Day 4 - Tuesday - Medical Mission in Benque

Today the entire team was involved in the medical Clinic in the town of Benque del Carmen Viejo. The town lis about an hour west of the Baptist Training  Center and is only 2 miles from the Guatemala border.  The New Jerusalem Baptist Church is a small church that meets in the home of the Pastor Luis and his family.  The house is small and the sanctuary is part of the house.

There were people already waiting when we arrived, and Pastor Luis had put up a shelter for them to wait in the shade.  Our four doctors and nurses set up in  the sanctuary, the pharmacy was in a small room, and registration and vital signs were checked under a small tin roof porch.

It is eye-opening to see the numbers of families that attend the clinic.  Women with small children - often 3, 4, or 5 children - wait to be called to register, then wait to be called to be weighed and have blood pressure taken, then wait to be called to see one of the doctors.  From there they take their prescriptions to the pharmacy and wait again until their medicine is prepared.  Most do not complain about waiting. It is hard to say how long the whole process takes, but an average of 2 to 3 hours is not uncommon.

Today at Benque, approximately 200 people were served.  Everyone left with medicine to treat their ailments and vitamins.

Pictures below show a few scenes from the clinic. (Taken during lunch break - while less busy)

Nurses Janis Zibelin and Debbie Baughn

Dr. Melanie Orange see a patient

People waiting to see a dcotor