Week 2: Community

The second week here in Guayaquil has been so busy!  We have been going non-stop since Monday, working in the community, organizing/doing health fairs, entering data, etc.  This week could really use like... 3 extra days in it.  (Which is actually pretty odd because time has gone by really fast, but each day is soooo long because we do so much.  Example:  On Monday, by noon, you could have told me it was Thursday and I would have believed you.  The hours ticked by fast, but the days lasted forever.)

All week we've been going out to schools in the rural areas of Guayaquil, specifically Mt. Sinai, with Hogar de Cristo, an organization here that provides services and resources to the needy communities.  At the schools, we are measuring height, weight, vision, and hemoglobin to assess the nutrition status of the students.  In total, we measured 1041 students over the past 2 weeks and we confirmed our previous results with about 33% of students having anemia, or low hemoglobin levels.  This is really concerning because the anemia impairs their ability to grow, develop, and learn.  As part of a study we are conducting, we are testing 3 different interventions to try to improve the rate of anemia (decrease the occurrence) and improve the overall nutrition of the children.

To facilitate this, we've been visiting the children's homes and teaching the families about nutrition and what we need to do to stay healthy.  We've also met with the school directors, Hogar de Cristo, and several people, including the region's nutrition specialist for Ecuador.  Over the next 6 months, we are hoping that Hogar de Cristo will help us implement the interventions so we can come back in November to remeasure the kids and see if there has been any improvement.

Everyday, I've been working with taking the children's hemoglobin, which requires a fingerprick and a drop of blood.  Some of the kids handle it really well, and then some kids will wrestle their hand away.  With some of the difficult kids we eventually just give up, but we do our best to test every kid.  My favorite students to test are the ones that come over nervously, cooperate, and then walk away with a smile on their face, telling everyone "no me duele, no hay dolor."  Though, I also enjoy getting to comfort those students that are just so scared of the fingerprick, all they need is a little love and comfort and they usually do pretty well.  There was actually one kid that was so ready that she came right over with a big smile on her face and gave me a huge hug.  After I pricked her finger, put a bandaid on, and gave her a candy, she hesitated before leaving.  Then she came in for another bear hug with another big smile.  That was the sweetest hug ever and I didn't want it to end, and I don't think she did either because she just held onto my neck for a long time.  That was the moment when time froze and everything screamed at me that moments like these are why I want to not only be a nurse, but also a mom.

At the end of it all, we had a big meeting with Hogar de Cristo, and they gave us each a very special, handmade rosary.  The handmade rosary is a very special gift that they reserve for only very special thank you gifts.  The only hang-up was when the President of the organization realized that we don't use the rosary in our religion because he was worried he would offend us or that we wouldn't want it.  Thankfully, everyone felt the same way--this is a very special and sacred gift that they are giving us.  Never in my life did I think I would be so excited to own a Catholic Rosary, but now it is something that I will cherish forever, as a memory for my time here in Ecuador.