Feb. 3

Today was a very interesting day and the beginning of a new story . . .

The team is 24 in Coca and it’s a good thing because we lost our Scottish nurse Lesley today. She went down – but by evening, had recovered to her beautiful self. That seems to be how it goes – one by one – but back to normal quickly. The caseload is heavy with 95 scheduled so far and very few seem to be minor.  What we can’t do now, we try to send to Latacunga but time is running out. Every night is a late night and the team is tired.  They joke and play pranks on one another to relieve the stress amd all work well as a team.  It’s amazing to see the patience shown with doctors teaching residents and the enthusiasm over each case.  They are like kids in a candy store hoping that they will get the next surgery.  The passion is definitely there and no one complains!  It’s a fine tuned machine with everyone having an integral part in each operation.

I’m sharing some photos … there is a series of photos of a woman who fell through her floor and the doctors repaired the surgery by removing skin tissue from one of the scars. Ross is the DP who is examining his hand while watching a surgery performed next to him, and Dr. Pap, who also needed an IV yesterday, and I completely forgot to mention, is who the team played the prank of dressing up the Indian statue.

Our day was broken up by politics.  We first met with Prefecta of Gubierno Autonomo Provincial de Orleana.  She was just released from jail for protecting the peoples rights and says her phone is bugged now.  She had many people waiting outside her office but she spent a good hour with us telling us about the exploitation of the oil companies and how they are causing pollution in all the rivers.  She’s fighting to keep the river in Coca as an ecological preservation.  She does not feel the government will make change and feels she will conquer if she divides.  We were there to thank her for all her efforts but it seemed as though she wanted more than what a group of plastic surgeons could provide as we cannot stop the exploitation that occurs in this country.

We stopped by the mission where the patients are sent who live hours from Coca.  The hospital can only take them for one night and the mission is a safe, clean environment where they are fed and cared for.  It was cleaner than the hospital and all of Alexandria’s family were there cooking our meals.  Alexandria, our angel, has good family and an amazing power that makes people want to do for her.

Our next stop was a surprise visit to a school for special children.  There were almost 200 children in a very small space that was also land donated by the mission.  They had blind, deaf, cleft palate, and it was sensory overload.  I wandered around and found a blind boy playing music and all the kids introduced themselves or just stared at us. We left with bracelets that were beaded by the school children and cards that were recycled there at the school.  The teachers love what they do but there were just a few.  It seemed so crowded and short staffed and yet they were doing good work with these children who were bussed in every day from the villages that are far away.

Our final political visit was with the General who made it possible for us to have all the police escorts, the military hospital and the military plane to Coca.  His office is a mini version of the White House. He met with us all and was friendly and very curious about the work being done at the hospital.  He said that he had heard of the good results from the team of doctors and everyone seemed sincerely thankful.
I know I’m thankful to be here and be part of what I feel is a small change to a country that needs a lot more….