Mobile Clinics: Daycare #3

Daycare #3 was interesting. The teachers must have announced to the parents that we were coming, because almost all of the kids had their parents present. It was nice to be able to get a deeper history from the family, instead of just from the teachers. I will say, though, that the teachers seem to be really involved and care for the kids deeply.

This was the view walking to and from the daycare. We lucked out to get a gorgeous, sunny day! This part of Guatemala is up pretty high, about 8000 feet, and this area is up even higher than Xela. It means that when the weather is right, it's like living in the clouds!






The kids were really curious. Whatever we did, they were swarming around, trying to get involved. But they sat still for a picture at the beginning.


Can you see why I was a little worried why I'd get lice the other day? But I wouldn't ever trade it. It was so fun having the kids climb all over and play with me! I actually didn't find lice on a single kid today.




Time to do some assessments. Most kids here were pretty healthy. The only medicines I gave out were expectorants for coughs when the moms really wanted them. Of course we gave albendazole to all the kids to treat for worms, and collected stool samples so all kids could be treated for GI infections if they had them.

I was super-allergic to something in here (cats? dust?), and was sneezing non-stop. I had to take frequent fresh-air breaks, and keep the roll of toilet paper and bottle of hand sanitizer near me at all times. It was kind of embarrassing to see the moms look inquisitively at me when I had a sneezing fit while trying to care for their child...