Time has been moving pretty quickly these last few weeks. The days and weeks all merge together, and I’m finding it hard to remember what has happened. I’ve also been relatively tired, especially on days off, so I have not written a blog in a while. There’s been a lot of highs in lows, as well as a lot of personal growth. I’ve gotten to spend a lot more time in various houses and getting to know the kids better, from a non-medical standpoint. I’ve also had a lot of fun adventures on days off.

 

At the beginning of my time at Familia Feliz, I would spend a lot of time on my own organizing the clinic, charting, and researching different pertinent medical topics. Since then, I have realized that although my job here is to attend to the kids’ medical needs, it is just as important to build personal relationships with them. Recently, I’ve spent more time in the older girls’ house. Although quiet at first, they are full of personality. Overall, it has also made the days more fulfilling, just interacting with the kids. It has also made their amount of medical complaints decrease. I know that many of their headaches and stomach aches are just them wanting to talk or for me to give them some attention. Now they have learned that I can give them attention aside from only medical complaints. This alone has made my life easier and made rounding in the evenings more fun.

 

The weather here has been pretty cool. We’ve gotten a lot more rain and cool evenings. However, with the rain, there are more mosquitos, frogs, and just bugs in general. I’ve found frogs in the kitchen area, under various items, and I even had one hop out of the drain as I was taking a shower. I have learned that I really don’t like frogs. The other morning, I watched one hop out from under my bed. I have just accepted that the clinic is a catchall for critters. The rat problem is still there, but they come out less, we have an abundance of cockroaches and beetles, and many, many spiders just to name a few.

 

Now to days off. We’ve recently gotten to explore the “pampas” or grasslands, where we saw capybara, toucans, monkeys, birds of paradise, and we even got to swim with alligators and river dolphins. Another week, we were all so exhausted we just sat and talked for hours, which was refreshing to have a whole conversation in english. Then we bought a watermelon and one of the SMs, Emilie, carved a face in it. We called it our “Bolivian Fall” watermelon (also named it Malcolm).

 

On the medical side of things, colds have become prevalent in the houses due to the cold weather. We also have a child who has had abdominal pain for a good bit, without relief from charcoal or other treatments. We ended up taking the child for an ultrasound, and found out that the patient had kidney stones, which is super rare in pediatrics. In this case, the etiology is most likely attributed to the patient’s recent history of a GI infection with salmonella, as well as the poor water that we have here. The kid is now in treatment and getting better. Although it is super sad to see these kids sick, it is amazing how much I am learning.

 

Here at Familia Feliz, we are nearing the end of the school year, and many of the kids will be going home. It’s a bittersweet thought. It will give all of us a break from the busyness of campus, but some of the kids may not be coming back the next school year. It is something that has been on many of our (the SMs) minds, and we’ve been able to support each other through it, as well as remind ourselves that no matter where the kids go, God will be looking out for them, and hopefully they will remember the little of God’s love we were able to show them.

 

To end on an exciting note. My parents, as well as a few other SMs’ parents, will be visiting in the next week. I am excited and nervous for them to meet the kids and see Bolivia. I remember the shock I first had at the living conditions, and how long it took me to be ok with living with rats :). However, I am just excited to have conversations with them and not be cut off by poor service. Hopefully, it will be a breath of fresh air and a little taste of home.