Day 1

 
 
 

We all arrived just fine with only one piece of luggage missing; having arrived in Antigua, we traveled to our first hotel for the trips to the villages. Getting to the first hotel was a bit of a challenge as we had a blown tire on the way. After the change of tire, we made it and prepared ourselves for our first day in the village. We started out in Lupita about a two-hour drive escorted by our soldiers and the police, from our hotel, at a small school that became our home base for two days out there. After checking out the school, we proceeded to set up the areas and get ourselves ready for the lines of people waiting to be seen by the doctors. There are several areas to get set up, first was where the people get their parasite medicine and then local volunteers get the patients full names. Followed by the triage area; where they are seen by translators and some of our doctors to give the doctors a general idea of why they were there. After that was a waiting area to keep the patients a place to wait out of the sun for their turns. Then there were the areas for the doctors to see patients: general medicine & the ultrasound, pediatrics, gynecology, the lab, and the pharmacy where most ended their days. Some of the patients did get sent to the referral area for surgery that FIP also offers. Each team had the set up of their areas done so quickly by the teams for that area that the trunks protected and brought to us by the soldiers, were long gone within an hour.

The patients were let through the gates in a slow manner to avoid the general mob mentality and each got a form that was crucial to make sure that we were seeing one of the 400 that were given the tickets to provide the care. They got the parasite medicine and then hit triage and the waiting area to be slowly sent to the area or expertise that they needed. As each patient was seen they slowly started to trickle back out to head back home, which for most, was a long drive away. It was so hot that the whole team was grateful for the cool towels that the cooking team provided for us all.