Day 19 in Cacha was arguably my favorite day in Ecuador! Why? Because of the kiddies. Most of the clinics in Cacha are located next to schools, so when we arrived at the clinic this morning I saw a whole bunch of kids being led to school by their teacher. I secretly wanted to leave the clinic and just go to the school to play with the kids, but I didn't even have to do that because all of the kids came over to the clinic for a checkup. We examined about 27 children that day.
The younger kids were sooooo cute. When we went outside to visit them before they all came over to the clinic a few of them attempted to climb the tall fence just to see us. I told them the best way I knew how in Spanish to be careful and get off of the fence. When they came over to the clinic, the doctor pulled out all of their charts and began to record weight and heights as the medical students measured them. However cute these kids are, they were also very dirty and smelly too. When they removed their shoes there was dirt all over their feet. There was snot and spit all over their shirts, and they put everything, including my ink pen in their mouths. When we started to examine them, the doctor let us do all the work. For each child I looked at their scalp, examined their throats, and listened to their hearts and lungs. It was a great chance for me to practice my physical exam in Spanish, which I would be tested on later in the week. One of my favorite kids was the "tongue depressor collector". This boy picked up every tongue depressor that he found in the clinic and carried it around, sometimes even putting it in his mouth...eewww. But, the really sweet thing was that when I told him to give me the tongue depressors he did it without question. Another thing I won't forget about these little children is that when clinic was over and we were leaving, I heard the sounds of children's voices yelling "Doctorita, Doctorita". Doctorita is what many people call female doctors in Ecuador. These children were trying to get my attention, in fact they were climbing all over the fences just to get my attention.It was at that point that I realized that they had probably been climbing those fences way before I even stepped foot in Ecuador, so I shouldn't fret about their safety. Instead I just walked over, after taking photos of the sheep that were roaming around outside, and said good bye to the children.
There was also another group of children who came into the clinic. These were the older kids and they all seemed to have a cough and soar throat. I was amazed that 10 children could all come in with the same symptoms, and also kind of skeptical. I wondered if they were really sick, or if they all just wanted to come into the clinic. Nevertheless we examined them all and the doctor gave them medication. At first these kids were really shy, but then they opened up to me. Once girl asked my name, and then proceeded to ask me the names of all of my family members. These children also wanted to know how to pronounce their names in English. They were so excited to hear their name in another language.
I left clinic that day happy that I had the chance to interact with children and practice my physical exam and language skills at the same time.
Day 20 was not as good as day 19 for me. For the most part we sat in one of the other clinics from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm at which point we went out on house visits. I had been excited to do house visits before, but I didn't know what I was in for. If I had not experienced culture shock before this day, it was about to happen to me. One other medical student and I hopped into the back of a truck and went with the dentist and the doctor to see people in their homes. When we got of the truck we were welcomed by a roaming rooster and barking dogs. Seeing the indigenous people of Cacha in their homes was amazing to me. The homes were mostly made of stone and were dirty and dusty, yet the people seemed to live comfortably. There were so many bugs. There was one lady who was about 85. She only spoke Quechua, the native language of Cacha, so it was hard for the doctors to communicate with her in Spanish. Her feet were so rough, and it looked as if she never wore shoes. Her hands were obviously swollen with arthritis, but she continued to work, preparing food for herself as we attempted to talk with her.
Doing these home visits led me to believe that practicing medicine in developing countries is not for me. Being in the clinics in Riobamba was one thing, and being in the clinics in Cacha was another. But doing those house visits really took me by surprise. The bugs and the smells made me so uncomfortable. The doctor and dentist seemed able to handle it well, but I was ready to get out of there! I always thought that seeing patients in developing countries was exactly what I wanted to do, but seeing how I reacted to this situation showed me that maybe I should consider doing something else. I don't think its a bad thing, just a great realization, that maybe I'm not built to do what I thought I was. Knowing this opens up new possibilities for me. It could also be that this was my first time experiencing medicine in this way, and I need to give it a chance. Only time will tell!
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