CENIT

I haven´t written in a few days so I´m going to try to write two posts today.  I think they need to be separated because the experiences were so vastly different it feels like as disservice to put everything in one very long, drawn out post.  A few days ago I started re-reading some of my posts and have noticed a significant deterioration in my ability to write above the level of 6th grader.  This is probably occurring because when I try to form sentances in Spanish my level of sophistication is approximately that of 12 year old.  Seems like maybe I can´t talk in either language anymore but I will try smarten it up a bit, haha.

So onto CENIT.  CENIT is a fantastic organization in Quito that was initially started by the Sisters of the Good Shepard in 1991.  The mission of the organization was conceptualized to provide schooling to working children in Quito who lived in such extreme poverty that they were required to go to work at a young age to help their families earn enough money to eat.  Being an incredibly masoginistic culture the men were always treated better than the woman and allowed to remain in school so it is the young girls who suffer the most.  Observing this problem the Sisters started a school for young girls where they were educated in the traditional manner and also in trade skills, allowing them to obtain a better job upon gradution.  They have a deal with the families which states the entire family will be provided with meals as long as they children continue to attend school on a regular basis.  It is really an amazing cause and today the elementary school is also open to the brothers of girls who attend school at CENIT. 

Now you might be wondering what our role was in this whole situation.  We spent Thursday and Friday of last week  holding clinics where we saw every teenage girl who attends school there and also some of their parents.  One of the most difficult parts of these clinics was talking with these young girls about very difficult subjects such as violence in the home, if they had enough to eat and sexual activity in a room full of people.  We did our very best to make sure conversations were kept as private as possible but I can´t help but think many of these girls were not as honest as they would have been if their friends weren´t sitting 20 feet from them observing their clinic visits.  Another huge challenge is attempting to listen to heart sounds in a very noisy room.  Sheesh, I have enough trouble hearing murmurs in dead silence. 

However, because CENIT is a great organization full of very conscientious volunteers I think these girls have a much greater chance of receiving the medical care we intend them to have than other groups we have seen.  On the second day Leah and I made the decision to function completely on our own since one of the preceptors was a 4th year Ecuadorian med student and the other was a an RN who was nice but thought Albendazol and Lansoprazol were in the same class of drugs.  Yep, after a few interactions we made the choice to function on our own which was great since it made our interactions much more efficient and we asked for input if something was really complicated. 

Anyway, se la vie.  I think we did some good for these girls.  This week we have a lot of spanish class in the afternoon and clinic in the mornings with a visit the the medical museum and medical school on Wednesday.  Should be interesting!

Ciao!