Mon 10/24 - Our first day of the mobile clinic was in a small town called Loharano (meaning "head of water") that was 45min north of Antsirabe. This town was actually a repeat town from the most recent medical mission group two weeks ago bc they were unable to see all of the patients in one day and we came back to see the rest! The town was very rural and we had to take mostly bumpy dirt roads to get there... talk about car sick! But it felt like we were in an NatGeo magazine with all the small villages, local people smiling and waving, and workers in the fields.
When we arrived at the church, the courtyard was overflowing with patients to be seen. Last time the group game, they saw over 500 patients and there was probably another 500 more waiting to be seen. This is because we were deep in the bush where not many people travel so people come from far away to see the American doctors.
We immediately went inside the church and began rearranging the pews to set up our clinic. The patients entered from the side door into triage before being sent to see a provider and then onto pharmacy. There were 3 Malagasy providers (including Dr Harrison) and then 5 American providers.
Before the clinic started, the local pastor began with a devotion and the scripture he chose was especially meaningful to Jill, Meg and I. He read Luke 10:33-34 about the Good Samaritan and related it to us. He thanked us for giving up our time and money to serve his community and explained how with medical mission work like ours it raises church attendance and truly brings Christ into the lime light. To end the devotion, the entire courtyard erupted in Blessed Assurance followed by the Lords Prayer which we could all join in with the English version! Faith truly transcends all cultures and languages :)
I was working with Chesley, an internal med PA, and we saw some very interesting cases. The first case of the day was intra-biliary schistosomiasis (aka a parasite traveled from the stomach into the GB/liver) that we sent to the hospital for treatment. Next we had a lady with severe anxiety about bandits who have been raiding her community. We also saw tons of kids and the two standout ones were a 6yo deaf mute who had never received any therapy and a 3yo who stepped in a fire and had 2nd degree burns on his foot. We had to debride the wound using a pocket knife and water since we had no numbing medicine.
By far the coolest patient of the day was a rare diagnosis THAT I RECOGNIZED!! And the only reason I knew it was from my derm rotation I just finished where we had a patient with Klippel-Traunay-Weber syndrome. My derm doc said he had only seen in it once before back in his residency. So this lady today came in for back pain and while we were talking I noticed her right hand was much larger than her right. I asked her to hold out her hands in front of her to check for an arm length discrepancy. Then I asked if she had port wine stains all over the right side of her body and she said yes. Lastly I asked if her right leg was swollen with varicose veins AND SHE SAID YES! She was born like this and it's a completely benign but disfiguring disease. So I was able to educate her on her condition in addition to helping her back pain!!
We saw over 600 patients today and filled 1745 prescriptions! We worked up until dusk and saw every last patient there.
The kids and adults loved the Polaroid project and are SO HAPPY to have a picture to keep. The smiles on their faces told the whole story and the translator confirmed that most people don't have any pictures of themselves. Thank you again to everyone who donated!! You have left a part of yourself here in Madagascar!
We didn't finish the clinic until it was almost dusk so by the time we loaded up the vans and left, the sun was setting. It was the perfect way to end a perfect day! God lit our path with a gorgeous sunset until we got to the paved road. It was as if He was smiling down on us after a long day of being His Good Samaritan to the Malagasy people. I honestly can not wait to see what the rest of the week brings!
Daily devotion: Luke 10: 33-44, 37
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” -Luke 10:33-34, 36-37
The Malagasy pastor explained that the Good Samaritan shows compassion 3 ways:
- He loves all
- He does not discriminate
- He helps all people
We are called to be like the Good Samaritan. We are called to love everyone without discrimination and to help all people as best as we can. The without discrimination part is what really sticks out to me bc all people deserve the same respect and compassion. Our mission is to be the Good Samaritan for the Malagasy people. We accept all with open arms, treat each patient with the same respect, and share love and compassion with them. Pray that we may channel the Good Samaritan as we meet each and every patient today and always.
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