Some things remain the same from day-to-day on a Speroway Medical Team. For everyone, there is an “early to rise” morning but an even “earlier” one for the dental team that heads out long before everyone else. There is the adventure of going to a new location, like El Sunza, but always seeing a line-up of families at the gate of our next clinic.
First Shoes!
What changes are the stories – everyone has a story. Do you recall when you got your first pair of shoes? We met an 81-year-old woman who had never worn a pair of shoes in her whole life! Black with dirt, the soles of Adoncia’s feet were like leather. We had a pair of running shoes in Distribution and they fit. In the same way you might offer assistance to a child learning to tie their shoes, Andoncia was shown how to tie the laces of her new shoes for the very first time.
Today in El Sunza we encountered a mother and her two children who had not eaten all day. A few team members quickly and without hesitation gave up their fruit and granola bars so the family could eat.
As we were closing up the clinic late in the afternoon a woman, in obvious distress, came to the gate. Dr. Bert Lauwers offered to examine her and what he discovered shocked us all. First we uncover that Reyna is a diabetic then we find signs that she has almost certainly suffered a heart attack sometime in the past 24 hours. She needs to go to hospital. One of the nurses on our team establishes an IV in Reyna’s hand and a local pastor whisks her off to the hospital for immediate treatment.
What happens next catches us by surprise. The dental team has just about packed up all of their equipment (an extensive process) when a young girl appears with a cut and bleeding lip and a clearly damaged tooth. Dr. del Donne sets up his equipment and begins work on root canal and repairs to the damaged tooth. Other team members, from all areas come alongside in support and to help pack up the equipment at the end of the operation.
Could we have said “no” to either of these women? Could we have said, “Registration is over, we need to pack up and leave.” I think you know the answer.
