing to discotheque dancing. :)

Another thing that is so different here is the great hospitality and friendliness of Nicaraguans. They always recognize someone new, greet them, and are normally willing to talk for awhile. This is so different from the U.S. where everyone can be stand-offish and just keep to themselves. Here no one has to be alone if they don’t want to be; anyone can be a possible friend.

The great hospitality that our families have shown us on SST has also been a testament to the Nica way of life. Even though they are getting paid weekly, most of the families go above and beyond what they need to. Many families are determined to teach their students new Spanish and culture. I am very thankful for this experience and now I can see how so many people have fallen in love with this country.