Day 4 - Monday (Feb. 13) – Village Medical Clinic

The VMC traveled to Patchakan today. The trip started out in a most interesting way... We were going to pick up the translators at the local church. Being guided by our fearless leader, we confidently drove a "special way" to get there. After having several people honk and wave to us (we thought they were so very friendly) we realized we were going the wrong way on a one way street. Nothing like three large vans going down the wrong way to garner some attention. And, sure enough, a policeman very quickly approached our vans. We thought we might have to bail John out of prison, but the policeman helped us out of this hazardous situation. It certainly was an interesting way to start the day!

Once we made it safely to Patchakan, we treated 215 people. Over 400? pharmaceutical scripts were filled for antibiotics, blood pressure, diabetes, GI, vitamins, pain killers, and other medicines. The very first person to be helped today was a 98 year old woman who had served as the mid-wife for the village for most of her life.

The Ear Wash station was very busy and helped over 90? people. In order to get things started off, John Kirby volunteered to have his ears cleaned out. When the children saw that John was okay after his experience, they joined in to get their ears cleaned, as well.

Once again, we were able to give away 78 reading glasses, 147 sunglasses and 22 Spanish Bibles.

For lunch, we were served galnachos (similar to a tostado) which is a flat corn tortilla with black beans, chicken, cheese, cabbage, and a tomato. After digesting lunch, a couple of us went out to play "monkey in the middle" with the kids in the village. It's a good thing the weather was so nice or I think the doctors might have had to resuscitate us "old guys".

Day 4 - Monday (Feb. 13)

Well it was another gorgeous morning in Belize. I certainly don't want to rub anything in to our fellow Cincinnatians, but the weather here has been outstanding. In fact, I am hearing from some of the team members who have been here multiple years, that this is the best weather this mission trip has ever experienced. Temperatures have been in the mid 70's and low 80's with a cool breeze. And on top of that, we understand that we avoided snow and freezing temperatures in Cincinnati while we were here. And that when we return it should be back in the 40's in Cincinnati. Well, I guess we are living the good life down here. ;-)

This morning (at 6:30am for some, a little later for others) we enjoyed french toast, bananas and papaya for breakfast. After our hearty breakfast, we had our "Talking Sabbath" devotions, which were adhered to reasonably well. And afterwards, we gathered in the vans and took off for our respective sites: Orange Walk/Northern Regional Hospital for the surgical team, San Victor for the construction crew, and Patchakan for the Village Medical Clinic.

Day 3 - Sunday (Feb. 12) – Surgical Team

The surgical team was able to help a woman who was attacked by machetes and left for dead. They were able to perform numerous scar revisions and repair her ear. However, her chief complaint related to the pain she felt in her jaw and her mismatched bite. Unfortunately, we did not have the equipment (or time) to resolve this. But when she returned on Monday for follow-up, she informed the doctors that after the surgery her pain was gone and she now had a proper bite. The doctors shared with her that they did not do it. It was the Great Physician who healed her, using the intubation process & opening her jaw so wide along with whatever else Christ did.

There were a total of 22 cases treated today that included: tubes for ears; ear lobe repair; tongue repair; tonsillectomies; scar revisions; cleft palate & cleft lip repairs; fixing noses so that people can breath; tumor, cyst & breast mass removal; excision of a lip lesion; and a tear duct repair.

Also, the surgery team arrived at the hospital and enjoyed hearing the children in the school yard across the street singing in both English and Spanish.

Day 3 - Sunday (Feb. 12) – Construction

The Construction crew did a variety of things in addition to the construction work. They had purchased a variety of soft drinks. And when they passed by some field workers who were harvesting the sugar cane, they stopped and offered them a refreshing drink. The workers were grateful and even allowed some of the guys to try out their machetes. (That was probably a frightening experience for most of the field workers!)

In addition to installing more doors and windows, they also got to play some "duck-duck-goose". Although I think they may have renamed it "duct-duct-monkey wrench" or something like that... You will definitely want to check out the picture slideshow to see the construction crew's pictures!

Day 3 - Sunday (Feb. 12) – Village Medical Clinic

The VMC traveled to San José where they treated 198 patients. Once again, Dr. Fry provided OB/GYN services. There were over 375 pharmaceutical scripts filled for antibiotics, blood pressure, diabetes, GI, vitamins, pain killers, and other medicines.

The Ear Wash station helped 105 people and not only got a couple of bugs out of people’s ears, including a tick, they even got a rock out of someone’s ear!

Additionally, we gave away 75 reading glasses, 195 sunglasses and 24 Spanish Bibles. The team got a little sunburned but that did not dampen their spirits. They had a lot of fun with the children who were singing and dancing for candy.

Day 3 - Sunday (Feb. 12)

We started the morning out at 6:30am again -- although admittedly several are wandering in a little later each day.

Breakfast was eggs, bacon and toast again which was thoroughly enjoyable after a "not long enough" night's sleep.

John challenged us to enjoy the Sabbath by holding a sabbath from talking during our devotions. And, quite frankly, the group did a pretty good job of actually doing that. I might add, that was a real challenge and accomplishment for some of the team members.

After morning devotions, we all gathered to the vans to begin our mission work. The surgical team headed off to the Orange Walk/Northern Regional Hospital. The construction crew headed off to San Victor. And the village medical team headed to San José.

Day 2 - Saturday (Feb. 11) – Surgical Team

The surgical team treated 24 cases today that included a variety of procedures, including: tubes for ears, tonsilectomies, scar revisions, cleft palate repairs, fixing noses so that people can breath, keloid removal, removal of masses, wart removal and other procedures.







In addition to all of these surgeries and procedures, they had a little surprise in the OR when a lizard scuttled in.