Is this real life?

Today was a day. A day I don’t even think I can adequately put into words, but I sure am going to try. Let’s start by rewinding 24 hours to yesterday afternoon. My professor, Dr. Harbour, was invited to give a lecture on the U.S. Public Health system to medical students at the University of Cuenca. We were asked to also attend to provide our experiences and feedback to students. Though it was all information I had heard before, it still keeps my attention. The comparisons that can be made between the U.S. system and Ecuador’s system are many. One of the directors at the university made several comments, two of which stood out to me. The first being that basically public health is for dreamers, but it is a noble dream to have. Though this can be a little discouraging, it is what keeps me going. Because when public health works, you don’t know about it, and it can work. The last thing he said to us, after a lengthy discussion about the U.S. system and the influence of money, left me humbled – people like us being here in Ecuador proves that there are people in the U.S. who care about health and people, not just money. Wow.

Fast forward to today. I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the community of San Jose just outside of Cuenca with Camila, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Azuay in Cuenca, a private university. We arrived at the sub center of health in San Jose, which contains one doctor, one dentist and one nurse, and provides free care to everyone in the community; because in Ecuador, public health means FREE. It was a small building, with only four or five rooms. It is nothing like a clinic in the United States – small, not entirely sanitary, dogs running in and out, roosters crowing outside – but it is what is available to the people of San Jose. They can only do so much, mostly basic examinations. Even that can be a challenge. The main light was broken, so a pap smear had to be done with a small handheld flashlight. There is also a small pharmacy with basic medications, like antibiotics, pain-relievers, anti-parasitic medicine, etc. Anything more is referred to the hospital in Cuenca, which people must find their way to if they can.

The community of San Jose consists of two or three thousand people. Many work in agriculture, and many have family members migrated to the U.S. to make money to send back home. One woman we saw has a husband who has been in the U.S. for seven years working. There is no clean drinking water, so parasites are very common, especially among the children. Camila said that every six months they visit the schools to give the children anti-parasitic medication to reduce their risk. I can’t even comprehend this because clean drinking water is never questioned back home. This is the topic that gets me most fired up in terms of health, because there is absolutely no reason why people anywhere in the world should go without clean drinking water. Camila and I talked at length about this and how I want to go into a working position that betters this for people, and she told me to come back here and teach these people more about it. Maybe I will. 🙂

After observing Camila and the doctor administer patient exams, Camila and I ventured out into the community, to the zone she is responsible for gathering information on. She must go door-to-door in her designated area to take a basic listing of information – how many people live in the home, ages, diseases they may have, weight, blood pressure, etc. This is then kept on file at the sub center and also reported back to higher levels in the health infrastructure here. This was the most humbling and moving part of the day. Not to be cliché (though I know I am), but I learned more from these people than I could ever teach them. It was the most humbling experience I have ever had, and I feel so honored and blessed to be here. I mean seriously, is this real life?

We walked a ways into the countryside to visit a family Camila had yet to gather information on since they never seem to be home when she comes, but today they were. I watched her interview them and take all the information she needed, and they graciously let me take some pictures as well. It’s living conditions I could never imagine – a house made of what looked like clay, mud and rocks, bugs flying everywhere, dogs and cats roaming around, dirty water, the young son covered in itchy bug bites. One woman in the family thanked me for being there, though I really needed to thank her, and then she asked Camila if I was staying in Ecuador to work. When Camila said no, that I was only here for a short time, the woman replied by saying that I was lucky – lucky because I can travel from the United States to here and back again so easily. Then she asked me to take her with me. Honestly, I had to look away in that moment because if not I probably would have started crying, since my tears were already welling up. Asked if I could take her with me? Nothing stops you like that, a woman who just sees me and knows I’m American, and wants what I take for granted every single day, because it’s a life she could never have. In this moment I knew, once again, that this is exactly where I need to be, where I should be, where I want to be and that the path I’ve followed so far is right. Health and people, that’s what I love.

So today was a day. A day I will never forget, a day I want to replay over and over again. A day I got to see and do things that I could never do back home. A day I’m fortunate enough to have been given, and a day that I made a new friend.