The team's second day in Rio Verde was very busy. It had rained heavily the night before, but by God's grace there were no landslides blocking the road. The day was beautiful, and many Awa people had gathered at the new health center. Some people had walked as much as twelve hours to get to the clinic. Six different Awa communities were represented in the three days of patient visits. Some of the patients were folks we had seen every year for eight years (such as Gloria - who has scleroderma), while others were seeing us for the first time ( such as the man who had had pneumonia for two months).
This year, we did a lot of orthopedic work, including splinting and knee injections. Word gets around, and many older people sought our help. We noticed this year that many of the children were smiling, and they seemed less afraid of us. Fathers and mothers often accompanied their children. Pathology identified included impetigo, congenital heart murmur, a fly in an ear, ascariasis, abscess of an eyelid, trachoma, scabies, Downs syndrome, leg length discrepancy, hypertension, a large ganglion, asthma and an old fracture of the wrist. It was great to see Gloria. However, though her skin and hands are stable, her ability to swallow is getting worse. Kathy Bruce will try to get her in to see a gastro-enterologist in Ibarra. Pray for healing.
At worship that night, our unique mixture of English, Spanish, German and Awa gave loud praise to God in song. We were deeply grateful for the opportunity to be a part of God's work in these people's lives.
Listening to a tropical evening rain,
Tim
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