Gandhi and Dr. Farmer Were Right

“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world.”

~ Dr. Paul Farmer

I was lucky to be invited to join this mission to assist in setting up a medical clinic; I was even luckier to be able to bring 2 of my medical residents with me. Luis and Alex, third year residents in our internal medicine residency program, came with me to help. They are amazing young physicians who will soon graduate and go on to do amazing things. Joining us were three nurses from the U.S. - Otilia, a nurse from Miami and Fr. Manny’s sister; Maribel, a nurse from Port Chester, NY; and Amanda, an ER nurse from northern New Jersey. Together we did some pretty amazing things! 

Since we arrived in Nicaragua on a weekend, the first few days were spent getting accustomed to the schedule and meeting the community. As you can see, Dr. Alex was showing the kids how qualified he was to be there:

Good thing he is not a surgeon

We also set up the area for our clinic - each person brought donated supplies to assist in the mission. This is a bigger deal than you think - the Communist government is extremely strict with what is brought into the country, presumably because they want items purchased within the country so it can profit. However, the customs process is reportedly pretty corrupt, and we were warned anything we brought in excess could be confiscated or prone to “fines” (to line the agents’ pockets). Meds were a strict no-no.

People brought donated glucometers, lancets, test strips, pulse oximeters, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, alcohol wipes, cholesterol testing kit, gloves, bandages and other wound care supplies, and much more. I was also blessed with a donation for the mission from my boss - a Welch Allyn product with a blood pressure cuff, otoscope, ophtalmoscope all on a wall mounted system. It came in a large box and was verrry expensive, and the Foundation was uncertain if I’d be able to get it into the country. My boss also loaned me a spirometer (to check lung function) and the equipment to calibrate it was also quite large - I was expected to bring it back, and we were concerned it would be confiscated too.

I was nauseated when we landed in Nicaragua. I barely held it together through immigration, and then baggage claim. When we went through customs I wished I had kept my barf bag...but no one seemed to be paying much attention - until Father Manny got flagged. He brought his bag to the agents for inspection and was interrogated about his duffel filled with toys. We are all sure his bag served as a decoy and my giant box and massive suitcase of medical supplies went through the scanner without a peep from anyone. I grabbed them and ran. Everyone else was similarly fortunate: the Foundation got their much needed supplies and Father Manny didn’t have to relinquish the toys or pay a fine. We had done it!

It’s up!

We finished getting things organized and had a meeting with our Nicaraguan dentist (Dr. Carlos) and 2 Nicaraguan doctors (Dr. Perla and Dr. Edwin) who had volunteered to help the mission so we could get prescriptions and (hopefully) ongoing follow up for people in severe need. Dr. Edwin had even gotten a bunch of med samples from colleagues. We were ready to go!

Ready to serve!

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  
 ~ Mahatma Gandhi