Not much has happened in the last few days since I blogged. Brinley is feeling better, but the poor thing is SO sick of rice! She almost cried at the lunch table today when Mercedes served stir-fried cabbage, carrots, peppers and onions over rice. Everyone liked it and ate it, but poor Brin just left the table and sat outside reading her book. I was going to make her a fried egg sandwich, but we were out of eggs. Mercedes felt bad and went and bought 4 eggs from the neighbors. I made her a sandwich, and she scarfed it down with some canned peaches. She is really slimming down between the poor appetite and increased activity. Even my boys have noticed and complimented her!
Homework seems to be the hot topic for yesterday and today. The kids are somewhat behind, and have become a little lazy and unfocused. Braeden is working hard finally at catching up. Brinley is caught up, and found a book at Fr. Jack's gringo room. It's called "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." It must be good, because she hasn't put it down much for the past 2 days.
I read the book "Water for Elephants.".....a phenomenal book. Anyone who works in Long Term Care should definately read it! I got a pedicure last evening. What an experience that was. Seriously, I soaked my feet in a basin with a garbage bag in it. Well, they do what they can with what they have! It took over an hour, and cost me only $7! I also had Walter, a reflexologist and massage therapist work on my neck/shoulders last evening. I got a 1 1/2 hour treatment for ....you won't believe it......$10.00!!! Today I am without a headache.
I was at the Medical Post this morning working. I saw the 14 year old I blogged about earlier, who just gave birth. Turns out she had a C-section. She was crying and in a lot of pain. Please understand, that in Peru, pain medication is not really utilized like in the States. So she's had nothing post-op for pain. When I removed her bandages, I expected to see an infected incision site. To my surprise, it was very clean. Dr. Luis came in, looked at it, and walked out. I cleaned the wound and re-bandaged it. Then, with my best "Spang-lish", I tried to instruct her about massaging her abdomen. Her uterus was boggy, and so I made her more miserable by massaging her uterus and showing her how it needs to feel like a hard ball inside. This little girl, age 14, just a child herself is on her own--now with a baby to care for. It's just SO SAD!!!
The young man with the stab wounds was also in today. I was the assistant again for Dr. Luis to check the wounds. We took out several stitches. Just as an example, the laceration to his upper shoulder blade--about 4 inches long, only had 3 stitches in it! Now any nurse or medical person reading this will know what I saw next.....Dr. Luis took out the 3 stitches and I saw clear down to the muscle. He was moving the flesh around and it was separated from the muscle. Yep. Good 'ole nurse that I am, about hit the floor when he started screaming in pain!!! But the miracle part is that I don't see any infection starting in any of the wounds......they are doing something right!!
Monique and her group went up into the mountains to another village today. They will return on Thursday and leave already on Friday. Wilder is with them, along with a few kids from the choir.
So this is Holy week, and I learned today that there's no Saturday evening mass......The mass is actually on Sunday at 3:30 AM!!!!! This will be yet another great cultural experience for us!! The kids are already whining about it.......oh well......heard it's quite expectacular!!
Well, gotta go. Need to go downtown to find a color printer to print off some photos. My friend Patricia is doing some sketches for some of my friends.
Until Next Time,
Collette
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 29th
Yesterday was the big day for the "walk of faith". We got up at 5:30am, got ready to go, and met at the church by 6:30. Fr. Jack, Brookston, Braeden, Bridger and myself along with 3 otheres from the parish took the van to the base of the mountain and began our "walk". All along the way we had "stations" where there's a cross, signifying the stations of the cross similating Jesus's crucifiction. It was about a 3 hour walk up the mountain, twisting and climbing as we went along. It was really hot, and there were about 2500 people on the trek. As we neared the top, there was a breeze which helped a lot! When we got to the church, they had a re-enactment by some kids of the crucifiction. It was pretty real, and quite surreal to be honest. We then had mass for all, and started our decent. It only took the kids and myself 40 minutes to make it down the mountain back to the van. When we got there, (ahead of the rest), we waited for 30 minutes for them to get there. Of course, we had NO shade, so there we sat in the hot desert sand/rocks waiting for their arrival. We were back at the paroquia (parish) by 1:30pm.
