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Last night after mass, we had our final dinner at the Convent. The volunteers of the Pastoral Social joined us for dinner. Following dinner, the women from Pastoral Social treated us with traditional dancing from central Chiapas. The women wore their beautiful traditional dresses. What a wonderful treat!
The Pastoral Social volunteers gratefully thanked us for our service, asking that we continue to remember the people of Chiapas and continue to return to Coapilla to help their people. We were each given a wooden box filled with coffee that was grown in the area. The Cáritas Nuns at the Convent served us breakfast and dinner for the past 4 ½ days. They cooked and served some of the best traditional food we’ve ever had. Every meal was made with careful attention to detail, fresh, all natural and made with love. Every meal we were met with a warm beautiful smile. How inspirational it was to see them work and serve every day with a pleasing smile that lit up their faces with the love of service to others. Clinic in Esquipula.
Today marked a first for the MDP team! Megan, our team pharmacy organizer-(a Physical Therapist in Mankato, MN), gave the group of patients waiting outside of clinic today a class about exercises for the relieve of back and neck pain. With Katie as her “patient”, and with the help of Lia and Thalia as interpreters, Megan taught the people at Esquipulas and people from surrounding areas how to do several different exercises and stretches to help alleviate chronic neck and back pain. Because of the work they do, not only in the fields, but also in their every day life, chronic back pain, neck pain and headaches are common problems we see. The physical therapy class was very well received by the patients. When Megan asked who would like a handout in Spanish explaining how to do the exercises, almost every hand quickly and eagerly was raised. Megan and Katie had everyone’s undivided attention during the explanations and demonstrations they provided. What a beautiful gift to share! Clinic in Trinidad.
Can you imagine what it must be like to be born in a place with little resources? Can you imagine having to quit school at age 6 to go to work in the fields so that you and your family are able to eat and have shelter? Today, with the help of Thalia, my interpreter for the day, we took care of a 9-year-old boy who came to clinic with his mother. The child had daily headaches, body aches and stomach symptoms every day in the mid to late afternoon. He was very thin; he did not smile, and his facial expression a reflection of the struggles of a life of poverty. As I sorted through his physical symptoms, I asked about his diet and water intake. To our surprise, we learned he AND his 15 year old brother worked in the fields every day. Their father became debilitated and unable to work after an accident 4 years ago. His older brother has been working in the fields daily for 4 years, and our patient has been doing so for the past 3 years. They eat a very early breakfast at home, and during the day have no food to eat except a drink called “Pozol”. Pozol is a drink made from corn, similar to what we know as rice milk. It is very low in calories. His mom said they could not afford food for them to eat while they are at work. Several members of our team discretely put together 2 brown paper bags of food from our backpacks for the boys to eat this week while out in the fields. In that moment we did what we could, but sadly, it was only a temporary fix to a larger problem. Clinic in Morelos.
Don Layo, a man many of you have heard about in the past, volunteered to help us daily for the 4 days of clinic held in the Coapilla area. He lost his left arm in an accident many years ago. When we first met him, his left arm prosthesis was very deteriorated, making day-to-day work difficult for him. Due to costs, he was never able to pay for a new prosthesis. In 2012, MDP started the process of getting him a new prosthesis. In 2015, after several stages of fitting and adjustments, his new prosthesis was finally ready for him. He was so grateful for the gift of a new prosthesis and continues to show his gratitude by volunteering his time to help us at clinic whenever we are in the Copilla area. He not only is helping our team, but he volunteers his time thru Pastoral Social to help his fellow people in the Coapilla area. He did not take his gift of a new prosthesis for granted. He actions are a true example of someone who had continued to “pay it forward”. He comes every morning with a smile on his face, genuine in his desire to help others and to support MDP. Gratitude…. Sharing the gifts we have with others, no matter how big or small. This morning, while Dr. Rich and Lia were in Tuxla getting some of our medications and supplies, the rest of the team unpacked and organized some of the medications and supplies that were ordered from in country. The sights and smells of the beautiful landscape of Chiapas and the aroma of the flowering trees and plants surrounded us.
Our faithful driver of many years, Vicente, met us at the Retreat Center. We packed up his van and we were off to the city of Coapilla, where we will be staying for the first part of our trip. Once at Coapilla, we set up clinic in a volunteer’s home and held a half-day of clinic. We are grateful for the people from Caritas’ Pastoral Social who worked with us today and will be assisting us for the next three days by helping us set up clinic, organize the flow of and registering the patients we saw. Pastoral Social consists of local volunteers who coordinate social services through Cáritas. These wonderful volunteers worked with us at every clinic while we were in the Coapilla area. How wonderful to be able to work side by side with the local volunteers uniting our efforts to serve the people of their communities. Today begins the MDP’s 11th Medical Mission trip to Chiapas, Mexico.
Meet the team: Dr. Rich Peller, from Mankato, MN Jen Palmar, RN from Henderson, MN Megan Linder, Physical Therapist, Pharmacy organizer, Easton, MN Katie Paulson, Dietician, Pharmacy organizer, Des Moines, IA Thalia Taylor, Interpreter, St. Peter, MN Lia Price, Interpreter, Co-Leader from Mankato, MN Nancy Linder, Nurse Practitioner, Co-leader from Easton, MN Early this morning, some as early as 1:00 a.m., we departed from the our homes and families to begin our journey to provide basic medical care to people in Chiapas who have little or no access to medical care. In Atlanta, we met Katie and thus began the start of new friendships as well as the reuniting of old friends. Although it was a long day of traveling, we were grateful for an uneventful day of flights, transition through customs, and the local parishioners who pick us up at the airport to take us to the Retreat Center Oasis de la Cruz located on the outskirts of Tuxla, were we will spend the night. |
Team Members
Dr. Rich Peller - Mankato, MN ArchivesCategories |