Thursday was my last day in the maternity hospital. I just walked around and did whatever I wanted to as if I owned the place. We discovered that if you just do your thing with confidence, people don’t question. Actually, when people would question some of the girls, they wouldn’t get far anyway, with their minimal understanding and speaking of Spanish. Don’t worry; we were doing good things.
With things that I wanted to accomplish that day in mind, I started off doing a few more interviews. I only planned to do two, as there were only that many thank you gifts left, but then someone else begged me to give her something, too, so I did an interview with her for another 45 minutes. It was good, because she actually opened up a lot and provided a better interview than the other two that morning. I’m grateful I could have that one on one interaction with the moms. I like getting to know them and learning their stories. It’s sad to see them suffer, though, or to hear about some of their concerns. For some, the major concern during pregnancy is the typical concern for the health of the child. However, others were very troubled about what the reaction of their mothers or significant others would be. The one who was 16 when she got pregnant was obviously worried about the first. Another worried her live-in boyfriend (the most common living situation I encounted with my interviewees) would leave her when he found out, because that’s what the father of her first child had done. Another woman was concerned about diseases her baby might get because of the father’s infidelity and STDs that were then brought home. It was a reminder to me of how grateful I am for a different concept of family and other goals for myself, such that those won’t be concerns as I have children. I hope those women are doing well now.
After those interviews, I dropped into the transition nursery where babies are kept if their moms have infection or just haven’t been moved out to the later post-partum room yet. It was not too exciting, so I went ahead up to the labor room for a while. There, I talked with ladies and provided some labor support until I followed a C-section. It was fine. After that, I followed that mother, Maria, to the post-partum room and then spent time with her baby in the newbie nursery. She was a cute little one. I took some pictures to show to mom and saw how some of the other babies were doing. I felt so honored when Maria asked about my name again and said that since I’d been with her through it all, she would use Susanna as one of the names for her baby. That was pretty special for me. I couldn’t find her husband to tell him about his wife and baby before I left, but he knows by now.
Friday was a wrap-up day with the different organizations we’d been working with. We reported on what we did and what we’d found with the growth and health evaluations of the children and discussed what improvements could be made for the future. The best part of the day was when Hna Dolores Ramos, one of my first mission companions came to visit me. We hadn’t been able to communicate much, as our schedules were very opposite (she is in class in the tarde and night, and that’s the only time I was free), but she decided she could come on over to the hotel. She, Paul Sotomayor, and some nursing friends all went out for ice cream and just strolled around the city. It was just so exciting to see one of my latin compañeras again! J
Saturday we took off for Quito by plane and then to Otavalo in bus. Sadly, with the big “tourism” bus waiting outside the airport, I think we attracted some unwanted attention. In the chaos of loading up the bus and allowing people to help us with our bags, a scamming group came by, with people asking distracting questions from outside and others “helping” to put bags up in the overead walking off with one of my peers’ bags from the inside. They came close to getting others, but other people had been more adamant about keeping their bags close. We all mourned that we had not been more aware, whether from the outside or inside. Our tour lady then said we should never talk to strangers, which made me laugh, since there were three new people to us who were working for her that were also loading our bags. Anyway, I felt really bad for Tricia, whose passport,computer, and other important things were in her bag.
We then went up to Otavalo to the famous poncho’s market that’s there every Saturday.
Sunday I’d hoped to go down to Quito to go to church, but my friends were too traveled out to want another 4ish hours in a car so I could go to “my” wards in Quito. It was really disappointing, but I wasn’t surprised people just wanted to rest. We were at this really beautiful hotel in Otavalo called Puerto Lago, right on a lake there in the mountains. It was a great place to relax and enjoy nature, but also to go boating, play tennis, and see the llamas!
Monday we had te great opportunity to work with the Benson Institute. It’s an organization that works on the development aspect of humanitarian aid. With that, I mean to say it helps people become more self-sufficient, providing aid in a sustainable manner. Families that lack the necessary resources to obtain sufficient nutrition are recommended by either the bishop or the community president to obtain help. Then, the institute does an evaluation and may begin working with the family. They not only provide starter kits, such as alfalfa seed or materials to build guinea pig houses and 10 guinea pigs, but they train the people on crop maintenance and rotation, how to build the shelters, and how to maintain the animals. The institute also helps the families get started with their own garden, which is actually the first step to saving them a lot of money and improving the family’s nutrition. (That makes me so happy to think about all of my gardening family!) Then, follow-up is provided to help the family continue to improve. The goal is that the families will first be self-sufficient, that they’ll be able to start a food storage, that they’ll then give to a communit storehouse for those in need, and that they might be able to make an income through sales. It was really great visiting with the families.
We also met this 89 year-old midwife. She was teaching us some things she does to help women in birth and even to help people who haven’t been able to get pregnant or don’t want to anymore. I thought the natural methods were pretty interesting. Of course, she didn’t tell us some of her special herb combinations, because those are the secrets of her trade. She was so cute.
