There is a lot going on and I hardly have time to write - on the 25th Maria Bernarda had her Baby with us in Manos Abiertas, - because of being chronically undernourished she did not have much strength and the birth was hard but we could keep her bleeding under control - and she sked me to tell the sponsors that she "would like to thank the people who m ade it possible for her to have her baby at Manos Abiertas. We were so nice and patient with her and really good people."
Anyway, when she brought her baby to our (free) pediatric consult three days later, the baby had a fever and was hospitalized by advice of our pediatrician - by now baby is back home and doing fine. but he probably had an infection that his mother had prenatally and we had no chance to diagnose since she did not have regular prenatal visits with us.
Other exciting things are happening: since last week Wednesday, our interns from Momostenango are with us and learning avidly. On their very first day I took them to a workshop on "Interculturalidad" - put on by several big NGOs and by ( surprise!) the Ministry of Health. There were quite a few Mayan midwives present and I believe Olga and Paty enjoyed the event.
Since Friday they have been following Carmen and Sandra around and are learning a lot. On Thursday they will come to the city with me to another event, this time for the international day of the midwife. I hope between learning and ging to events they will not get bored with us!
The 26th of this month we will do a VIA/cryo and Pap day clinic at lake Atitlan. by then Olga and Paty will have learned to fill out basic clinical histories and will accompany Gabi, Carmen and Sandra. The clinic will also give them their first exposure to the VIA procedure, so they get an idea what they are looking at.
On the other hand , we are working with several dedicated individuals on finding grants we could apply for. Josie, who works for WINGS is sacrificing her spare time for us, Rina is doing long distance collaboration with us, and José Roberto, who now works for UNFPA has pointed me in the right direction regarding visibility and grant applications. Let's hope for the best and I'll keep you posted...
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