Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig

My time in Ecuador is over. It was an amazing summer filled with some great experiences. I’ve been back in the US for several days now and I don’t feel as though I’ve experienced too much reverse culture shock, although I do have to remind myself that I can throw toilet paper in the toilet now.

Our last two weeks in Ecuador flew by. We had our last day at the hospital in Quito and it was difficult to say goodbye to all the nurses I’d been working with for 6 weeks. I got some pictures, but I didn’t get pictures with some of the nurses that taught me the most. After finishing up our time in Quito, we spent five days in the Oriente (jungle). For two days we went farther in to the jungle than Shell and stayed at a field school in Waorani territory. We were able to participate in a Yuca planting ceremony as well as attend a Quichua church service. We also got to relax and float down the Napo river.

Once we returned to Shell we spent the next two days working at the hospital. It was a little boring for me because there were only 5 patients hospitalized and not too much going on in the Emergency room. All the other girls were working with doctors who were seeing outpatients. But a wonderful surprise came after lunch - I saw a doctor going into the delivery room and I followed him in there (we were basically given permission to go anywhere, including the OR, which several girls took advantage of). There was a girl who was going to have a baby that afternoon. The rest of the afternoon, I bounced between the ER and the delivery room, waiting for the baby to be born. After going home for a quick break when I was done at the hospital, I came back to find the doctors getting ready to deliver the baby, and I got to be part of it! It got a little stressful in the room during the delivery because the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, but the doctors did a wonderful job and Gladys had a beautiful baby girl! I went back the next morning and got a picture with Gladys and her baby - the first baby I ever saw delivered! The next day I was able to see another delivery as well. I am really thinking that I’d like to go into labor and delivery some day. The first thing the hospital administrator at Shell told us on our tour was that “we deliver a lot of babies at this hospital.” Who knows, maybe someday God will lead me back to Shell as a nurse.

Like I said before, this was an amazing experience. I keep thanking God for sending me to Ecuador. Last summer, going to Ecuador was the last thing I wanted to do. Even this past fall when my friend Jenna was talking about, my thoughts on the subject were along the lines of “yeah, that sounds great for you, but I’m going to stay here in the US...” God changed that and only God knows what He has in store for my future next.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. God used you to accomplish something in me. I really appreciate your partnership and all you have done in my life. Thank you!

Me with Gladys and her little baby girl! So cute!

Me with the nurses at Hospital Vozandes - Quito

Yuca planting ceremony

This is a video that we created as a project at the end of our time in Ecuador to show what we did for both our supporters and future students who are interested in the same internship.

Enjoy!

What I've been up to

It’s been a while since I last wrote. Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened at the hospital in the last two weeks. I’m really hoping to see a birth/delivery while down here. I think I’d like to work as a labor/delivery nurse in the future and I’d like to see what I can while I’m down here. I only have 4 days left at the hospital here in Quito and I haven’t been guaranteed the opportunity to go down to the Operating Room to watch a delivery yet.

I continue to get experience working in a hospital and being in the environment. My Spanish has definitely improved quite a bit and I can converse fairly easily with the patients and their family members. I’ve also been able to be more of a help to the nurses and understand what it is that they need when they ask me to get things for them.

The past two weekends we’ve taken trips to different places in Ecuador. One weekend we went to a hot springs and this past weekend we took a trip to the coast. I had a bit of a hard time accepting going on two trips to relax as part of our mission. But as I was sitting in our room at the hostel at the coast, I realized how much I needed the break. We’re constantly doing something and I took advantage of the weekend at the coast to take some time away from everyone else and spend some good quality time with God. It’s always been a struggle for me to pull myself away from spending time with people - I never want to miss out on the fun, but this weekend God reminded me that He wants my time as well.

Last night was a bit difficult. One of my roommates, Carolyn, left to go back to the US. She’s had a rough summer - personality differences with her original boss, 3 trips to the ER - stitches from a fall, rabies shots from a dog bite, and viral encephalitis (inflammation in her brain from a virus). After being in the hospital for 5 days from the viral encephalitis and being told she could stay in Ecuador but she couldn’t go on any of our trips, she decided to head home with her mom (her mom came down the day after she was admitted to the hospital). It was hard to see her go and I know it was even harder on her knowing that we’re all still down here and together. Our group has become very close this summer and to see one of us leave has been hard on everyone. If you could pray for her continued health as she recovers back home and goes in for more tests, I would really appreciate it.

We have 17 days left down here. It’s crazy to think that we’ve already been here for almost 7 weeks. We have one more week in Quito and we leave for Shell, in the jungle, in a little over a week. We’ll be spending several days working in Hospital Vozandes - Shell and as far as I know we’ll also be doing some sort of work project. I’m really looking forward to it. The hospital administrator in Quito has already invited me to come back to Ecuador and work at Shell after I’m done with Nursing school. Some of the missionaries that we’re working with this summer were down here over 10 years ago working with the Waorani Indians in the jungle east of Shell. The Waoranis are the Indians that the 5 missionaries - Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youdarian, and Pete Fleming - were attempting to reach with the Gospel when they were martyred. It’s been really interesting to hear stories from them about how radically the lives of many of the Waoranis have changed since the incident with the 5 missionaries.

