so today es miércoles, which means "pregnant lady day" around here. this is the only day of the week we perform ultrasounds, so women (and girls) come in spades to get checkups. i made friends with rosbinda, one of the doctoras aquí, and got to shadow her all day, which was pretty great.
the first girl we saw was fifteen years old. she was 28 weeks pregnant, and since she's so young and little (around 4' 9'' or 10'' probably) she's at higher risk of complications. another girl was nineteen and was already having a second kid--she had her first when she was fourteen. she told us she wanted a total of four kids, but she's one of 26, so you can see why we might be a little suspicious. anyway, rosbinda is great. she taught me how to determine a woman's due date, how to use ultrasound to measure the baby's height and weight, how to feel for the baby's head and determine its sex, and taught me a bunch of great medical vocab. plus she was patient with all of my questions. love her. she's like our own bailey! (from grey's anatomy)
in other news, i now have a project! after much debate and discussion, i will be tackling the project of a "new" CHI: Children's Health Initiative. i am currently conducting some research online and in our database on the medical (and other) needs of children under 5, to determine what needs to be done and what is currently being done. then i will try to develop a proposal for possible interventions and/or projects to try to meet those needs. it's still pretty broad and ambiguous, but i'm meeting with alan tomorrow to try to narrow down some preliminary objectives. in any case, it's exciting that i now have some kind of focus.
next week i'm moving to another clinic in concepción, where i'll get to participate in a brigade and go out into the communities with health promoters. i will be meeting with people who live in the most remote (and thus poorest) outskirts of intibucá, which will be a much more representative slice of honduran life than our clinic here. we received another (i think it's probably my fourth) "orientation" the other day, in which the older volunteers gave us a better picture of our infrastructure, how we try to partner with locals, and our ongoing projects--both successes and failures. i'm hoping that after going into the communities i'll have a better idea of how best to approach various issues.
in the meantime, i'm starting to get a feel for how things work here, and how it is really pretty difficult to actually "make a difference"--at least, one that is both beneficial and sustainable. it was easy to come and think that no matter what, i would be helpful, either by volunteering in the clinic or providing english lessons. but so much of the problem is the quick volunteer turnover here. english lessons have come and gone with volunteers, which means that students get excited and are happy about the attention, but actually learn very little. knowing the alphabet (i almost typed alfabet) song is great, but english isn't going to get them anywhere unless they follow some kind of sustained, regimented curriculum. plus, i'm not sure that intermittent--if enthusiastic--attention from gringo volunteers is healthier than just the steady support they already receive in the library.
on the non-work side, life here in honduras is on the up-and-up. i'm finally starting to get into the swing of things, which mostly involves me becoming more confident about my spanish. on sunday we ventured into town, where we embarked on an adventure of honduran chinese food: "chap suey" at "restaurante danny's." no joke. on the way, we battled mangy dogs (they're everywhere, and NOT nice. many of them have rabies, and they bark and chase after you unless you throw rocks at them) and creepy men. we've also bonded over friday night lights, everyone's newest addiction. since there isn't much to do around here (definitely no bars or clubs), we mostly resort to movies and tv shows (brought from the states and projected onto the wall) for entertainment. sometimes, we'll even use our headlamps to read books at night. i know. crazy.
friday we are having una fiesta de cumples: that of liz, alex, and alan. it will be WILD.
stay tuned!
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