Day 5, Part 1
8:00 AM – We’re outside, ready to board the bus. Today is our last day for our medical mission. Tomorrow, we will head back to Manila, and everyone will return to his or her respective lives. Hard to believe how fast this mission has come and gone.
Everyone seems jovial. Part of it might be that they got more time to relax after dinner and were able to get a couple of more hours of sleep. I heard that everyone had a nice evening enjoying beers with each other.
We’re also happy that today is the end of our journey. It’s certainly not because we don’t want to be here any longer. However, I'm sure that many on the team would like to return their own lives and families back home.
Having said that, we understand that thousands of Filipinos in the area don’t have that luxury. Life changed for tens of thousands of people in a violent instant. Each member of this team appreciates their own life and loved ones that much more because of this trip. That would could provide even a tiny measure of comfort, be it physical or emotional, to the people we have served means the world to us, and we're tremendously glad that we did this.
8:30 AM – We’re finally off to our first town of the day, Barangay 12.
9:00 AM – We’ve arrived at Barangay 12. It feels very similar in size and development to the first place we held clinic on the first day.
We’re led to a small public building of some sorts. It’s a one-story building that has two large rooms and one small office. We start to assign rooms. The dental and medical teams share the larger room off to the right. The pharmacy takes the front room. Another doctor who speaks Tagalog takes the smaller office.
Quickly, two very long lines are established for the dentist and pediatrics. The dentists have about 40-50 patients waiting to be seen. Pediatrics has around 50-60, an amount that would remain that way throughout the duration of the clinic. Everyone operating in the building is lucky; they have air-conditioners and fans, so they’re able to remain cool.
Everyone outside, both patients and staff alike--myself included, aren’t so lucky. It’s very hot by 10am.
I’ve already screened the entire dental line. As expected, nearly everyone in the line needs dental work. It’s amazing just how bad teeth can decay to the point that many of these patients have experienced.
10:30 AM – The lines are still a little confusing, but some order has been restored. I’ve had to turn half of the dental line away because the dental team won’t be able to see the entire line within two hours. Those who I had to turn away were disappointed, but I did my best to explain to them that we’re limited on time and staff, and that we have to be fair to everyone who came in line first.
Mailinh asked me to take over directing traffic inside the building while she steps out to deal with other business. Kim comes in shortly after she sees me directing traffic and asks to switch with me because it’s hot outside and she’s feeling increasingly uncomfortable. I opt to take her role and direct traffic outside.
Mailinh informs me that we’re going to end clinic at 11:30am, 30min earlier than expected. The doctor station is finished, so Dr. Trung and nurse Kelsey go over to help Thuy with her still very long pediatrics line. Thuy would later tell me that the pediatrics station saw around 120 patients.
The gift line for the adults is getting very long, and I’m now worried that we’re not going to have enough.
11:30 AM – It’s time for the adults to receive their gifts. Similar to the past few days, we’re going to give out gifts and have the adults place them at their feet facing us so we can make sure that no one games the system.
We quickly run out of gifts, not just for this visit, but also for the rest of our mission. We’re all out of our adult gift supply. We have to cut off the adult line at some point, so there will be some disappointed people. Doctors are doctors, so they’re used to giving out bad news. I, as a non-medical support staff, have quickly gotten used to disappointing people and giving bad news.
12:00 PM – I have the team board the bus so we can head home to rehydrate, each lunch, and cool off. We’re going to give ourselves until 3pm before we head out to the next and final clinic of the day.
The team disembarks to offer their condolences and prayers to the deceased. Our Buddhist monk also says his own prayers.
After we’ve paid our respects, we board the bust and make our way home.
During the remainder of the bus ride home, I’m mulling over in my mind what made this morning’s clinic so chaotic, especially since we’ve been on such a roll over the past few days. The more I think about it, the more that visions of my Operations Management class flash through my head. The way we organized the lines could’ve been improved. Understanding how many patients we could take, and how long it would take to go through the remainder of patients once we shut off the registration could’ve been better understood.
I pop in my headphones and try to zone out for a few minutes. I’m tired, hot, sweaty, and ready to have a beer.
12:30 PM – We’re home and ready to eat. Fr. Tam announces that we’ll take a rest until 3pm to let the heat pass before heading back out. I’m the first one in the lunch hall. I usually get lunch early so I can bypass the line, get my food and beer, and eat while I write these posts.
Earlier this morning, one of our Filipino volunteers claimed that she could tell who was a virgin by feeling their ears. Part of our team sitting with her on the bus ride to Barangay 12 was amused and enjoyed watching her feel other peoples’ ears to get a sexual read on them.
For this game, Theresa had that same volunteer blindfolded so that she could feel on the ears of four other support staff. Everyone had a good laugh.
Our monk gave his farewell remarks. He has been tremendously kind and uplifting this entire trip. Never showing a moment of exhaustion, he was always willing and ready to step in and help whenever needed. When he wasn’t helping out a teammate, he was entertaining the locals by teaching them how to say “thank you” in Vietnamese, and asking them how to say basic phrases in Tagalog.
I head back to the house to finish writing this half-day summary. Thanks to food coma and the heat, a number of people have or are already fast sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment