A day in the life of a Santiago Partnership Volunteer
Guest Blogger and Volunteer
Laryssa Vik
My name is Laryssa Vik, and I am a volunteer here in Cayambe, Ecuador with the Santiago Partnership. I am a nurse from Wisconsin in the United States and have been in Ecuador for almost three weeks now. One of the ways that I have been able to serve here in Ecuador is by going to villages that are quite far from access to medical attention. Here, if it is indicated I’ve done wellness-checkups and assessments on kids and adults, and been able to do a lot of health education. It has been such a blessing, and such a humbling experience. One case where I got to do exactly this was with a 10 year old girl who we will call Mary. The staff here with the Santiago Partnership was notified that she had been injured in a farm-related accident, and they asked if someone could come to take a look at her. I was able to go out with a small team to see what was going on. When we got to Mary’s home, we found out that a cow had fallen on Mary’s leg about a week ago. Since then, she had not been able to put any weight on her foot without extreme pain. I did a quick assessment and talked with the team, and we all agreed that she needed to be taken to a hospital for an x-ray. Based on what the assessment revealed, I was quite sure something was broken in her foot and/or ankle. We got Nancy to a hospital and an x-ray was done. Sure enough, part of Mary’s fibula was fractured, and part of her calcaneus (the heel bone) was also broken. After this was found out, she was referred to a larger hospital in Ibarre to determine if surgery was necessary. We drove to Ibarre where Mary and her mom met with an orthopedic specialist. After consulting with the doctors and weighing their options, Mary’s healthcare team opted to cast her foot and ankle, and let her go home without surgery- praise God! We took Mary and her mother home the next day, and hope to check in on her again soon. This experience taught me/reminded me of quite a few things; the most prominent being how important healthcare access is, and also how blessed those of us who have easy access to healthcare are. Never again will I take for granted that I have the ability to easily obtain medical care. It will be a very, very long time before I forget the extent that the team here was willing to go to, to ensure that Mary got the care that every child deserves. Due to no fault of her own, Mary was in a situation that made access to care extremely difficult- almost impossible without some kind of assistance. Friends, if you have reasonable access to healthcare, please understand how blessed you truly are, and consider the effect that limited access to healthcare has on those who cannot reach it. I ask that you would pray for Mary and her family, and those in situations similar to theirs.
