Ecuador Day 5

August 17, 2011

Today was a really fun day, with a hodge podge of things going on around the clinic. We saw the regular handful of patients – some wonderful ones I might add.  I am going to have to say our treatment session with Panchita was pretty high up on my list of favorites.  She is this cute little old lady who I would have loved to bring home with me!  We did a few assessments to see how her coordination was and also constructed a new pair of shoes for her.  She was such a sweet woman and was so patient with us as we tried to work without a translator for much of our treatment session with her.

Panchita & Sr. Annie

My treatment group with Panchita.

After our treatment sessions a few of us went around to see some of the residents and to make sure we had a picture with each one of them.  I was really happy to be a part of this group, because there were still some of the residents that I hadn’t gotten a chance to be around much.  The man who made my hammock was sitting outside of his room and he wanted a picture with me.  He is such a cute little man and even though we cannot communicate through words due to the language barrier, his smile and body language say more to me than I ever would have expected. 

Alcides - the man who made my hammock!

Carlos, Celie, Robyn, Rachel

Tonight we walked up Santa Ana Hill as the sun was going down.  The walk up was yet again beautiful.  There are about four hundred steps winding through all of these shops, restaurants, etc.  At the very top there was a lighthouse and a church.  The view of the city at nighttime was unreal.  We all walked up to the top of the lighthouse to get a better view and of course to take some pictures of the scenery. 

The whole group at the bottom of Santa Ana Hill

Jessica & myself

Getting closer to the top!

Jessica, Amy, Celie & Allison

Tonight’s walk was a good one.  It was another chance for me to step back and take a look at the entirety of the moment I am in.  It is so simple – I am so lucky and blessed to be here with all of these people.

"My eyes are small but they have seen the beauty of enormous things,
which leads me to believe there's light enough to see that
You make everything glorious."
 - David Crowder Band