Now we’re in Quito! I really felt like I was coming home in some ways as we flew into the city the other day. Our hotel is just blocks from my mission office, too. My goal is to see as many people as posible, and to do better at keeping in contact with converts and loved ones down here.
With things that I wanted to accomplish that day in mind, I started off doing a few more interviews. I only planned to do two, as there were only that many thank you gifts left, but then someone else begged me to give her something, too, so I did an interview with her for another 45 minutes. It was good, because she actually opened up a lot and provided a better interview than the other two that morning. I’m grateful I could have that one on one interaction with the moms. I like getting to know them and learning their stories. It’s sad to see them suffer, though, or to hear about some of their concerns. For some, the major concern during pregnancy is the typical concern for the health of the child. However, others were very troubled about what the reaction of their mothers or significant others would be. The one who was 16 when she got pregnant was obviously worried about the first. Another worried her live-in boyfriend (the most common living situation I encounted with my interviewees) would leave her when he found out, because that’s what the father of her first child had done. Another woman was concerned about diseases her baby might get because of the father’s infidelity and STDs that were then brought home. It was a reminder to me of how grateful I am for a different concept of family and other goals for myself, such that those won’t be concerns as I have children. I hope those women are doing well now.
After those interviews, I dropped into the transition nursery where babies are kept if their moms have infection or just haven’t been moved out to the later post-partum room yet. It was not too exciting, so I went ahead up to the labor room for a while. There, I talked with ladies and provided some labor support until I followed a C-section. It was fine. After that, I followed that mother, Maria, to the post-partum room and then spent time with her baby in the newbie nursery. She was a cute little one. I took some pictures to show to mom and saw how some of the other babies were doing. I felt so honored when Maria asked about my name again and said that since I’d been with her through it all, she would use Susanna as one of the names for her baby. That was pretty special for me. I couldn’t find her husband to tell him about his wife and baby before I left, but he knows by now.
Friday was a wrap-up day with the different organizations we’d been working with. We reported on what we did and what we’d found with the growth and health evaluations of the children and discussed what improvements could be made for the future. The best part of the day was when Hna Dolores Ramos, one of my first mission companions came to visit me. We hadn’t been able to communicate much, as our schedules were very opposite (she is in class in the tarde and night, and that’s the only time I was free), but she decided she could come on over to the hotel. She, Paul Sotomayor, and some nursing friends all went out for ice cream and just strolled around the city. It was just so exciting to see one of my latin compañeras again! J
Saturday we took off for Quito by plane and then to Otavalo in bus. Sadly, with the big “tourism” bus waiting outside the airport, I think we attracted some unwanted attention. In the chaos of loading up the bus and allowing people to help us with our bags, a scamming group came by, with people asking distracting questions from outside and others “helping” to put bags up in the overead walking off with one of my peers’ bags from the inside. They came close to getting others, but other people had been more adamant about keeping their bags close. We all mourned that we had not been more aware, whether from the outside or inside. Our tour lady then said we should never talk to strangers, which made me laugh, since there were three new people to us who were working for her that were also loading our bags. Anyway, I felt really bad for Tricia, whose passport,computer, and other important things were in her bag.
We then went up to Otavalo to the famous poncho’s market that’s there every Saturday.
Sunday I’d hoped to go down to Quito to go to church, but my friends were too traveled out to want another 4ish hours in a car so I could go to “my” wards in Quito. It was really disappointing, but I wasn’t surprised people just wanted to rest. We were at this really beautiful hotel in Otavalo called Puerto Lago, right on a lake there in the mountains. It was a great place to relax and enjoy nature, but also to go boating, play tennis, and see the llamas!
Monday we had te great opportunity to work with the Benson Institute. It’s an organization that works on the development aspect of humanitarian aid. With that, I mean to say it helps people become more self-sufficient, providing aid in a sustainable manner. Families that lack the necessary resources to obtain sufficient nutrition are recommended by either the bishop or the community president to obtain help. Then, the institute does an evaluation and may begin working with the family. They not only provide starter kits, such as alfalfa seed or materials to build guinea pig houses and 10 guinea pigs, but they train the people on crop maintenance and rotation, how to build the shelters, and how to maintain the animals. The institute also helps the families get started with their own garden, which is actually the first step to saving them a lot of money and improving the family’s nutrition. (That makes me so happy to think about all of my gardening family!) Then, follow-up is provided to help the family continue to improve. The goal is that the families will first be self-sufficient, that they’ll be able to start a food storage, that they’ll then give to a communit storehouse for those in need, and that they might be able to make an income through sales. It was really great visiting with the families.
We also met this 89 year-old midwife. She was teaching us some things she does to help women in birth and even to help people who haven’t been able to get pregnant or don’t want to anymore. I thought the natural methods were pretty interesting. Of course, she didn’t tell us some of her special herb combinations, because those are the secrets of her trade. She was so cute.
Now we’re in Quito! I really felt like I was coming home in some ways as we flew into the city the other day. Our hotel is just blocks from my mission office, too. My goal is to see as many people as posible, and to do better at keeping in contact with converts and loved ones down here.
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