Dia de gracias
Trip Start
Jun 25, 2008
1
22
Trip End
Dec 17, 2008
Cochabamba,
Bolivia
Friday, November 28, 2008
I went on tuesday I went out about 30 min from the center of the city to meet a nurse that is working out in a rural area. the president has put a little money into building rural clinics but hasnt yet put the money into paying a doctor to be there. Instead the university has sent two interns out there, to practice medicine (literally practice). They were smoking in the entrance when we got there so i guess they didnt leave a great impression, not that many interns do. The nurse on the other hand, is doing a lot. Seeing patients, handling emergencies and transfering them to larger hospitals, traveling house to house vacinating kids. etc. Very impressed by her drive and compassion. We went to visit a woman with cancer to see if our social worker could help discount her hospital costs she is accruing with the chemo, which is obviously very expensive. She is living in a mud room with her husband and five kids. The piece of chicken for dinner, which was mostly skin and fat was hanging on the clothsline to dry. She is cooking outside on the ground, and the kids are malnurished. The nurse there said one of the major problems in the community is malnutrition, for example a 4 year old that came in weighing 9 kilos. This whole time I have been in bolivia I have been thinking "bolivia is poor but its not like africa, there is plenty of food and the people can afford it". That is so stupid. I forgot that because I am in the city all the time, where it seems relatively modern, that Bolivia is the poorest country in south america, and 60% of the population are living in poverty. I was shocked to barely leave the city and be with 10000 recently migrated people where a major problem is hunger. It was a good experience the week of thanksgiving, where my typical routine is to eat as much as possible and lay on a couch and watch movies. I didnt do that today, not because I felt guilty but because it was too much work and money to prepare a typical thanksgiving dinner. Instead I ate beans and rice with two close friends.
Missing my family as I am here very far away, but grateful for friends, and experiences, and that I can breathe and walk and laugh.
happy thanksgiving!
Comments
Missing you
It is so true we take things for granted here, yesterday we had tons of food at work and most of it went to waste. I am glad you are still doing well although missing home, like we miss you. Are you still planning on coming back on the 17th? See you soon, stay safe.