The gringos from Fargo arrived at 3:30pm. Monique, bless her soul, brought a football for the boys. They practically unpacked her bags for her so they could get it! THANKS MONIQUE!!
Last evening we had a palm Sunday procession starting 7 blocks away from the church. We had a donkey with a "Jesus" and around 100 people in the procession. We got to the church, and to my surprise, the donkey and "Jesus" proceeded up the aisle to the altar. It was really awesome to see. Sometime during the mass, I needed to be excused, and was outside. Braeden and Bridger followed me. We were sitting on a cement bench in the garden, when all of a sudden people started running out of the church, and running out of the homes all along the paroquia. I was like, "what on earth is going on?" People were in panic mode, and looking up at the buildings when it dawned on me that our bench had been moving. I had chalked it up to the kids playing around and moving the bench, so I didn't really notice much, but when we discovered that we couldn't even budge the bench we knew instantly that we had partaken in an earthquake.
Fr. Jack continued with the mass, and all was well, luckily. Panic set in for me when I realized what was going on, and Brookston and Brinley were still in the church. I said a few quick prayers and left their fate up to God......I felt so helpless and panic=stricken. Wilder later told us that when it's windy here, there's usually an earthquake tremor of sorts, and then the wind stops. That's exactly what happened.
Today, we took 400+ people to Vesique Beach. Ron Stensgard and family arranged for the 6 large buses and all the food to be taken to the beach. The families from the soup kitchens were the guests for the day. Despite our slathered-on sun-screen, Bridger and I managed to get burned. The beach was gorgeous as always, but today it was very windy after lunch. I was a little nervous tonight about another tremor, but none so far.....the kids had a lot of fun.
Everyone hit their beds tonight early from their long 2 days of exercise and excitement. Tomorrow will be back to "normal".....school work for the kids, and myself working at the medical post.........time is sure flying by fast! Tonight my house dad, Julio, told me that he's going to be very sad when we leave. He's gotten pretty attached to us, and loves kids. He asked if we wanted to stay for a year............I won't divulge my answer to that! LOL!!
Until next time......
CM
The gringos from Fargo arrived at 3:30pm. Monique, bless her soul, brought a football for the boys. They practically unpacked her bags for her so they could get it! THANKS MONIQUE!!
Last evening we had a palm Sunday procession starting 7 blocks away from the church. We had a donkey with a "Jesus" and around 100 people in the procession. We got to the church, and to my surprise, the donkey and "Jesus" proceeded up the aisle to the altar. It was really awesome to see. Sometime during the mass, I needed to be excused, and was outside. Braeden and Bridger followed me. We were sitting on a cement bench in the garden, when all of a sudden people started running out of the church, and running out of the homes all along the paroquia. I was like, "what on earth is going on?" People were in panic mode, and looking up at the buildings when it dawned on me that our bench had been moving. I had chalked it up to the kids playing around and moving the bench, so I didn't really notice much, but when we discovered that we couldn't even budge the bench we knew instantly that we had partaken in an earthquake.
Fr. Jack continued with the mass, and all was well, luckily. Panic set in for me when I realized what was going on, and Brookston and Brinley were still in the church. I said a few quick prayers and left their fate up to God......I felt so helpless and panic=stricken. Wilder later told us that when it's windy here, there's usually an earthquake tremor of sorts, and then the wind stops. That's exactly what happened.
Today, we took 400+ people to Vesique Beach. Ron Stensgard and family arranged for the 6 large buses and all the food to be taken to the beach. The families from the soup kitchens were the guests for the day. Despite our slathered-on sun-screen, Bridger and I managed to get burned. The beach was gorgeous as always, but today it was very windy after lunch. I was a little nervous tonight about another tremor, but none so far.....the kids had a lot of fun.
