Thanks to those of you who have followed our travels, these journal entries, and who have supported us in various ways as we undertook this mission. Just a few reflections, now that we have been back in the US for a week and are getting back into our usual routines.
First, the mission was a success in every way. We arrived safely at RDU and gathered to give thanks for what we had received in the form of relationships and opportunities for service, and also for our safe travels. We enjoyed meeting special friends and families of team members at the airport as they welcomed us home, and we look forward to a reunion this fall.
At the clinic, we saw 233 patients in 4 1/2 days, about half of whom were children. Many of the children were basically well, but benefitted from the worm medicine and vitamins we provided and also from the toothbrushes and toothpaste, generously provided by Jim and Judy Wilson. Alan saw mostly adults (assisted by translator Jeff); Andrea, mostly children (assisted by Panamanian translator Norma and frequently by Jessica); and Wes was available to see all-comers and now can hold his own in Spanish. Betty and I dispensed meds from our little farmacia, giving instructions in the best espanol we could muster (the patients were generous in giving us good marks on feedback forms!) and Raine held down the fort as clinic manager, assisted by Sarah and Panamanian colleages (see Sarah's last blog). The community in Bongo continues to need some of the basics of medical care that we take for granted (ibuprofen, Tylenol, ointments, iron, calcium, low-dose aspirin, oral contraceptives) and we always see folks with hypertension and growing numbers of patients with diabetes. For these chronic conditions, our docs prescribe 6 months of drugs, knowing that the patients will be seen in January by the team from Florida with whom we partner.
The construction team, led by Brian (teammate from Everett, Washington traveling with us for the third time) and including Paul and Carl (most days) and several Panamanians, completed their tasks at the camp where we stay in Volcan. Mission groups such as ours have been building a classroom facility onto the church in Volcan, and our guys wired it for electricity, painted inside and out, and installed windows. It will be a big help to that church as well as to the groups of Methodists throughout Panama who use the Volcan camp as a retreat facility.
Although our stay this year was only one week instead of the usual two, we are very familiar with the local culture, commerce, and people, which makes it easier to acclimate every year and get things done. Jan must know the inventory of most every hardware store, pharmacy, medical supply house, and general store in from Volcan to Concepcion, to David, and spends most of his time "procuring." This year we did not work in Jacu, where previous teams have build a lovely church. But we worshiped there our first Sunday and were able to reconnect with those special people.
As I've written before, we were fortunate to have beautiful weather and could enjoy the natural beauty of the rural environment in which we stayed and worked. We always leave saying "hasta luego," or, "hasta el ano proximo," not "adios." Our friends there know that though we are not there physically, we are there in spirit, and that these mission trips are our way of being the hands and feet of Christ.
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