A day at clinic....
Hi everyone! My name is Celie Shankman, I’m the photographer and child life, and I’ll be taking you through my day today!
I woke up at 5:50 A.M., and started eating breakfast at 6. We left the orphanage, where we are staying, at 6:30 and were off! We hit a few bumps in the road during our two-hour journey (literally!). We had to get off the bus three times, but our great bus driver Oscar was amazing through it all! At one point when the team got off the bus, many of the locals helped us by bringing boards and rocks to put over a huge puddle. Eventually we made it to the clinic, but we were about 30-45 minutes late!
After everyone set up, we started clinic around 9:15. Here's the process for how someone would go through clinic:
Intake: People who have tickets to get into clinic go up to two people (usually translators or Nicaraguans) sitting at a table in the front. The two people from our team write down their name and how old they are on a piece of paper, then they write what number patient they are on their hands.
Weight and Blood Pressure: The patient then stands on a scale to be weighed and gives their paper of information to a team member. If the patient is 40+ or pregnant, their blood pressure is taken. They then are directed to seats where they wait to be attended to.
Medicals Care: Then, they are taken to sit with a provider (doctor). The doctor has a translator who speaks for both the patient and doctor (Spanish to English and vice versa). The team member will ask if they have any complaints, and then other medical questions. When they finish, the patients paper is filled out with medicines and vitamins they need. Any elderly women get shawls, and then the patient is taken to the pharmacy.
Amy Hertz (that's my mom!) with her patient
Pharmacy: At the pharmacy, other team members gather their medications and a translator explains each one and how to take them to the patient. Another group of team members will give rice, beans, corn flour or soup mix, salt, and shoes to everyone.
Child Life: The child life team member (that's me!) gives all kids beanie babies and stickers! Also, I will walk (with a translator or someone that speaks Spanish) outside the fence where other kids are waiting in line. I have frisbees, jump ropes, and bubbles for them to play with! I am also taking photographs throughout this.
This is who your stuffed animals go to!
Well folks, that's it! Of course we drove two hours back to the orphanage and repacked everything and kept working, but here's the fun photos! (The photographer can't really take pictures of herself) Hope you liked it! Sorry if it was a little confusing, it's been a long (but super fun and rewarding!) day.