I hope to write more before leaving for Shell. Maybe within the next week I’ll be able to see a birth. Thank you for your continued prayers, I appreciate them all!

God's Strength

I really didn’t expect time to go by so quickly here. This week was a little slower paced and we had more down time after work. Once again, I really enjoyed working at the hospital, and being here continues to confirm that nursing is where God wants me.

Monday was a little difficult for me. I’m not a real big fan of needles. Whenever I’ve needed a shot or blood drawn or anything, I’m fine as long as I don’t see the needle. On Monday, Blankita, the nurse I was with, took out two IVs of different patients. I wasn’t really prepared and got a little woozy after the first one. I took a break to get some water and then went with a different nurse when I couldn’t find Blankita. She took out another IV and once again, I was a little woozy. I went into our little office and sat down and told my boss that I wasn’t feeling too good. I wasn’t sure if it was the needles or the Yellow Fever shot I had received four days before. Jenny, my boss, was going to take me to Linda, the missionary in charge of the hospital students. I called Linda and told her and she told me to stay and take some advil and do what I could. I went back up and sat down for a while and ate some food. After that I was doing much better. Blankita kept asking me if I was doing okay and she felt bad about me not feeling well earlier because she didn’t know.

That night I realized that working in the hospital has helped to confirm where God wants me, but I won’t be able to get by on my own strength. On my own, I may always struggle with the sight of needles and poking and hurting people, but I can put it in God’s hands and trust that He will get me through it.

The next day, I followed a nurse around as she gave meds to the different patients. In the first three rooms we went to, she checked IVs. At the first room, she had to take out the IV and put it in somewhere else. As soon as I realized what she was doing, I started praying that God would give me strength and that I wouldn’t become light-headed. The nurse had to poke the poor lady two or three times, but I made it through (and so did the poor lady). Then we moved on to the next one and the next one, and with God, I made it through. I did stop and eat a few crackers quick, just in case. It’s definitely a lesson in trusting in God and knowing that even though I know what He wants me to do, He’s still telling me that I need to keep the focus on Him, and not what I can do on my own.

3 Weeks Already

Wow, it’s already been 3 weeks since I was last in the United States. How time flies. The first two weeks seemed to be a lot longer, but once we got into our regular work week, the time just flew by.

We started our work at the hospital and many of us are feeling incompetent for where we are working. All the nurses and doctors speak Spanish and being there for 8 hours of speaking Spanish is exhausting. We do get an hour long lunch break where we meet up with each other and are able to speak English and get a break as well as compare stories. There are five girls in our group working at the hospital. I’m on the third floor where the patients are recovering or being taken care of. Two girls are in the Emergency Department, one in the ICU, and one in outpatient surgery.

I have really enjoyed working in the hospital. Even after only being there for three days, I know that I could see myself working in a hospital as a career. It was difficult for me on the first day because I’m not used to seeing people suffer. A lot of what reminded me of the last time that I saw my grandpa Anderson in the hospital in January. In the morning I got an orientation to the third floor where I will be working (all in Spanish) and then in the afternoon followed a nurse around as she went about her duties. On Wednesday and Thursday I followed other nurses around as well.

The nurses I’ve been following around are the “Auxiliary” nurses and are more like CNAs (Certified Nurses Assistants). It’s really helped to get to know my way around the floor and I even tried taking vitals on Thursday. It went well for the first one, but then for the second one, Maria Elena controlled how fast the pressure in the cuff was released and I’m not sure how accurate that person’s vitals were that day. Oops. After that, I let Maria Elena finish up taking all the blood pressures. In the mornings, all the patients get to take showers. Being a part of helping with this has really made me appreciate the simple things in life, like being able to take a shower on my own.

One of the highlights of my few days in the hospital was being able to help take care of newborn babies. In four days, we had 3 babies born and I got to see all of them. On my first afternoon, the nurse I was working with told me that we were getting a room ready for a baby that was going to be born. I was waiting the whole afternoon to see it and I got to help take the mother and baby to their room. On my second day, I got to help give a baby a bath while the mother talked to me a little bit in English. On my third day, I once again had the opportunity to give another newborn a bath and then afterwards Maria Elena let me hold the baby. On Monday I’m going to ask my boss if it would be possible for me to take a break from being on third floor to go down and see a birth. I would like to see if Maternity/Ob/Gyn would be where I may be interested in working as a nurse.

A Week With the People

I meant to update this several days ago, but I did not have time before we left for our first real “missionary experience” down here. We traveled to a small Quichua community called Piculca, just a few minutes out of Otavalo. Our purpose for going was to help the community with a clean water project sponsored by HCJB’s Community Development section.

