Welcome to the Jungle

In many ways I'm not very well-suited for this job. I'm a people-pleaser, which doesn't exactly work when you have 100 patient forms to give to 250 patients.
This happened practically every day last week while I was hosting our ninth and last team of the summer in Cunen, our most remote clinic. Here's the deal: it's my job to run the clinic. By the time our team of docs, nurses, pharmacists, and helpers arrives at our rural sites by 8 a.m., we've got a line of around 50 people. No problem, I think. On many occasions, however, that number swells to 150 people before lunch. Just to keep everyone's adrenaline flowing, after school gets out and I've already handed out all of our patient forms for the day, we're faced with around 50-100 more "late-comers." This is when the negotiating starts.
I have to protect my doctors and team, who have told me they can see around 100 patients max/day. So it's basically my job to turn-away 50-100 sick Mayans (including children). But they don't leave without a fight. And I don't blame them. This is their only chance for maybe a year to get some adequate health care and meds. So I tell them as nicely as I can that I am SOOOOO sorry, but we simply don't have time to see them. Some take the news in stride, others aren't so kind. I try not to take it personally. They're desperate. This is what breaks my heart and makes me feel like a big jerk.
Ugh. It's like a kick in the stomach.

Chiul - one of the rural communities around Cunen. It was a zoo. One of my doctors called me a "slave-driver." Lesson learned: we need reinforcements.

We just completed the construction on our newest clinic here in Cunen (about 5 hours north of where we live in Pana). We don't have a doctor yet, but once we've got the money we hope to start getting some regular care to this remote village.

One of the highlights of the trip was that my friend and our team driver, Pedro, let me drive his "chicken-bus." It's a 15-gear monster, and it defeated me handily. I think a few of my passengers lost their bowels when I hit a speed-bump going way too fast. They found the transmission somewhere in Albuquerque.


Muchas Gracias Steffie!
A big "thanks" to our good friend Steffie, who was kind enough to spend 5-weeks with Carey and me in Guatemala. Her work/vacation visit really lifted our spirits. We also got to celebrate Steffie's new job while she was in town. Thanks chica!


Introducing...Sabrina
Carey got another gift recently when her new preschool assistant teacher, Sabrina, arrived from Germany. Sabrina will be working with Carey and the kids for one year!

Carey and I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your summers!
Love,
Jay