Medical Camp: Day 1

Tuesday was Day 1 of our medical camp. It went really well-I was worried when I woke up to a torrential downpour and severe lightning/thunder that no one would attend, as they had to travel from their distant villages to reach the "marriage hall" (usually a huge temple-esque building used for-you guessed it-weddings). Luckily, God provided...we had plenty of supplies, incredibly dedicated volunteers, and around 120 individuals received medical attention! The families were adorable-they came dressed in their best. I was part of the registration team, which basically meant I wrote their token numbers on a sticker that was then placed on their shirt with an explanation from a national social worker on staff (and perhaps the most adorable person in the world). "Token numbers" are like the ticket you'd pull at the DMV, declaring your number place in line. "Now serving #240 at window 7" was not quite how it worked for us today, but you get the idea...total, 35 families made the trek to our location.
My favorite parts of day 1 were seeing the excitement of the visiting medical team. They were just thrilled to be a part of helping us build relationships with local, national doctors (who were required to be in attendance by the government if we were to have such an event), so that our clients will receive continued service at local hospitals and so that it will be more likely that we could do medical camps in the future.
One story told by the visiting team leader, with tears in her eyes, was that one victim asked the translator to tell her thank you for being here because normally they would have to wait for hours on end in the hospital before being seen. Today, I believe the longest waiting period was about 20 minutes, and then they had free access to: a family practitioner, nurse practitioner, dentist, physical therapist, HIV/AIDS testing, health counselors, and the appropriate medications dished out by the visiting pharmacist (also the fiance of our legal director!!!). When the American visitor heard this man's thank you, she asked that the translator inform the man that it was HER honor and privilege to be here with him. Apparently, the huge grin on the man's face at hearing this made the entire trip worthwhile.
Another positive from the day: the local doctors informed our staff leader that this was the most organized and well-done medical camp they have ever seen. That is exciting news for future victims we work with-hopefully they'll receive better care from local hospitals now! It's also fun to hear volunteers so excited about the work being done for the victims, that they are already talking about how to educate folks at home and bring in more funding for the victims.
And the last story I will tell: We have one young girl suffering from elephantitis (spelling??) in her leg. No one has been able to help her. Luckily, one of the visiting doctors knew of an organization that another team member has a connection to that specializes in such cases. So, we may be able to get this precious girl the help she truly needs. Yay for good ol' networking!
Let's pray for similarly successful days Wed. and Thurs., and that the excitement for our exhausted volunteers/staff continues...(another favorite part of the day was interacting with the little kids, naturally. The people are some of the most beautiful people I have ever seen...and we had a coloring area for the kids-they proudly showed me their work afterward-LOVED that!)