2011.6.26.

Residents Prepared Meals to Show Appreciation for Medical Team

Text by Tzu-Tien Wu Photo by Yu-Hua Huang, Chiung-Yi Chu, Tzu-Tien Wu

In order to alleviate the difficulty in obtaining medical services confronted by residents in remote mountainous areas, 26 Guatemala Tzu Chi volunteers, together with the wife of Palencia mayor, a municipal support team with 22 members, and 22 medical personnel, traveled to Yerba Buena Primary School to provide free health clinic for residents of the Yerba Buena village and its neighbor, Sansur.

Medical Personnel Welcomed in the Villages

There are eight families in the two villages under Tzu Chi’s long-term care, and the volunteers visit them once a month. It takes one and a half hours by car to reach the destination. Through previous interactions with the families, the volunteers had learned the locals often delay their visits to the doctors or even omit treatment due to the inconvenience in transportation. Thus, this free clinic event came about.

Due to the winding and mountainous roads and the rainy season, the slippery travel conditions made the driving even worse. Tzu Chi volunteers decided to meet at the city hall around seven o’clock in the morning, where they would transfer to a turbo truck provided by city officials. However, there were a limited number of passenger seats in each truck, and it was almost nine o’clock by the time the participants arrived. Tzu Chi volunteers, Mu-Kuei Wu and Meng-Lang Ke, expediently guided everyone in setting up the place, putting up banners and flags, so that the villagers would easily recognize the free clinic event.

Young volunteer Shao-Chi Wang ( first from left ) and Francisco are registering patients assigend with odd numbers.

It was rare to have physicians come to the village, so the villagers all brought in their kids to see doctors. To express their appreciation toward the visiting physicians and volunteers, the local women spontaneously went to the school kitchen to prepare lunch for everyone. The opening ceremony started at 9 o’clock, with over five hundred attendees, including Tzu Chi volunteers, the medical team, and the villagers. In order to have more time with patients, the opening speech was intentionally shortened.

Villagers of the mountain region are too far removed from medical facilities. With this rare occasion of physician visit, parents are bringing their children for a check-up.

Then it suddenly started to drizzle, so the villagers rushed to take shelter under the eaves waiting to register. In order to speed up the process, two registration areas were quickly established; the registration order were led by volunteers Gloria and Wei-Ching Wang for even numbers, and Shao-Chi Wang and Francisco took for odd numbers.

Voluntary Physicians at Work

Besides dental and vision care, the free clinic provided some forms of family medicine. To accommodate women with dependants visiting the clinic, family medicine occupied two classrooms with thirteen physicians on duty. Thanks to the free clinic, Dr. Byron made a discovery that an adorable four-month old baby girl who may be afflicted with congenital tumors, and she needed to checkin a city hospital for confirmation and surgery. Otherwise, the malignant cell may spread to her respiratory system, causing fatal blockage of air passage.

Photo1: Cuban physician Jose Guiller no examines the seniors for cataracts.

Photo2: Local volunteer Silvia carefully explains the correct usage of the medicines to the patients.

Attending the clinic at the invitation of Palencia Mayor, Juan Carlos Sanchez Martinez, the leader of the Cuban Volunteer Medical Team (Brigada Medica Cubana Operacion Milagro), shared his story. This was his second participation in Tzu Chi’s Free Clinic. With four ophthalmologists and five family doctors, his team traveled over the mountains to offer medical service to the sick and the disadvantaged. The ophthalmologists, Dr. Jose Guillermo, Dr. Catia, and Dr. Danel, diagnosed that four patients had cataracts, the city officials would arrange time and help the patients receive free surgeries at their clinics.

The types and quantities of the medications required for this free clinic were estimated by the participating physicians and purchased by Tzu Chi. Medical equipment and instruments were prepared by the physicians. Likewise, dental assistants came to help at the invitations of the participating dentists. Although tooth extraction is a minor operation, it still needs a dentist’s careful diagnosis for confirmation of the proper tooth to pull. Furthermore, before the extraction, anesthetic injection is required and has to be done with the support of the dental assistants.

Dentists usually have a busy schedule, so for them to willingly give up personal free time and participate in the free clinic event was something the volunteers found inspiring. There are many children in the region that needed dental care but their families simply cannot afford the cost. Therefore, early that morning, the hallway outside of the dental room was packed with young patients. Here, volunteer, Li-Chu Wu entertained the children by explaining in Spanish with lyrics and sign language of Tzu Chi songs.

Mission Accomplished

At the pharmacy, Tzu Chi prepared ample supplies of drugs to fill the physicians’ prescriptions. Volunteer Ingrid who had been a pharmacist in the past devoted her full attention into filling out the prescriptions without taking any break. Assistants Su-Hsin Chang, and Ricardo who major in Pharmaceutical Studies were there to ensure correct usage of the medicine, and to consult with physicians for questions. Their careful attitude allowed no room for mistake.

The prescriptions pick-up station was the busiest and needed help. Luckily, with Tzu Chi volunteers’ support, medicine distribution was performed with efficiency despite a large crowd. Volunteers Silvia and Ling-Chuan Hsieh, who majored in pharmaceutical studies during college, explained to patients how to administer their drugs, while Volunteers Pi Yu and Mu-Kuei Wu helped with maintaining crowd control by stamping processed prescriptions. Other volunteers passed out packages of cereals, cookies and snacks to children. Children toys were also given as well.

Despite a large crowd, vilunteers have ensured presscription pickup is proceeding an orderly fashio.

Time rushed by quickly during the busy day, and the medical volunteers all insisted on taking care of every patient before breaking for lunch. Finally, at 2 p.m., the clinic doctors were able to break for lunch prepared by the locals. In the end, the free clinic served 512 villagers. The eight Tzu Chi commissioners and eleven volunteers were moved beyond words. Their participation in providing their best effort was a charitable endeavor, and they felt the same joy of helping out others!