written on June 10, 2011
Today is our last day in Panama. It is bittersweet; although I miss home, I can't imagine what life is like back in the states. I've made so many great friends here and I know that I will miss them tremendously.
Monday was our last day in the communities in Chiriqui. The clinic in Soloy was amazing, and I learned and witnessed a lot of different things. I gave many injections, immunizations, IVs, and much more. When we were leaving, we said goodbye to everyone and the amazing staff of nurses and doctors who helped us throughout our stay in the Comarca. When we were eating lunch on the bus in front of the clinic, a little 8 year old girl holding her sister came to the window. She looked hungry and desperate, so I gave her the rest of my lunch. She ate it in a blink ofan eye, and the rest of my classmates gave what they could to her. She was very grateful.
Tuesday was our last day in the Comarca in Chiriqui. We ventured out early (of course!) and made it to David to the Jose Domingo children andwomen's hospital. The week prior when we visited the hospital, I had witnessed my first live birth. It was amazing and very humbling. The Panamanian women generally do not use anesthesia during birth, which is very different from the States. On Tuesday, I was in a small group and we were on the post-partum floor. We saw many different things. We also got to hold tiny babies for a few hours. I think some of us fell in love...
My stay here in Panama was amazing. It seems that 3 weeks just wasn't enough time. Although we worked hard in the communities and brought an American touch of health care to Panama, we had a lot of time to connect with each other and bond as classmates. I will never forget the 24 other people who came to Panama with me. Some of them taught me more things about myself than I knew. I learned to push myself in ways I didn't know I could. Thank you to everyone who made my Panama trip so memorable. And thank you to Dr. Cadena and Eloisa for everything.
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