Thursday, June 6, 2013

Today at the Public Health Station, we traveled 2 hours southeast towards the coast. We were at a much lower elevation which brought us much higher temperatures than Antigua. When we arrived, there were already people lined up ready for us. One man happened to walk by the building we were in and went back home to tell his wife to go where the “gringas” were to get therapy. We set up as quickly as we could and began seeing a wide variety of people ranging in age from 3 years to 85 years. We were all very quickly dripping in sweat as the temperature soared to over 90 degrees. Despite the heat and lack of equipment the students and therapists worked tirelessly until past our regularly scheduled lunchtime so we could see everyone that had been waiting to see us even before we had arrived. We experienced some heartbreak from the young boy who appeared to have cerebral palsy who had never been to a doctor and was so afraid of us, the malnutrition of the children, to the elderly people with arthritis and chronic pain who seem to be suffering so much yet need to continue the very hard activities that make up their daily lives such as washing their clothes by hand in the public washing stations. We also experienced some joys and signs of hope such as the little girl with partial paralysis of her right hand who couldn’t pick up a block when she walked in but was able to stack them before she left. Also the little girl who was in need of various different sensory experiences and discovered how much she enjoyed rolling a sensory ball on her arms and legs and when she was left alone she began using the ball on herself. Despite the nearly unbearable working environment, we felt good about what we were able to offer these people today.

Lorrie Kanoza, OTR\L and Emily Roell, OT student

3 comments:

  1. God bless all of you. You are doing such great things at every stop. So proud of all of you.

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  2. May God's blessing be with all of you as you continue to do His work through your hearts and hands. You are all amazing!

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  3. We love you Gina and miss you lots

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