Volunteer Projects!

          During the past three weeks I have been volunteering in Cruz Roja (Red Cross), teaching a women’s health class at an organization called PEILE, and volunteering in a daycare with very minimal resources called Caritas Feliz.  The volunteer projects run through the end of april but we can choose to continue them if the places allow.  A few of us from our Somos Hermanos program go to the daycare to read to the kids, play with the kids, teach them simple things like the alphabet and washing their hands.  It is quite an experience because the kids range from about 3 years of age to about 9 years of age and all want your attention at the same time.  It is also heartbreaking because many of their families are extremely poor and therefore there is no cost to attend the daycare, and also why the daycare practically has no resources for the kids because the woman who runs it out of her house is also very poor.  Many of the kids haven’t bathed for days, only get small quantities of food, and every piece of their clothing have huge holes in them, however they are the sweetest kids and so eager to learn, play and compete for your attention.

            The class at PEILE, I help teach with two other students, Jen and Michelle.  Every Thursday afternoon, for two hours we help teach rural women about Salud (Health).  About 8 women show up each Thursday and we have different topics for each day.  The first Thursday we talked about nutrition and health in general.  Most meals here consist of a lot of carbohydrates like tortillas, rice, potatos, etc and we tried to convey the importance of eating plenty of vegetables and fruits.  I found it very hard to teach this stuff, because to most Americans all we have to do is hop in our cars, drive to the nearest supermarket which is probably in walking distance, spend as much as we want on any kind of food and have it readily available at anytime of day.  Here, many people are barely lucky enough to get one meal a day, let alone trying to worry about if they are getting the proper nutrients.  I definitely felt like a little bit of a schmuck afterwards because we had forgotten to take into account their culture and the opportunities that they were not able to have.  On a better note though, there are several outdoor markets that sell the freshest fruit I have ever seen!!!  Throughout the weeks we had taught a little on diabetes, hypertension (the two most common illnesses here), tuberculosis, gastritis, osteoporosis and in the future they asked us to teach them about breast cancer, migraines, stress, anemia, and menopause.  So far it has been a great experience and the women are extremely kind. This past Thursday we used half of the class as a cooking class.  We tried to show them the importance of washing their hands before cooking and washing their fruits and vegetables with a little bit of chlorine to get rid of the parasites and amoebas on them.  The women were all very eager to start cooking and they all took charge, and in no time we had a delicious chicken salad with pepinos (cucumbers), brocoli (I bet you can’t guess what this vegetable is in English!), tomates (same with this one!), cebollas(onions) and zanahorias(carrots).  We used a mix of lime juice, olive oil, pepper, salt and oregano for the dressing and it was delicious! 

            My time in Cruz Roja (Red Cross) has been absolutely wonderful!  I go twice a week to the clinic to shadow Dr. Hernandez.  Every afternoon from 4-6pm he holds consultations for the public to come in with their illnesses.  Dr. Hernandez is a great teacher and is constantly questioning us on what we know and don’t know.  The patients come in with a wide variety of illnesses ranging from a headache all the way to an amputated leg, femur fracture or gangrene in their foot due to diabetes.  While the Doctor is examining all the patients he always allows us to see, hear or touch what he is examining.  He always is saying “Venga” and “Mire”  which mean to mean to come closer and take a better look.  The clinic is mostly open for emergencies and the consultations in the afternoon, but they also do regular surgeries as well.  Last weekend I was able to see an abdominal hysterectomy of a young women.  They asked if I wanted to scrub in and get in on the action but since it was my first surgery, and I know how I can get a little queasy I just said I would watch the first time.  In no time, the women’s abdomen was open and they were digging through fat layers(which the adipose tissue was very visible) and they got to the uterus and ovaries.  They cut the tissue away from the uterus and took it out.  It kind of looked like a little pear and it was amazing to think that, that small of an organ is so elastic and can expand enough to allow a baby to grow.  The doctors left in her ovaries because they explained that if they took them out, she would essentially be going through menopause at 30 years of age because her ovaries could no longer produce hormones.  The experience was really awesome, and I only had to step out of the room 3x to get some fresh air and stop from feeling a little light headed.  I hope I will be able to see more in the future!

            This weekend we are going to a small town called Santa Anita to give the community a health fair with nutrition classes, yoga and dance classes and also a general class on health.  Sorry I don’t have pictures of my volunteer places yet but soon hopefully!