Everyone hit their beds tonight early from their long 2 days of exercise and excitement. Tomorrow will be back to "normal".....school work for the kids, and myself working at the medical post.........time is sure flying by fast! Tonight my house dad, Julio, told me that he's going to be very sad when we leave. He's gotten pretty attached to us, and loves kids. He asked if we wanted to stay for a year............I won't divulge my answer to that! LOL!!
Until next time......
CM
Friday, March 26, 2010
March 26, 2010
Today was a very emotionally charged day. I spent the entire morning at La Caleta, a government-run hospital near the harbor. This place was nowhere near an inhabitable hospital setting. The rooms had anywhere from 6-8 people in them. No TVs, no bathrooms. The beds were old, decrepit, rusty things with orange plastic mattresses. No sheets. No pillows. Maybe a blanket if they brought one from home. I visited Carmen, a woman I saw yesterday at the medical post who was pregnant and leaking fluid. She gave birth around 2am. For these new moms, nothing special. Again, no sheets--no pillows.......
There was a 14 year old girl who had just delivered a baby. No support system, no family. She has to work the streets to make money to survive. Most of these young girls are now being diagnosed with HIV when they test positive for pregnancy.
I spent an hour with the doctor and nurse who oversee the SIDA, or AIDS program. It is just SO sad! I saw the registery of people who are registed as having AIDS. Most of them are ages 16-35. There's an equal amount of men and women by my estimation. I saw very young people coming in for their meds and other treatments. My heart was just sick. With meds, their life expectancy is only up to 5 years because of the poor conditions here. Without meds, only about 1 year from diagnosis to death. The government is supplying medications to those who have HIV/AIDS through a World Fund. This will only be for about the next 2 years, and the funds are projected to run out. There is nothing in place in Peru to continue the programs. Chimbote has a very large gay population, and a very large prostitution rate. Education is scant, and those who have the disease are considered "outcasts". They do not utilize the hospital for their care, as they are shunned by staff. So they are taken care of by outreach workers from our Hospice facility here at Fr. Jack's.
On my way out, there was another young teenager in labor in the hallway about to give birth. Nobody was helping her except for some family members rubbing her back. She was crying, and the desperation on her face was heartbreaking. We also visited a little girl from Wilder's neighborhood. She's 18 months old and fell onto a boiling pot of water in her estera home. Her hands are severely burned almost up to her elbows. They are hoping to save her hands, however the healthcare is SO poor there, I believe if she doesn't die of infection, she will be incapacitated for life.
Yesterday when I was working at the medical post, a young man came in for dressing changes. He had been attacked on Saturday with a knife by someone who stole his shoes.....Adidas, in fact. He has a 7 inch laceration to his lower leg, a 5 inch laceration to his right shoulder blade, and a 4 inch laceration/stab wound to his left side. Dr. Luis had stitched him up on Saturday, and we did the dressing changes for him. The medical care at Santa Ana is outstanding compared to that of the hospital.
Braeden is doing much better. He woke up yesterday with "life" in him and has been eating. I would say he's about normal now. They worked at Kelvin's this morning at the wood working shop.
Tomorrow we will meet at the church at 6am for the "Walk of Faith" procession. It's anticipated that 2-3000 people will make the trek up the mountain to the church on the hill. Brinley has chosen not to attend and will go to Nuevo Chimbote with Luis Carlos tomorrow. Luis is working on getting a teaching job there. She has enjoyed spending time with "Luigie"---he's helping her with some of her homework. She remembers him well from when he lived with us for 3 months, so I am comfortable with this friendship.
Monique Moser is scheduled to arrive around 2pm or so. The kids are very excited! They hope she had enough room to pack a football for them!
Well, enough for now. I need to pack the backpacks with water and snacks, find the sunscreen, and find our sneakers, as tomorrow morning will arrive very soon.
