We got back Saturday from the second trip to the river. David worked with Alberto, one of the preachers from the mission, to hold a seminar. It was supposed to be for the 6 people who became Christians the last time they were there, but they had over 50 people from the community in attendance each day!
The group from the states was a medical mission, and I got to help out in the pharmacy again. We had a great time with this group and really enjoyed getting to know everyone. I always love getting to hear everyone’s stories and find out how they came to be where they are in life. This group also worked hard to reach out in a more personal way to the community - the two doctors spoke Spanish and everyone tried to smile at the kids and show real interest in them. I can’t remember exactly how many people we attended - probably over 400 in the three days we worked. One night we had a man come in carried (a long way) by about 8 of his buddies. He had a very, very high fever and was delusional. The group was able to get in an IV and treat him and by morning his temp was back to normal - he had a kidney infection that went too long without care. The team also handed out brochures that talked about prevention and treatment of basic sicknesses such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, etc.
This mission team also bought rubber boots for the kids, and they handed them out in the community. You cannot imagine how much mud they have - don’t try, you can’t imagine it! Step in the wrong place and you’ll go 6 inches deep. Plus, it’s not just mud…So boots are one of the best preventative items that the people can have - otherwise they are walking around barefoot or in flip-flops.

I really enjoyed this trip, and loved the group we were with, but the conditions were much more difficult! On the way there the river was low, so it was slow going, but the weather was pleasant, so no complaints there. This time we had to sleep in the clinic where we were working, and there was barely enough (and some might say - not enough) room for all of us - 14 people total. But we survived it and had a lot of fun. This group liked to sing - so I was in heaven, though it took me a bit to remember the words in English and how to sing in 4 part harmony!
But it was the trip home that got me! We were ready to go about 6:30, but one of the boats had motor trouble, so we ended up having to split up all its good among the other boats and leave it behind. So we were off about 7:00, and it was raining, and it rained (poured) for about 6 hours, so we were in our rain gear (my worked well and I was dry, others were less fortunate), huddled down to keep the rain off our face all that time. Then it cleared up and we had nice weather the rest of the boat trip, about 3 hours more - or 9 hours on the boats total. Then we transferred to a truck and traveled about 4 hours on a mountain path (I’m not generous enough to call it a road). We did this because the river was low on the way there and we were afraid we’d get stuck on the last leg of the trip by boat. This truck trip was scary! Up hill, drop off on one side, sliding in the mud. At one point we had to get off to lighten the truck and I just took off walking, along with about 4 others. I was not getting back on that truck until the road was safer! We didn’t have to walk too far though, and it was nice after sitting for so long on the boat. After the truck we had 6 hours by bus to finally make it home, for a total of 19 hours of traveling. We stayed in Jinotega Friday night (or Saturday morning, if you want to be technical), and when we got home to Matagalpa about noon on Sat. I went straight to bed! I woke up with a fever and chills. By evening I got my fever down, but I’m still taking it easy! We’re supposed to help with the Jinotega gospel meeting next week, but I’m not sure I’m going to make it.

I put pictures in the gallery.