These visits were kicked off with a visit to a town four miles away called Los Angeles. The health post in Los Angeles serves a total of five communities, a total of 5000 people. My counterpart and I were lucky enough to get dropped off by the Ministry of Health’s vehicle. It was a bumpy 20-minute drive on an unpaved road.
The charla with the youth group was scheduled to start at 1pm. The truck picked me up at 1:10 and we arrived past 1:30. Youth started congregating and our charla began at 2:20. It was supposed to be a one-hour charla, but as my counterpart said, the nurse at this health post can talk, and therefore it concluded at 4pm, just in time to walk to the truck stop to catch the 4:30pm ride back into town. 5pm rolled around and we were still waiting. The doctor from the health post was also waiting for this truck and explained that they are probably filling the truck full of bags to transport. I finally had to ask the nearby pulperia to use their bathroom. I was very thankful for their available outhouse. Side note: I always carry toilet paper!
At 5:15pm the truck pulls up and sure enough we need to climb over a mountain of 100-pound bags full of coffee. We finally settle into out seats and rest our feet on some bags. From there the truck takes an unscheduled turn down the street towards the health post. I exchange a perplexed look with my counterpart. We reach the health post and four men jump out of the cab, along with the doctor, and disappear into the health post. A few minutes pass and one of them returns to turn the engine off. “Oh no, we’re gonna be here for a while!” He proceeds to explain to us, only after I ask, that the driver cut his hand and is getting stiches!
We pass the following 45 min. in the truck listening to a lady gossip about the town members. We got a lot of dirt of several strangers! The men pile back into the cab and I notice the driver gets into the drives seat with his hand all bandaged up. The doctor explains he got six stiches! “Why is he driving? Isn’t there someone else who can drive?” I was assured there was not!
The ride back was just as bumpy. As we near the edge of town, the truck suddenly stops. We’re told it has a flat tire! At this point, my counterpart and I decide to climb over the sacks of coffee and walk the rest of the way.
We left at 1pm to give a one-hour charla in a town four miles away, and we arrived back at 6:30pm. What a day! I can only imagine what stories I’ll have throughout the course of the year as we attempt to visit all 24 posts, keeping in mind Los Angeles is one of the nearest. - Caressa