Change, Change, Change

Teresa and Manual manning the pharmacy.

Staff Change
As we mentioned on Facebook earlier this month, we have lost one of our health promoters to higher education.  Cesybel passed her entrance exams and stayed in Xela to study professional nursing at the University of San Carlos (the national university).  We are so proud of her and sad for us at the same time.  But she'll be back some day!  In the mean time we have hired a new health promoter named Teresa.  We hired her as a temp a couple of times to see how she would work out and it has been a great fit.  She is an auxiliary nurse and has worked with an OB-GYN in the past and seems very comfortable in our mobile clinic setting. She has already helped Sheri out at a Women's Health class and did a great job.  This week we also have her studying up on the different drug classes that we carry in our pharmacy.

Teresa learning our pharmacy inventory system

New Intern
We have the pleasure of hosting a 4th year medical student with us this month.  There is nothing better than teaching to get you into the studying mood!  He is keeping us on our toes. Nick Darby was a Medical Evangelism Training student with us in 2008 and has come back to visit us twice now.  We hope to keep him and his wife Andrea on the path to medical missionaries someday!

Dr. Mike Kelly and almost-Dr. Nick Darby

Behavioral Health
Many of our patient encounters here have some type of mental health or spiritual health component. Normally we refer patients to the local church contact and continue with some amount of sound counsel during clinic visits.  Last week we saw a man who is going deaf but came to see us because he feels he is being tormented by an evil spirit to drink and do other sinful things.  He says when he drinks the spirit goes away and leaves him alone for a while.  He knows this is not a good situation, but feels helpless and came asking for our advice.  He is from a town quite a ways away and can't communicate by phone, so after talking to our evangelist Gaspar we decided to schedule an appointment for him to see Gaspar in our central clinic and hope to make a home visit later. Gaspar has had good experience with folks caught up in alcoholism and I think he will be able to help this man understand the change that Jesus can offer.