Feb. 9-Stress Release

February 9, 2011michelleaUncategorized

Last night I did not have the energy to share my entire day. The stories are too many to tell and so I write every night just so I do not forget how lucky I am. Anita is a Rotarian who helps with the missions every year. She is lovely and so are all the other Rotarians. She told me that she is a farmer raising cows and her land is partly on city property. The government wants to widen the road through her land and told her she must give it to them. She said she is sorry but if they want it they must buy it. They refuse to buy it and have raised her property taxes to $20,000 a year. They will eventually get their land as the government plan is to have them go broke. These Rotarians are not rich but they are all have businesses that are not government supported. When the banks went broke, the government bought the banks and then the banks bought several news stations and now the news stations sell propaganda. Every where you go there is graffiti saying “Correa corrupto.” Yesterday I was told that there was going to be a riot in the municipal plaza the next day and if any of the municipalities were involved they would be thrown in jail. Later that evening, we visited with the first Rotarian, Carlos, who hosted the group of doctors many years ago. He and his wife told us about the riot last October and Carmen, his wife broke into tears. Her brother has been locked in jail since then and she does not know when he will be released. You are not allowed to speak out against the president even if you are trying to protect the rights of the people. I lost sleep last night thinking about the children in the hospital and the state of the people of this country.
When I woke up, Rick and I walked to work….the hospital. It was a nice change and there were no riots going on at the municipal plaza however there have been police patrolling the area all day. The morning rounds were of happy children and Bose, one of the residents looked weary eyed when we arrived, but is satisfied that his babies are safe. Mary Ellen did not arrive until later in the morning pleasantly surprised that all her babies were going to be released! There have been 3 cleft baby deaths in 20 years and none of them due to doctors negligence but the group has learned that they must not let anyone assume the responsibility. This is why the doctors spend the night rather than an Ecuadorian doctor or nurse. Apparently an indigent life is not important to some of these people who provide the health care or perhaps they are not qualified for complicated cases. The case load was minimal and Christopher decided to have a minor surgery after all – as well as Jackson. Both have been burn patients for many years now. A concert pianist came in for hand surgery as well as other minor operations.

Susan took our film crew to see an old Rotarian friend, Miguel, who works at Nevada Roses, roses with a conscience. It is a free trade business and the owner, Roberto, has had the business for many years. Apparently it was quite lucrative because he used to live in Sweden and Marbella, Spain but now lives in Ecuador. There are 500 rose farms in Ecuador and on 80 fair trade farms. Many of the farms have the same practices as the fair trade plantations but do not have the Germans coming to their farm every year for 3 days to give them their certification. Whole Foods will pay for the fair trade certificate but the market will not, so he pays about $150,000.00 more a year to have the fair trade certificate. Roberto grows organic roses and invited us to lunch where we all ate the organic roses!

When we returned to the hospital, things were winding down and when things got real slow, Cathy removed a mole on Jeff, one of the nurses. The team was having fun and the end of the day came early.
The Rotarians met us at the hotel and we had the traditional pizza night with some local dancers from Latacunga who were dressed in vibrant colors. It’s just what we all needed….a little stress release.