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| Packing Birth Kits at SE Clinic--Many Hands Make Light Work! |
In about 2 weeks' time, another group from the Providence Oregon Family Medicine Residency program will head back to Huehuetenango, Guatemala to work alongside staff at the Project Concern International sponsored Casa Materna. This year's group is a little bigger than both previous years. It consists of 3 faculty doctors--Bob Gobbo, (Loro Verde from 2013 trip), Hood River Family Medicine Residency Director, Mike Waddick from SE Clinic, and Orlando Acosta from Hood River's One Community Health, 2 residents, Mali Nakhai from SE Clinic and Matt Sperry from the Hood River program, as well as FNP/Acupuncturist/Lactation Consultant Elena Mejia, and Suzy Happ, home visiting nurse with Providence Beginnings, and this program coordinator.
These are interesting times in Guatemala, with the former president and vice president currently incarcerated for corruption, allegedly skimming millions of government dollars accepting bribes for businesses to avoid paying import taxes. The people stood up for themselves and took to the streets protesting this type of corruption in the face of some of the abysmal conditions that exist in their country--lack of adequate health care and education, malnutrition, and rampant poverty. The country is in the process of electing a new president, and we sincerely hope for that person to better represent the needs of the people!
Staff at both the Providence Oregon Family Medicine Residency Southeast and Milwaukie Clinics are helping us to prepare for our trip. We are having two "birth kit assembly parties" to put together clean birth kits for the indigenous midwives. The kits consist of: 1. a plastic sheet to go under mom at delivery 2. a bar of soap for the midwife to wash her hands 3 a pair of gloves 4. clean twine to clamp cord, 5. a clean razor blade to cut cord, and 6. gauze pads to wipe babies' eyes and to clean mom after delivery. Oh, yes and a nice index card with a handwritten note to the mom congratulating her on her new baby! All these items fit in a nifty little ziploc sandwich bag. For all their hard work, we got some real Guatemalan tamales for lunch. We are really excited for the coming trip, and look forward to reconnecting with the Casa Materna staff, the local health care providers who will attend our workshops to hear what we have to say, as well as share their knowledge with us, especially the comadronas or village midwives, and the patients we will have the opportunity to meet. Keep us in your thoughts as we get ready, and stay tuned for future posts when we get on the ground in a couple of weeks.
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| Veronica on left, Dr. Tom Schwartz and Mali Nakhai |
Just FYI, Suzy wrote most of this.
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