We spent our weekend after orientation preparing for a four day trip into the mountains. We planned our meals and planned games and songs for the kids. We left bright and early Tuesday morning for the two hour drive to Pigulca. We took a truck with all our bags and sleeping bags as well as a van with cooking items, food and other items for the week. I rode in the van with the two guys in my group, Ryan and Neal, and the project leader, Bruce. It was an enjoyable ride. I was planning on putting my music on and falling asleep, but we talked with Bruce for most of the trip about why we were each in Ecuador and how we became Christians.

We arrived in Pigulca and grabbed our shovels and picks and headed down into the valley on the edge of town. It was a steep walk down and we met up with many of the community members by the edge of a stream. The project for the week was to dig out three springs of fresh water and protect them. The water would be filtered, protected with cement and then piping would bring the clean water to a collecting tank. The spring water will be treated in the collecting tank then routed to a pump which will then pump the water up and out of the valley into the community where it will be pumped to each house in the community. Right now the community is living without clean water. There is a pump at the community building, but many of the community members suffer sickness and parasites due to the lack of clean water. Later on we learned that one of the communities that HCJB has brought clean water to previously only had access to clean and/or running water for two hours a day for only two weeks per month.

After working for several hours down in the valley, we made our lunch and then prepared for an afternoon of playing with kids. The kids were absolutely adorable! There were two little boys, ages 4 & 5 that I was playing with and giving them “vueltos” (flights), where I would throw them up in the air after they ran at me. I took lots of pictures and they loved having their pictures taken. We played several games with the kids including “pato, pato, ganso” (duck, duck, goose), “gato y ratón” (cat and mouse), and fútbol (soccer). We taught them three songs we learned in Spanish and had coloring sheets for them. Around 6/6:30, we had our dinner, and they would look in at us through the one window into our room. We had a Bible study for our group led by one of our three leaders and by that time we were all exhausted and were ready for bed. The girls shared the largest room and we were lucky to have 4 thin mattresses to share between the six of us. When we woke up in the morning, we made breakfast and then repeated it again.

We were in Pigulca from Tuesday until Friday. We were working in the muddy stream all morning and were very thankful for our “Wellies” as our leader Martin called our rubber boots (he’s from England). We worked alongside the people of the community. They are very hard working people and very committed to finishing the project. Most of our days were quite similar - working in the morning and playing with the kids in the afternoon.

On Thursday and Friday we had community meals with the community members. The community members are all so generous. They don’t have a lot, but they were willing to share with us and get to know us, despite the language barrier (Many of the older people only speak Quichua). On Friday, they prepared “cuy” (guinea pig) for us. Cuy is a delicacy in Ecuador and it is quite expensive, but it was their way of honoring us. We also had a mixture of potatoes, popcorn, beans, and a corn type snack. This mixture was put in a line on scarves/table cloths and eaten with ones fingers. It was quite the experience. When it was time to leave, all the kids gathered around and gave lots of hugs. I had three little kids that hugged me for about five minutes straight. I was sad to go, but it didn’t affect me nearly as much as it did some of the others in the group.

Looking at my pictures, I can see the joy in the kids’ faces as we played with them. On our last night in the community, we had a short presentation with pictures and then we were going to show a video of the benefits of good hygiene. Just before the video was supposed to start, all the power in the community went out. Instead of everyone going home, we had a time of sharing with the community. Many of the members spoke up and we attempted to understand their Spanish (their native language is Quichua). One of the women spoke up and thanked us for sharing God’s love with their children and telling their children about Jesus Christ. We found out later that there are five Christian families in the community and the lady that spoke was one of them. It was awesome to see how God had moved in the community even though I didn’t feel as though we did very much. God is so good!

We have arrived!

Hey all,

I just wanted to let you know that I have arrived in Quito. We've all been here for 3 days now, but it feels like it's been a really long time.

It took a while to get down here and my friend Jenna and I sat on the plane in Miami for 2 1/2 hours before finally leaving for Ecuador. We finally got into Quito at 9:30 and our host, Sandra picked us up and we took a taxi back to her and Ryan's apartment.

Our last few days have been full of orientation and being tourists. We have had Bible studies in the morning which lead into our orientation sessions where we have been learning about culture in general and being part of a different culture. Once our normal work schedule begins, we will have our Bible studies in the evenings where we are going to be reading through the whole Old Testament in two months.

I'm really enjoying my time here. So far the other 7 students and I are all getting along and I am enjoying my time with my host family. I am actually living with some of the missionaries that work at HCJB. It is me and two other girls, Carolyn and Jenna, living with Sandra and Ryan in an apartment across the street from HCJB and Hospital Vozandes, where we will be working.

I hope to write again soon, but I don't have consistent internet.

Amy Lynn