Practicing my injections on friends!

My team

In the jungle, swinging from vines!

We had just arrived in the jungle

Chapare, Bolivia

My Wheaton Team and I on our way down from the Jesus Statue

Looking out one of the windows in the Jesus Statue

The Jesus Statue

All the volunteers living at the guest house right now

My new best friends and I on the last day of English camp

Wow what a full weekend our team had. We started off on Saturday with climbing the tallest Jesus statue in the world, Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace) in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Most people have heard of the famous Jesus statue in Brazil, Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), because it is one of the seven wonders of the world. Both statues were built to a height of 33 meters because Christ died when he was 33 years old, however, the Jesus statue in Cochabamba, Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace), is a little bit taller because when the people built the statue, they built it to account for Christ living 33 years and a little bit. Our group climbed up all the stairs to the top (over 1,300 stairs) and then got to climb up into the arms of the statue. Our group opted to hike up versus taking the cable car so it was a long hike up in the altitude but so much more of an experience.

On Sunday, our group got up early to leave for the jungle. We took a large tour bus in which we managed to climb the mountains and pass other trucks on blind corners with steep drop offs. While in Chapare we stayed at a pastor's house with him and his family. The temperature of Chapare was so different than Cochabamba, as it was really hot and humid most of the time. On Monday we set up a free clinic for anyone who was in need of medical care. We had brought along a few doctors from the hospital and then some of the girls in our group were half-way through med. school so they were able to help as well. We gave free check-ups, medicine, shots and tooth extractions. We had about 80 people show up needing some form of care. It was really fun to be able to help these people that might not be able to afford care or medicine. They had taught us how to do injections, so I was able to give out a couple of shots to people. After we were done with the clinic we were suppose to leave to go back to Cochabamba, but for some reason our bus had gone back there the previous day and was not coming for us. So, we stayed an extra night and got to visit the market there. It rained that night so since none of us had taken showers we decided to wash our hair in the rain. On our way back the next morning we were able to stop at a park area where we could take more of a tour of some of the jungle and so we got to cut open fresh coconuts off the trees and drink the milk. We also got to try chocolate from the tree and eat fresh lemons.

This week we are going to be working some more in the hospital and then this weekend we are taking a trip to go see the famous Salt Flats of Bolivia.

~Jess

My team at the Orphanage!

Sylveria and I during English Camp

The market place

Liz, Julie and I after watching three surgeries!

Hey family and friends!

Don't worry I am still alive and well. Our internet here at the house has been down for a few days, but now my computer is the only one working with internet. Its been a busy here in Bolivia as we are at the hospital during the morning and then we spend the afternoons at an all girls orphanage. During our morning hours at the hospital we go on rounds with the doctors to check up on the different patients and then we find the doctor we are going to shadow that day. I have shadowed many doctors so far and its very interesting to see the types of patients each one sees. The pediatrics doctor is very sweet, has a great bedside manner with her patients and tries to talk slow enough so that we can all understand. The trama doctor speaks very quick spanish, but has a great sense of humor and likes to joke around. However, Dr. Tardio, who does almost all of the surgeries, is the best to learn from, probably because he speaks english. He always makes sure we understand what is going on with his patients and tries to explain how he would do the operation. So far I have seen 6 surgeries. They are fantastic to watch because they are always different and I learn so much.

The hardest part for me so far was experiencing my first death in the hospital. It took place two Sundays ago. It was 3am and I woke up to Thomas (our guest house host) telling us to wake up, put our scrubs on and go over to the hospital because there had been a bad accident. So this was not even 48 hours after my Wheaton team had arrived. We hadnt even been in the hospital yet so when we rushed over we just ran in the emergency entrance. I ran in to find nurses and a few interns running around and trying to help the few patients that had already arrived. Since it was in the middle of the night none of the main doctors were there so they could use all the help they could get. As volunteers we were in charge of bringing out the stretchers to the ambulance or to whatever vehicle pulled up and had injured people in it. The accident had included a small bus and a car so there were 14 people that came to the emergency room from the ambulance. After bringing in many injured people, crying children and shivering patients, a pick-up truck pulled up with three men sitting in the back calling for help. I had an empty stretcher and I was the closest so I rolled it out to find a small boy of 4 or 5 laying in the bed of the truck with the men. They were yelling "oxygen, oxygen, he needs oxygen". They put him on my stretcher and I quickly rolled him in. He was taken into one of the emergency rooms and I was not really sure what was going on with him as I was kept busy running different errands and trying to help out. Well not even 45 minutes after I had rolled him in on a stretcher, a doctor rolled him out completely wrapped in a blanket. They needed to load him up on an ambulance and so I rolled him back out through the same doors I had previously rolled him to. He was then loaded on the ambulance and taken to the morgue. I found out later that he was barely breathing when they brought him in and his lungs had filled up with fluid. The doctors had done everything they could to save him, but it was too late. Just like that, at 3am in the morning a little boy's life had ended. It was hard to see and to be a part of it. My heart goes out to his family.

