A New Village Schedule

We started 2013 with a new schedule for visiting the remote villages and so far, so good.  We have given every village a daily schedule of where we are instead of just the dates that we will be in their village.  It appears that we have been able to reach more people, particularly in San Jose where we are going every other Tuesday instead of monthly, as some have travelled from surrounding villages when they know we are there.   We gave up going to Conejo, Midway and Crique Sarco in trade for going every Monday to Santa Ana in hopes that people from more villages would have access on that day.  Bill has been leading the team to Santa Ana weekly and it seems to be working.  The first week they saw 15 patients, the second week 18 patients and then 24 patients last Monday as the villagers know that we are there.  

Map of the Toledo District that Bill developed based on village catchment areas

We have continued to see a consistently good number in our main clinic, often close to 30 patients a day.  We only have morning clinic hours there since in the afternoons we see home-bound patients, visit schools to do education or another community outreach project. So, depending on your team of students, 30 patients can seem like a huge number.

Bill crossing a flooded river on the way to the village of San Benito Poite

I am encouraged that our women services is meeting a need in Belize.  We still struggle to convince women to have pap smears but I am getting referrals from Belizean doctors for consults and colposcopies on patients.  Recently I had a self-referral from Belize City for a colposopy.  As I spoke with her by phone, I asked how she had heard about us.  She told me that she is a nurse in Belize City and she heard that we are doing this procedure in Toledo.  She told me that there is only one person in Belize City offering these exams and patients have to pay out of pocket.  The cost of her bus ticket to Punta Gorda was much less so she was willing to make the trip down to to have it done.  We are now struggling to provide birth control to all of the women who are requesting it.  The Ministry of Health has traditionally provided us with some birth control pills and injectable contraceptives but with their budget tight, they have not had a regular supply of many medications.  If anyone has any ideas on how to obtain birth control pills or injectable contraceptives at little to no cost (our available budget), we would love to hear it.

Bill has been rooting for the Belizean football team which has made it out of the first round in the Central American Cup.  They actually tied with Guatemala (an embarrassment for Guatemala!) and beat Nicaragua.  They play Honduras on Friday evening.  There are 3 guys on the team from Punta Gorda and Will has played with them in the local football league.  Mr. Rudy doesn't have a TV so he has been over to watch the games with us.  Since they made it out of the first round, they qualify to go to the U.S. this summer to play in the Gold Cup.  Big news for Belize!!!

Morning in Aguacate

We have a doctor with us this month whose hobby is photography, Jon Rodrigues.  The photos I have included were taken by him.