Feb. 10-Rounding the Corner

Latacunga is like coming home for many of the team. The Rotarians have traditions that are repeated year after year besides Wednesday night pizza. The market at Saquisili! Although Saquisili is not far from Salcedo which is known for their ice cream, they have a completely different feel. There were pig heads, sheep, chickens, veggies, furniture, art and more. I’m not so sure the team was interested in shopping but they found enjoyment over the bartering involved in the smallest purchase and pride over the bargains obtained.

The hospital patients were few with the toughest case at the end of the day, Frankie. Frankie was wild! He came from Coca and it took him two days because his mother did not have the bus fare to come on his appointment day. When he arrived, he resembled a demon child, hitting his mother and completely out of control. He’s seven years old and restraining him took four team members. Even the drugs administered didn’t stop the screaming, and fighting. Frankie’s a cleft patient that probably has some kind of imbalance that could be easily detected through a blood test in the US but holy water would of made Peter the nurse happy!

My day was spent in one of the patient recovery rooms with Tom and Ross interviewing team members. The stories are incredible, the doctors and nurses are amazing and as Tim said, they are changing the lives of the Ecuadorians and have probably changed the lives of an entire village!

The end is near for the team and supplies are running low. The team members who are on their second mission here in Latacunga are ready to go home. I believe that 14 days with missions back-to-back has taken its toll. Some of the team will find the energy to go to the disco tonight and others will be fine snuggled in bed.

L to R: Tara, Barbara (Babs), and Tim (Timmy)

Cleft palate surgery with Rotarian's exchange students observing

Ross waiting for Rick's interview with our one remaining camera. Thank goodness I brought an extra!

Tom resting his arms between interviews. His computer went down so he's been operating off of his iPad

The roof of our hotel in Latacunga