El dia de las madres

Ecuadorians know how to appreciate their moms! Flowers here are beautiful and cheap. We got some roses for our instructors and they got some more in church today!
Wilson from El hogar de Christo came to church with us today.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, calling family and siblings on missions, and going on walks.
By the way, we walk to church through some interesting areas, so I thought I'd document it with some pictures.

A different view of Ecuador

As mentioned in the previous post, we are all divided into three groups. My group has spent this week in the maternity hospital called Sotomayor. I will therefore describe that setting.
As we entered the labor and delivery unit they gave us a set of special scrubs to wear for the day. As we all tried them on we realized that the pants were about 6 inches too short! We had a good laugh and took a few pictures.


The maternity hospital here is quite different than in the states. First, the labor and delivery room is packed with rows of laboring women (very different from the private rooms in SLC). There are no families present to comfort and support these women, so that's where BYU nursing students step up. Our job was to find women who looked like they were in considerable pain and stay with them throughout the remainder of their labor. They don't get any pain medication, so we use what knowledge we have to help them manage their discomfort. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we loved it! It was so gratifying to know that the person you are helping really needs you and wants you to be there with them until it's all over.

So we had a great time and saw many deliveries!

The real work begins...

It is day six here in Ecuador and we are now all really busy working in the hospitals and in the community. All of us have been divided into three groups: Group one is working at Vernaza, group two is working at Soto Mayor (the maternity hosptial) and group 3 has been out in the community. After a week then the groups rotate so that we all are able to have a chance to be in each area. Everyone has been really busy and we are all exhausted when we get home. Since I have in the group out in the community this week I will report on how that is going. Community is working with a wonderful foundation called Hogar de Cristo who provide houses, microcredits, classes, andseveral other services to people in the community living in extreme poverty. This year they have asked the nursing students to help them by 1. Doing school health screenings on children in several different schools and 2. Organize and find members to join a Hypertension and Diabetes group. Every day, 2 students go with a guide into the communities to screen and teach about hypertension in the sub-centros and also in various homes in the neighborhood. We have all found that this part of our community experience is very similar to missionary work. (contacting, teaching, knocking doors, inviting to a meeting, etc). The people here seem very receptive to our teaching and eager to learn and improve their health. The school health screenings started out being the craziest, most unorganized thing ever with children running everywhere, but by today we are pleased to announce that we have figured out a way to make it work and were able to finish all of the children at the school we were assigned to this week. Those children who had low hemotocrits are being given Iron suppliments and every child is also recieving anti-parasite pills as well. We have all agreed that the experience here has been so enriching and wonderful and we all hope that those people that we are serving are also benefiting in some way as well.

Hogar de Cristo, Rosaries and FHE-izzle

Today we went out and met the group, Hogar de Cristo, that we will be working with in the community. Like the name explains, they help provide thousands of homes for the needy people here in Ecuador. The organization also provides several other wonderful helps to the community including health teaching and screening which is what we will be helping them with over the next few weeks.


Today we got to meet two of the organization's big leaders: Roberto (loved the Spanish accent and usage of vosotros) and Luis. I think I can speak for everyone in saying that we found it to be a very well organized and inspiring establishment. As a team, we have a great potential for being able to accomplish a lot of good for the Ecuadorian people over the next few short weeks and we are all pretty excited about it.


We piled into the ambulance and the truck to go out and tour one of their facilities which was cool. We finally got to go out and see some of the more impoverished areas of Guayaquil and it has helped us get excited to serve these great people, if with nothing more than just a "smile and eyes filled with hope."


After meeting Hogar de Cristo, we all went out to get dinner at Cafe Rio, the restaurant of the mom of one of our fellow nursing students, David. It was delicious and gave us all a little energy back from the hot day. After a quick rest back at the hotel, we all met up for FHE where we tried passion fruit (thank you Shelly!) and were spiritually uplifted by a lesson by Taniel and Casey and now it's off to bed to prepare for our first "real" day of clinicals tomorrow!

Church + Nap = Good Day

This morning started out with a brisk walk to the chapel, which is only a few short blocks away from our hotel. I'm sure that we were quite the spectacle-- 25 Americans walking down the street at 8:30 in the morning in skirts, heels, and white shirts and ties! When we arrived at the church building, the members greeted us with besos and abrazos. I am constantly amazed at how welcoming and loving the people are here. The chapel was very nice and even had a piano and air conditioning. A new bishopric was sustained today, so it was cool to see the priesthood and revelation in action halfway across the world. It was also fast and testimony meeting today, so we got to hear many members' testimonies. I think my brain turned to mush about halfway through because I was concentrating so hard on understanding what they were trying to say. But I think I got the gist of what was being said. I'm starting to really appreciate words like revelacion, presidente, and espiritu. It doesn't require nearly as much thinking! For Sunday School, we attended the YSA class. The class must have quadrupled in size! Seriously. Most of us went to Relief Society today, and I think next week some of us might go to Primary or Mujeres Jovenes (YW). Going to Church in Spanish is definitely an adventure! Even though I didn't understand every single word, I still felt the Spirit so strongly. There are strong ties of love and companionship that bind the members of the Church together, no matter their nationality, background, or language.

And I bet you couldn't guess what we did after church???.... That's right, took a NAP!!

Touring Hospitals and El Parque Historico de Guayaquil

So today was our first whole day in Ecuador!

We had the pleasure of sleeping in because of our late arrival last night. We all grabbed breakfast at the hotel restaurant- yummy fruit, breads, eggs, and yogurt. At ten o’clock we jumped in two vans and headed to the oldest hospital in the Americas, the Luis Vernaza General Hospital, built in 1564. Don’t let the old age fool you! It’s still quite the hospital! We toured various areas including the emergency room, three levels of Intensive Care Units, cardiology unit, and post-operative recovery area. The hospital is divided based on funding- the private part and the “Junta.” The private area was noticeably nicer, although the patients pay a bundle for it. The “Junta” is an organization, which funds their care through a lottery in Ecuador. Patients who come to the “Junta” area pay based on what they can afford. Their care was still pretty remarkable. One ICU was brand new and comparable to an ICU in the United States. They are very advanced in some ways like having a whole area for stem cell implants. An interesting aspect was the lack of privacy. There were six to twenty patients in each room lying on stretchers within arms distance of each other. They did not seem put off by this though. The patients were very friendly and excited to see us. The courtyard of the hospital was very beautiful and included a cathedral. There are photos posted below.

            Our next stop was the children’s hospital in another part of town. It was very nice and reminded us of Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake. The babies and children were so cute! We won’t be doing clinicals there, but it was interesting to tour it. That hospital is also funded by “Junta.”

            Last, we spent the afternoon at “El Parque Historico de Guayaquil.” This park was very fun! We had tour guides lead us through the various areas. First, in the wildlife portion we saw a bunch of crazy animals like crocodiles, parrots, tapirs, sloths, monkeys, and crabs. One monkey entertained us thoroughly as he tried to crack open a nut on three different surfaces. The next area of the park was restored buildings called the urban architectural zone. We took a bunch of cute pictures on the cable cars outside. We also saw an old restored farm and a beautiful garden!

By the end we were all pretty tuckered from the humidity and lack of sleep. We stopped by the MegaMaxi grocery store to pick up some water and food. Tomorrow is Sunday so we’re all excited to go to church for the first time in Ecuador! 

Tenemos un bidet

We made it! 2:30 am in Guayaquil Ecuador. Adios America! Forever! (or just for a while)

Love,

Sarah, Megan, and Tricia