Update for the last full week!

Hey everybody!

So we're having a good time and getting a lot of work done our last week or so in Guayaquil. Yesterday we went to the Maternity Hospital Orames Gonzales. We all split up and did different things so the other too can explain more about the hospital because i went out into the city of Duran for the day. We were doing a Health Survey of a local area. There were about 5 doctors and myself. I had thought I had seen the poverty of Ecuador before, but it was nothing compared to the area we went into. Our job was to go to each house we could find and do a survery of how many people were living there, and their health situation, and finally we would end by inviting them to go the Orames Gonzales if they ever need anything (FYI it is a free, government run hospital).

These 3 hours in Duran were the most moving of my trip so far. Most of the houses were built of sugar cane or loose pieces of wood. They were up on stilts because in the winter month the land floods up to about 3 to 5 feet of water, yet in the summer it is incredibly dry, and the air is filled with dust. Unfortunately this leaves the ground disheveled, uneven, and hard to stand on. I was amazed at the speed the people living there walked across the ground, as we went very slow for fear of falling down with one wrong step. The houses were open the air in many places, so tended to be full of flies, and did little to keep out the heat. The water was miscolored and stored in barrels out in the open. And the children ran around in clothes that had lost their original colors and all seemed to be the color of dust. At first sight I was deeply saddened by the condition of this area, because this was not some small poor area of a city, this appeared to go on for miles. But the people themselves helped lift my spirits. Many were glad to have visiters, and quickly brought us inside their homes and found us somewhere to sit (often times they would give us their only chair) and would talk to us for as long as they could. They were happy for conversation and excited by the help the doctor I was with offered them. Some notable examples of people I met. 1. A family of 10 in a house that was 1 room, but content and happy. A battered woman with 2 kids whose husband had 2 other girlfriends, this was a tough case and the doctor I was with said it is a very common case in this area. A family with 2 girls, 13 and 15, both married and pregnant. A pair of twins who were studying for school (mathmatics). A house where 2 of the 5 family members didn´t know their birthday. And finally a house (which was just framework with blankets thrown over it to make it whole) with a young man who lost most of the use of his legs (which had all but wasted away). He had been shot in the back, and suffered spinal damage, but didnt have the money to have the bullets removed. He didnt try to exercise or move his legs, so had lost more mobility, and the bullets have migrated forward giving him stomach pain. The doctor arranged to have an ambulance pick him up next week, and surgery to be done in a free hospital.

Overall the experience was very humbling. It was very sad, yet at the same time enlightening. Even though these people had near nothing, they were not sad, nor angry. Most of them seemed cheerful, and helpful, and willing to give up what little they had to make us comfortable.

Today we went back to Padre Damien (I played some more domino´s with the guys), but we also got to talk to a very interesting gentleman. His name was Portanando. He just turned 90 year old (yup, and still in good shape). He told us about his life, his family, and God. He was very happy to have someone to talk to, and wouldn´t stop complementing us and how generous and thoughtful we were, we of course told him how much we enjoyed going there, and how much we enjoyed talking to him, and he just blushed and complemented us more.