Joyce gave us a choice, since the clinic was a few blocks away and within walking distance, ride in the trucks with the gear or walk. A few of us walked and a few of us rode in the trucks. The trucks were there mostly for the gear. It was morning so I rode in the truck. Yeah, I'm lazy.
When we arrived we immediately swept the floor and started setting up and wiping down tables. We got table cloths on them and started setting up the stations. I helped get the prophy and the restoration stations up and running. Today I didn't help with the medication because they had plenty of people and plenty of made up bags for patients to take with them. The community members had already started lining up outside the door. They were anxiously waiting to be seen.
Today's group consisted of Cotacachi, El Baton and La Calera. A lot of the patients had to be driven in from the outskirt communities.
Throughout the day I helped with prophy, sterilization and holding people's heads (for stabilization) while Joyce (Atlanta Joyce) extracted teeth. I was also asked to take pictures and videos throughout the day. I was kind of a utility player...a little bit of everything. One patient actually brought in her x-rays and it showed that her wisdom teeth were going to be difficult to extract. Joyce asked me to come help her. I stabilized her jaw and head so she didn't move. I could feel every crack, the pressure, the pulling in this person's head. I was having a hard time trying to ignore it. My face says it all.
Earlier that week, we met some of Joyce's neighbors, who were also from the United States, were living here with their kids. The husband didn't work, but home schooled the kids, while the wife, teleworked remotely from Ecuador. I forget where they were from but I want to say California somewhere. They chose to move here for a few years so their kids could have a different educational experience than most kids from the US. Her company allows her to work from another country so why not right?
They came in for a little while and they brought all their Legos. For about two hours they played with the Ecuadorian kids. When it was time to go they decided to give the kids their Legos. I thought that was a very kind thing for kids to do. I am not sure if the community kept them or each kid got to take some home. I didn't hear the outcome of it.
Just before lunch, we had a few Mormon's, who where on their mission, stop by. One of them was from Utah and he was paired up with a guy from Venezuela. They visited for a while and the kid from Utah was very chatty. I guess when you were in a Spanish speaking country for months on end it was nice to finally talk to someone who speaks English. He said his time spent here has been rewarding and he's gotten to meet a lot of people. I am such an introvert I would have a hard time doing a mission like that. Good thing I am not a Mormon. We set aside some time and space to have their teeth cleaned before they left.
Mom and I took a late morning break and we walked around the town for about a half hour. We went into one of the bakeries just to see what they had for future reference and I bought a drink and mom bought an ice cream at one of the local convenience stores. The lady who owned it spoke English. She thanked us for coming in.
Joyce had gotten together with some of the local restaurants in town and put together some lunch for us. We got some delicious soup, chicken, potatoes, salad, rice and bagged juice. Apparently bagged juice is like currency here for kids. It is literally juice poured into a sandwich bag and tied in a knot at the end. Kids save up their money so they can buy bagged juice. For those who have freezers they prefer it frozen like a slushy. I felt the need to try the bagged juice and it was delicious. We each got a meal and headed out to the back for some fresh air and sunshine. It felt good to relax for about a half hour.
We had a tough couple of patients that look up a lot of the cavitron time. There was this one kid who came in with his grandmother. He was a very quiet, shy boy and he had severely overcrowded teeth. He was in my mom's chair with the cavitron for a while. It is really hard to keep overcrowded teeth clean.
That is why (if you can afford braces) it will be worth it in the long run. Straight teeth are easier to keep clean. We are in a third world country and no one could really afford braces unless you were very lucky to have them. We really take things for granted here in the US living in a mostly upper to middle class demographic. I absolutely hated my braces but I knew the outcome would be worth it.
At the end of the day, we finished up the few patients that were waiting to be seen. In the meantime, we started cleaning up as we closed each station. Josh ran some of the instruments since the sterilizer took a while to clean. Once they were done, they had to sit and dry so they didn't rust.
We finished the rest of the patients and closed the doors so we could put our stuff away and clean the facility. We left the place better than we found it. Josh stayed behind so he could finish the sterilization process and so he could return the machine back to the dental clinic. We got several pictures of the group because several of them were leaving tonight to go back to the states.
However, they had to get back so they could pack up their stuff and take that two hour car ride back to Quito. Two of our volunteers had to take themselves and several of the suitcases with them back to Guayaquil that night. That is roughly a 7 hour car ride but since they are on a bus it would take them longer to get home.
We found out we saw over 500 people during the three days of clinic. Which I think was around the same number as the first time I came. I helped over a thousand people in Ecuador.
Mom and I walked the couple blocks back the Joyce's house and waited for the trucks to get there so we could help unload them. We made several trips to and from the gate with all the luggage and the pieces of tables we borrowed. Joyce just told us to store it at the Texas neighbor's place and she would go through it later. The people staying with Joyce changed their clothes so we could wash them that night. Mom and I decided to stay behind again just so we could save a little bit of money and we wanted to watch more of March Madness.
I got cleaned up and started a load of laundry. Mom found the channel Gonzaga was playing on. I decided to make some popcorn because a few days ago Joyce mentioned if we wanted to make popcorn that she had some. I looked for the oil and a pan that would work. I found her salt and melted the butter in the microwave as the popcorn was cooking. I found a bowl and poured a glass of the really good orange juice. We watched Gonzaga beat Baylor to move on in the tournament. The popcorn also hit the spot.
Everyone came back while we were folding the clothes. Joyce told us what we were doing tomorrow and what time we had to be up. I was excited to see Laguna Cuicocha and we would be going into Otavalo and finishing up at the 300 year old Hacienda Pinsaqui. We all got ready for bed, made our beds, plugged in my phone and got my ear plugs in. Sleep felt so good.
Next Adventure: Laguna Cuicocha, Otovalo and Hacienda Pinsaqui
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