Nicaragua
In 2017, I had the opportunity to go on a medical mission trip to Nicaragua for a week. My family and friends were gracious enough to help me raise money which covered my living, food, and transportation for the entire trip. The trip included multiple professionals like physical therapists, athletic trainers, rehabilitation technicians, occupational therapists, office coordinators, and managers. I have always wanted to do a trip like this since college but never came across the right opportunity and time.
During our time in Nicaragua, we spent the first day creating care packages to give to the community. We also participated in an in-service where we were taught how to collect patient history and vitals. During the first three days, we spent time in Santa Rosa del Penon where we worked in the triage area, shadowed physicians, provided education workshops, and helped to distribute medicine in the pharmacy. In total, we were able to help over 800 people from the community!
What I learned.
I learned that access to healthcare is very limited in Santa Rosa del Peñon. We treated a lot of children who either missed school in order to be able to attend the clinic or walked a great distance just to be seen.
Oftentimes,there aren’t enough medical clinics so when they do have them, it's a huge opportunity for the members of the community to get attention for their health needs. Unfortunately, the clinics themselves lack a lot of resources and are extremely under staffed.
The physician density in Nicaragua is approximately 1,099 people for every one doctor. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.
About Santa Rosa del Peñon
Santa Rosa del Peñon is located in the pacific region of northern Nicaragua in the department of León. A typical house is made of cement blocks. The community has access to a local health center within the community as well as both a primary school and secondary school. The primary school goes up to 6th grade and secondary up to 12th. Most people in the community work as miners.
Los Encuentros de San Gabriel
Our last two days were spent in Los Encuentros de San Gabriel. There, we built concrete floors, sanitation stations, and eco stoves for a local family. The family my group was assigned to had the opportunity to make concrete from scratch and lay it down. Who knew making concrete was such a task? After the second day there, we finished working with that family and were able to walk around and visit the other groups who were also responsible for sanitary stations and eco stoves. My favorite part about this experience was that we had time to get to know the families. Everyone was very welcoming towards us.
Los Encuentros de San Gabriel is located in the mountainous region of central Nicaragua, in the department of Jinotega. A typical house is made of cement blocks and wood. The community has access to a health center 3 km away and a multigrade primary school. The primary school has six teachers and seven classrooms. The primary school goes up to grade six, and there is no secondary school located in Los Encuentros de San Gabriel. Most people in the community work as agricultural laborers.