Love to all,
Collette
There was a 14 year old girl who had just delivered a baby. No support system, no family. She has to work the streets to make money to survive. Most of these young girls are now being diagnosed with HIV when they test positive for pregnancy.
I spent an hour with the doctor and nurse who oversee the SIDA, or AIDS program. It is just SO sad! I saw the registery of people who are registed as having AIDS. Most of them are ages 16-35. There's an equal amount of men and women by my estimation. I saw very young people coming in for their meds and other treatments. My heart was just sick. With meds, their life expectancy is only up to 5 years because of the poor conditions here. Without meds, only about 1 year from diagnosis to death. The government is supplying medications to those who have HIV/AIDS through a World Fund. This will only be for about the next 2 years, and the funds are projected to run out. There is nothing in place in Peru to continue the programs. Chimbote has a very large gay population, and a very large prostitution rate. Education is scant, and those who have the disease are considered "outcasts". They do not utilize the hospital for their care, as they are shunned by staff. So they are taken care of by outreach workers from our Hospice facility here at Fr. Jack's.
On my way out, there was another young teenager in labor in the hallway about to give birth. Nobody was helping her except for some family members rubbing her back. She was crying, and the desperation on her face was heartbreaking. We also visited a little girl from Wilder's neighborhood. She's 18 months old and fell onto a boiling pot of water in her estera home. Her hands are severely burned almost up to her elbows. They are hoping to save her hands, however the healthcare is SO poor there, I believe if she doesn't die of infection, she will be incapacitated for life.
Yesterday when I was working at the medical post, a young man came in for dressing changes. He had been attacked on Saturday with a knife by someone who stole his shoes.....Adidas, in fact. He has a 7 inch laceration to his lower leg, a 5 inch laceration to his right shoulder blade, and a 4 inch laceration/stab wound to his left side. Dr. Luis had stitched him up on Saturday, and we did the dressing changes for him. The medical care at Santa Ana is outstanding compared to that of the hospital.
Braeden is doing much better. He woke up yesterday with "life" in him and has been eating. I would say he's about normal now. They worked at Kelvin's this morning at the wood working shop.
Tomorrow we will meet at the church at 6am for the "Walk of Faith" procession. It's anticipated that 2-3000 people will make the trek up the mountain to the church on the hill. Brinley has chosen not to attend and will go to Nuevo Chimbote with Luis Carlos tomorrow. Luis is working on getting a teaching job there. She has enjoyed spending time with "Luigie"---he's helping her with some of her homework. She remembers him well from when he lived with us for 3 months, so I am comfortable with this friendship.
Monique Moser is scheduled to arrive around 2pm or so. The kids are very excited! They hope she had enough room to pack a football for them!
Well, enough for now. I need to pack the backpacks with water and snacks, find the sunscreen, and find our sneakers, as tomorrow morning will arrive very soon.
Love to all,
Collette
By Brookston for Spanish Class
hola mi amigos, and hunter
on monday we went to trujillo another town in peru. it is the second best sruffing beach in the world and the resturant that we ate at was on the beach i looked like a screen saver. while in trujillo we went to chanchan the oldest ruins in south america they were 1000 years pre inca or somthing. we tuwerd the palace and it was about the sieze of edgeley it was huge good thing we had a guide or we would have got lost but the tour guide said that there was only 1 percent excivated so it was a huge empior. Braeden got sick while we were there so we had to go home early he was pucking on the bus it was not good. so now i am the only one who hasnt got sick yet. on tuseday we went to a swimming pool in new chimbote it was big and we went at night so there was nobody els. me bridger and braeden are going to kelvins a wood working factory/zoo.
we made beds and today we had to sand 20 chairs by hand ant the varnish them it took forever. tomorow we are going to walk up a mountain with 2000 people for good friday i don't know why it is on saturday and not firday. sunday we are going to the beach with 500 people whe work in the soup kitchen so that will be fun.
