Thursday, May 26, 2011

Cristina Rondolino- Semana una en Panama

My time in Panama so far has been truely eye opening. The issues that the people of Panama face are so much different then what people face in America. The clinic I am placed at, Alto Cabellero, has no running water. The whole town has no running water for half of the year and the people rejoyce when the rain comes because it means. Clean water and a chance to bathe. The school has no running water, and we are planning on going there and teaching them to wash their hands and brush their teeth, but it makes it a lot more difficult when there no running water! We talked about how when we went to the Panama canal we learned that with each transit 52 million gallons of water are wasted and there are 38 transits a day. That is 3,364 million gallons a day. It is just interesting that same thing that drives the countries economy in such a tremendous way, comes at the expense of its most precious resourse.
The people of the Comarca are unbelievably peaceful. When waiting in line for the clinics they wait patiently for hours, some times all day and never complain. There is very little crime here because people.have so much respect of one another. If I could bring one souvenirs back with me tho the states it would be the peace that I have felt here. It is something that America has gotten so far away from.
We have only been in the clinics for two days and I already feel like it has been a life changing experience. I have given multiple vaccinations and antibiotics, I have gotten to speak with people and watch the language barrier fall down. It is truely amazing. I am really enjoying being able to practice my Spanish but I am finding that I can understand a lot but I do not know how to respond. Some how everything works out though.
The man at the clinic who gives the vaccinations, Aldo, was a great teacher even though he did not speak any Spanish. He taught me how to give intramuscular injections on people of all ages and was very helpful. At the end of the day he told us that he was not going to be at that clinic anymore because he was just there to help out temporarily. He took pictures with all of us and then gave us all bracelets that he made us!
I am really loving being here and trying to make the most out of every second. There is so much to write about but I think I hit some of the high points.
- Cristina

1 comment:

  1. What a great way to document your experiences. Can't wait to read more! Me gustaria estar alli y ver la paz. :-)

    Courtney Wagner

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