The Unexpected

I have been at Hospitals of Hope for just over a week now and I can truly say that this has been quite a different experience then I ever expected. Honestly, I didn’t know exactly what I was walking into with this organization, but from reading about it on the internet I figured that 2 weeks anywhere couldn’t be that tough. Prior to arriving here, I had my stethoscope, my medical book (actually an app I downloaded onto my phone) and my scrubs all lined up for some hard work at the hospital….however…..that isn’t really what we are doing here. The hospital is actually very well staffed, so the volunteers play a different role. I would say that the medical students benefit from this the most, it is very learning centered and a lot of time is spent watching surgeries and working in the clinic with the doctors. After a few days of that, I prefer to stay with the nurses or sit and talk with patients. However, we aren’t even in the hospital that much. A typical day starts with hospital rounds at 8 then we stay at the hospital for only a few hours. Other times we help out or attend other random functions at the hospital during the morning. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen some pretty cool things, brain surgery….a chest tube put in (with a glass bottle reservoir for the drainage)….facial burns….broken everything….. The most interesting times are when large car accidents happen (which in one week I have already seen about 3) and several people are in the ER and doctors and nurses just move from patient to patient. This is when I help out a bit and things can be fun.
The biggest blessing this trip has been the events outside of the actual hospital. Yesterday we spent the morning at an orphanage for girls 12-18. I was a little intimidated because I remember what I was like at that age J One of the other volunteers planned for a project and lesson based around butterflies….It was really cool and sent a deeper message to the girls about a being born again and life with Jesus. The surprising thing was that they loved it! They were totally into the project and seemed to enjoy being with us. We joked, talked about movies they liked, things they liked to do for fun…they really seemed to appreciate the morning…and, of course, we loved it as well. Last evening we went to a different orphanage in the evening. It was called Casa de Amor and seems to be run really well. Many of the kids actually end up getting adoped, which is a really hard thing to do in Bolivia…years of paperwork. The children were from 7 weeks old (my favorite) to 3 and it was awesome spending time with them. I don’t know how the long term workers at these places do it! There were so many horror stories about the kids who ended up there. It was heartbreaking in a way, but also wonderful to see that they were in a “safe” place.