well thats all so i will rite next week.
adios
on monday we went to trujillo another town in peru. it is the second best sruffing beach in the world and the resturant that we ate at was on the beach i looked like a screen saver. while in trujillo we went to chanchan the oldest ruins in south america they were 1000 years pre inca or somthing. we tuwerd the palace and it was about the sieze of edgeley it was huge good thing we had a guide or we would have got lost but the tour guide said that there was only 1 percent excivated so it was a huge empior. Braeden got sick while we were there so we had to go home early he was pucking on the bus it was not good. so now i am the only one who hasnt got sick yet. on tuseday we went to a swimming pool in new chimbote it was big and we went at night so there was nobody els. me bridger and braeden are going to kelvins a wood working factory/zoo.
we made beds and today we had to sand 20 chairs by hand ant the varnish them it took forever. tomorow we are going to walk up a mountain with 2000 people for good friday i don't know why it is on saturday and not firday. sunday we are going to the beach with 500 people whe work in the soup kitchen so that will be fun.
well thats all so i will rite next week.
adios
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
March 24, 2010 by Collette
WOW.....nearly one month already! Time is just flying by! Braeden has "it" now too....I call it the "it" b/c we don't really have a name for it. High fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. We went to Trujillo (2 hours north by bus) on Monday to see Chan Chan, which is an entire city buried in the sand, discovered in the 1940's. They have excavated and preserved one of 5 palaces, and so we toured the one on display....what an awesome experience! The empire dates back 1000 years PRE-inca, so the 1200-1400's...........
After our tour, we went to Juanchancho, a town nearby. This is where the re-nowned 2nd-best surf waves in the world are located. WOW.....I mean WOW....they were HUGE! The kids played on the beach while we waited for our lunch...........this is when Braeden became ill. He didn't eat, so this was my first clue he wasn't feeling well. He tried octopus, or calamari, and that was about it. We then went downtown to the center to see the government buildings, and it was apparent that Braeden wouldn't last the day. We went back to the bus station and got on our way back to Chimbote.......Braeden, poor guy, emptied his stomach 2 times on the bus. Of course, no bathroom on this one!!! He has been sick ever since. Today, no vomiting or diarrhea, but extreme weakness and dizziness. Wilder and I will take him to the Dr. tomorrow AM if he's not snapped out of it yet......he's been on the bactrim, and fever is gone, but lethargy and dizziness remain.......
Tuesday was filled with activities. After morning studies, Brookston and Bridger went to Kelvin's "Fundo".....carpentry shop and helped to make beds and chairs......Bridger was the "glue" man, and Brookston was chiseling the wooden ends of furniture pieces. Pretty cute.
I met with Sr., Juanita at the Hospice, and we talked for a great length.......I am now in contact with Liliana, who will set me up working with the SIDAs patients, or AIDS in English. Friday will be my first day. Tomorrow will be filled with working at the medical post (Santa Ana) giving immunizations and organizing the medical supplies. In the afternoon, helping Judy move her social work office and meds to the new Wimbush building. Evening meeting with my artist friends at their home.
Brinley and Bridger went to the prevention center today, and will be doing this daily around 3:30pm to about 6pm. There are American Gringos in charge of helping at the center, so the kids go with them.
Monique Moser is to arrive on Saturday around 2pm per my understanding. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival, ready to welcome her to our new Peruvian Lifestyle. She used to babysit the kids, so this will be a really rewarding experience for all of us! The boys have summoned her to bring down an American football.....which we have not been able to locate anywhere in this country!! LOL......
Today I met with all 4 kids and asked them about leaving early....like right after Easter Sunday. Nobody wants to go home early. This is VERY surprising to me, since Braeden is ill and Bridger is "bored" and "misses his English TV shows!!" LOL.....Since I have to change our return flight home, I will only pay the fee once, so thus far, we will be staying as planned until around the 20th.
