Nicaragua!

Hola desde Nicaragua! Jenny, Nicole, Caitie and Rachel here. After a night stay in a lively, beautiful town, Granada, we arrived at our site Sunday morning to get acquainted with our new neighborhood in Limon II and settle in to our house. Our little casita is in the back of a complex bordering a small rainforest. In our two days here, we have seen a small scorpion, a scorpion/spider hybrid, grasshopper and geko (all our in our house) and a gang of howler monkeys showed up in the early morning at the rainforest behind our hosue, waking us up with their screams.

Our casita for the next 7 weeks

The complex is nestled on a small dirt road in Limon II, a small community in the state of Rivas, Nicaragua. The complex is owned by a couple from Florida who are coordinating our living arrangements. We eat breakfast and some dinner in a common area where a local Nicaraguan cook prepares food. The beach, Playa Santana is a short walk down the road from where we are staying. It is a gorgeous beach on the Pacific Ocean and is relatively remote.

La playa Santana near our house

Today was our first day at the clinic. While here will be working at the FIMRC clinic (the organization we are here with), the Health Post clinic (a local public clinic) and at the hospital in Rivas, the nearest large city. We will also be doing community outreach projects such as diabetes home visits and prenatal home visits.

The FIMRC clinic site

The FIMRC clinic is housed in a public building that was donated to FIMRC by the community. There are latrines out back for restrooms and a jug of clean water is kept inside the clinic. A few giant pigs seem to hang out near the back of the property. All of the walls inside were painted by previous FIMRC volunteers with an emphasis on pediatric topics such as colors and animal names. The clinic is staffed by a Nicaraguan doctor, a Pediatric Surgeon, who sees general pediatric concerns in the small community a few days a week.

Inside the FIMRC clinic, the small Farmacia on the left and the Consultas room on the right. 

Today we unloaded our donations that we brought in the morning and saw patients with the doctor in the afternoon. We already saw the Pediatric Tylenol and Hydrocortisone creams we brought get put to good use as we sent patients home with their necessary medications.

The procedure room in the Health Post clinic

Tomorrow we are working in the Health Post clinic (just next door to the FIMRC clinic) with a general practice physician. We will see adults and kids there but we are told that there will be a lot of pediatrics and obstetrics in the area. 

That's it for now. Adios de Nicaragua!