Both Hands

"I can raise my arm now!" A patient exclaimed excitedly.
"Why do you need to raise both arms? You are a teacher, you only need one arm to write on the blackboard!" Dr. A jokingly said.
"Because, now I can worship God with both hands!"

Isn't that a great testimony?

Dr Alvin

This week we had Dr A here as a chiropractor. He sure knows his stuff! He is gentle, and knows just the right pressure point to release painful, cramped muscles from too much hard labor.
The people here love him. He is a jokester, but with such a serious face, sometimes it's hard to tell if he is joking or not.
This is his 8th year I believe, and he knows many of them by name and face.

Some of the women were uncomfortable around him. He has a theory, that if someone has slumped shoulders, and walks with their head down, they most likely have had some psychological trauma in their past. (I'm thankful that theory doesn't apply to me, mine are from inattention.) There is a lot of sexual abuse around here. Many of the women (and men) have experienced abuse in their childhood. Many of them are experiencing it now. That is one reason why I was in the room. They never had to change any clothes for the treatment, but even having someone else's hands on them made them nervous.

We saw many women with upper back pain from holding children, making tortillas, washing clothes on a rock, and standing most of the day. We saw some children too though.

One of the kids was this darling little girl who has CP. Dr A has been treating her since she was a baby, and since the start of treatment there has been a vast improvement in her mobility. She walks by herself now, and uses her paralyzed hand. She was full of smiles when she saw him.

We saw a man who had fallen off a thirty foot roof and had come away with just a few broken bones. He was in for a re-check from the last year, and was doing really well.

There was a man who had been hit by a car, broke and dislocated his arm, and had been in a coma for a whole day. He was still in pain after months of recovery, and Dr A said that his shoulder was really messed up. His family was really thankful that he was able to get treatment, and that he could now go back to work.

A woman came in with numbness across half her face, radiating down her arm. She had been suffering with this for about a month with no diagnosis. Dr A found that she had a pinched nerve in her neck, and he was able to completely take away her pain.

These are just some of the stories from this week. Every day has been something new. Dr A and I had a good system of him doing the hard work, and me scribing in the computer. Our system fell apart today though, because we had the Teacher Olympics today, and I had to be the medic. Yes. One more day of Olympics. It was great though. Those teachers sure can play some Futbol.

It was really cold this morning, with a chilly rain. Everyone was bundled up, and I actually had to wear a sweatshirt. Imagine that! 

Just two days ago we were sweltering.

We had to take a bus to go to the soccer field today. Imagine this. 28 passenger bus. 53 people. 

Yep. 53. 

We squished onto that bus! I was slightly terrified that we would crash and all die. 

Best part of the bus ride: Looking at the front of the bus and seeing "No standees permitted". 

I didn't have any major injuries today. Some cramped legs, a cut, some bumped noses, and an infection that had been going on for a day or so that I sent to the clinic. All in all a good Olympic run. I am slowly getting to know people's names and faces, and it is really cool to be able to greet people with their name. Yay!

We ended the day with a lovely dinner to thank Elaine and Dr A for their hard work this week. We have one more day in the clinic, and then a rest for the weekend. Elaine was here taking photos of the kids brushing their teeth, and was helping us make some health conscious posters for the schools. Yay Health Education!

During the dinner I was able to sit and talk with Rita. Rita and her husband Les are the founders of this ministry. They have been through so much as missionaries here. They have been kidnapped, stolen from, threatened, plagued with illness, had a baby dropped at their doorstep, and so many other things. I got to hear only a bit of the surface of their story tonight. When I asked, Rita said that she wrote a book about their lives here. It is currently being published, and I am anxiously awaiting a copy to be delivered here. When I get it, I will let you all know the title and how to go about getting one. It is definitely going to be worth your time!

I hope to be able to add some more stories tomorrow. God bless you all, and join me in being thankful that we have hands to praise the Lord with, and the mobility to raise them high.