Will post more as we go along!
Thanks for all your prayers and comments!
Love to all,
Collette
After our tour, we went to Juanchancho, a town nearby. This is where the re-nowned 2nd-best surf waves in the world are located. WOW.....I mean WOW....they were HUGE! The kids played on the beach while we waited for our lunch...........this is when Braeden became ill. He didn't eat, so this was my first clue he wasn't feeling well. He tried octopus, or calamari, and that was about it. We then went downtown to the center to see the government buildings, and it was apparent that Braeden wouldn't last the day. We went back to the bus station and got on our way back to Chimbote.......Braeden, poor guy, emptied his stomach 2 times on the bus. Of course, no bathroom on this one!!! He has been sick ever since. Today, no vomiting or diarrhea, but extreme weakness and dizziness. Wilder and I will take him to the Dr. tomorrow AM if he's not snapped out of it yet......he's been on the bactrim, and fever is gone, but lethargy and dizziness remain.......
Tuesday was filled with activities. After morning studies, Brookston and Bridger went to Kelvin's "Fundo".....carpentry shop and helped to make beds and chairs......Bridger was the "glue" man, and Brookston was chiseling the wooden ends of furniture pieces. Pretty cute.
I met with Sr., Juanita at the Hospice, and we talked for a great length.......I am now in contact with Liliana, who will set me up working with the SIDAs patients, or AIDS in English. Friday will be my first day. Tomorrow will be filled with working at the medical post (Santa Ana) giving immunizations and organizing the medical supplies. In the afternoon, helping Judy move her social work office and meds to the new Wimbush building. Evening meeting with my artist friends at their home.
Brinley and Bridger went to the prevention center today, and will be doing this daily around 3:30pm to about 6pm. There are American Gringos in charge of helping at the center, so the kids go with them.
Monique Moser is to arrive on Saturday around 2pm per my understanding. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival, ready to welcome her to our new Peruvian Lifestyle. She used to babysit the kids, so this will be a really rewarding experience for all of us! The boys have summoned her to bring down an American football.....which we have not been able to locate anywhere in this country!! LOL......
Today I met with all 4 kids and asked them about leaving early....like right after Easter Sunday. Nobody wants to go home early. This is VERY surprising to me, since Braeden is ill and Bridger is "bored" and "misses his English TV shows!!" LOL.....Since I have to change our return flight home, I will only pay the fee once, so thus far, we will be staying as planned until around the 20th.
Will post more as we go along!
Thanks for all your prayers and comments!
Love to all,
Collette
Sunday, March 21, 2010
My Side of This Story By:Brinley Mathern
Ok, Mom said when she was reading Brookston's part that she was so embarrased in his spelling. Now my side of this story. Ok, I'll start at this so i haven't wrote yet because I met so many people :like Lesly (9) , Danna(14) ,Fiorella (14), Yasmin (13 I think), Harey ( 14) , Pattrick( 6), Stephine (10), Cristen (12), Dego (8) , Jude(11), Oscar (12) and, Javiar (14) and they are so good at Volleyball and Soccer.We been here for 24 days and 3 weeks and 3 days. It is the 21 of March and I miss my whole class and my grandpa, grandma and, my father, but I'm having a lot of fun down here. My brothers are the same . The 13 of March was Brookston's B-day and celebrated in the darkness! It was so fun. I did not sleep last night people were playing loud music. The LAMA Group was here and I helped them with the patients. We went swimming 2 times we were here and one was with Liz (moms friend). She took Bridger and I to the pool (I bet you are wondering were Brookston and Braeden were at-- Adian's house then at the pool with us but they bugged us so much Liz and Bridger and I went some were else and Adian stayed with the boys. Liz took us to the boats and fed the fish and we road in a boat. Then, went to drive the 4-wheelers . I noticed the money here is different then ours it is in Soles and centimos. Thats it for now and thats my side of the story.
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