All my other experiences at the hospital have had good outcomes. There was another boy who came in severely injured from the accident and made it through over two hours of surgery. It was neat to see him the next day when we went around with the doctors on rounds because we got to see how he was doing and then each day he got stronger until he was discharged.

Besides being at the hospital, our group has been going over to an all girls orphanage in the afternoons. Last week we worked on painting the entire orphanage a brown color. Brown is much better than its previous bright pink color because the orphanage sometimes got mistaken for a prostitute house since it was pink. It was fun to paint and to have the girls help us paint. Little by little my spanish is getting better and the girls are so sweet to help me with it. Whenever I try to communicate with them, it usually involves me saying some random words that I know and using lots of hand motions and then they try to put it all together and figure out what I am saying. They love to learn English too though, so it is fun to practice with them. After we would finish painting for the day we would play a game of soccer with them and they loved it. I could never say no to a girl who would come up while I was painting asking to play either soccer or volleyball, so naturally I would get distracted from my painting and play. These girls are so sweet and love to have fun.

I was so excited when a missionary down here, Andrea, wanted our help in putting on a English camp for the girls this week. So this week for three hours a day we put on a camp for the girls. We do everything from tons of games (encouraging their english of course), to short skits, to memorizing Bible verses, to practicing their English, to American snacks. The girls are divided into two teams and this whole week has been a competition for them. They get points for using proper english, winning games, finding the hidden toy and memorizing verses. This week I have been able to do the drama each day and I am one of two leaders who gives out the points. So the girls want to make sure I hear them cheering and using english. A lot of these girls have grown up in terrible homes and desperately need good roles models. Our two words for the week are: thankful and gratitude. Andrea told us that these girls are used to receiving things from people because they live in an orphanage and that they need to practice being thankful. Tomorrow (the last day of camp) we are giving them a Thanksgiving meal so that they can try all the different foods. Being with them has given us a chance to show them God's love and to set a good examples. Its been fun to get to know them and I am going to be sad when the camp is over. I am going to miss them yelling "Yessica" when I come and yelling "chow" when we leave. I just hope that they have seen Christ's love through us.

So that is what has been keeping us busy here in Bolivia. By night time we are usually exhausted. This weekend our group will be heading into the jungle for a few days to put on a medical clinic. It will be fun to visit another place and to see how the people live.

Thanks for your prayers!

Love,

Jess

Making bracelets with the girls living at an orphanage.

Playing Twister with the daughter of the Guest House Hosts.

The Market Place

Arrival in Bolivia!

After may hours in the airport and on planes my group and I arrived safely in Cochabama, Bolivia. It was ironic that the only flight that had no problems was the flight in Bolivia from Santa Cruz to Cochabama. We got to Hospitals of Hope around 2pm yesterday and got moved in. The weather here is so nice. There is no humidity and its warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt. We went out to a nice dinner last night that was all you can eat meat. They had the meat on long metal rods and would come around with it and cut off pieces of whatever you wanted. I tried many things that I had no idea what they were, but I can say that I tried cow udder...very unusual.

This morning we went to the market to shop and watch the USA soccer game at a restaurant. The colors here are so bright and beautiful and things to buy are cheap, that it is hard to not buy everything you see. The driving here is crazy and everyone loves to use their horn. Our main transportation is by trufi, which is a small van that you cram in as many people as you can fit. On our way to the market today we were riding along until we heard a huge pop that sounded like a gun shot, but it was our trufi's back tire popping. So we had to change the tire and walk the next blocks to the market.

The culture here is great, but the most frustrating thing is not being able to speak spanish very well. Words and phrases are starting to come back to me slowly though. Thanks for all your prayers!

Jessica

Hi! It's the night before I leave and I am finishing up some last minute packing. I fly out of Sioux Falls, SD tomorrow morning at 6am. I fly to Chicago and then on to Miami, where I spend 10 hours in the Miami airport. My 3 other team members and I will meet up in Miami and fly to Bolivia together. Keep us in your prayers as we are traveling to Bolivia and as we try to communicate in Spanish to purchase our visas. Thanks for all your prayers!

~Jessica