Bela's garden is so lush, one morning I saw 4 different varieties of butterflies, 2 types of hummingbirds and various sizes of bees.Because of the holiday and that we had few home bound patients we had a light load however, the evening clinic was very busy. The good news of the day is that Sergio had a tourist group of 25 ppl from Sweden come through. The guide seemed to know Sergio fairly well, he brought him a few handsome Mexican style (cowboy) shirts that Sergio was proud to receive.
One visitor was a nurse and she watched me change the wound dressing of the young man with the exposed bone (see previous postings). She was, as I was when I first saw the horrific injuries, very sympathetic to the man as she was aware of the gravity of his condition.
Sergio spent a lot of time with the group and they all left asking for his website. Kathleen and I handed out his cards and answered any questions we could. Afterwards Bela's guests came by: Scott and Linda (from Dinuba, CA) and Suzanna (Austin, TX). I thought Sergio was going to be exhausted giving another tour but he gave them a lot of time and attention. He enjoys the giving the tour and he is able to sustain his energy level.
Sergio's feral cats. He tells everyone, don't touch they bite.A new found friend, also named Pat, came by and we all (except Don Sergio) went to Tierra Adentro for snacks and a glass of wine. It was a lovely time chatting with everyone and of course the conversation is always, 'what can we do to help'. All I can recommend is to financially support his work or if you can find the supplies he needs and send them directly (see Yok Chij website Ayudar). He's working on improving his clinic, he feels the amount of tourists he had before the financial crisis will come back. I'm not that optimistic, but hopeful.
Another way to help is to bring medical expertise in wound care to him and work with him. The longer one stays the better however, one MUST be open minded, non-judgmental, have acceptance and patience of beliefs and know you are not going to change things for the best right away. One must show dignity and respect and suppress your frustration....for us 'outsiders' it can be difficult...but that's the way it is.
So, the typical evening clinic started with atypical wounds and ended with friendship and support of the Humanitarian de Chiapas. (I will spare the verbal detail of our patients' wounds this evening.)
Posted by Patricia Ferrer.
No comments:
Post a Comment