Blog 2

3/15/12
   Wednesday was spent at the school outside of Las Minas.  There were only two classrooms and about 25 kids.  There was no air conditioning or electricity.  Nor were there any bathrooms.  You had your choice of 3 stalls with a toilet like structure that basically covered a hole in the ground.  The ages of the kids ranged from about 6 to about 12 I believe.  The school is located up in the mountains and some of them had to walk an entire hour before reaching their homes.  I couldn't imagine trying to teach skills to such a diverse classroom but they worked well with what they had.  The kids were pretty shy at first but all ended up having a great time with us.  We did the best we could with the language barrier.  I even got to kick around a soccer ball with one, which of course was the highlight of my entire week.

   I spent Thursday in the psychiatric hospital in Chitre.  WOW!  What an experience!  Our tour took us through both the men's and women's section of the hospital.  There were sections for chronic patients, those who could care for themselves (basic needs - bathing, feeding, etc), and a men's section for...well I don't remember exactly what it was called.  That's probably because I was too distracted by the fact that the patients in this section were permitted to roam completely nude!  The nurses explained to us that these patients didn't want to keep their clothes on, so instead of fighting with them they are permitted to remain nude.  They are not hurting anyone by being nude and they are easier to clean.  I wonder why our hospitals here in the U.S. don't use this type of logic.
   We got to see their med room and their version of a crash cart...which isn't much of a crash cart.  They also told us that sometimes they run out of certain medications for their patients.  When that happens, the patients are either given a different medication, if it's available, or they don't get any medication at all.

   We spent our day with the female patients.  It didn't take us long to realize that we wouldn't be able to do all of our planned activities with these patients.  Only one or two of them really had the ability to comprehend such things like discussions about family, friends, etc. and how to verbally express their feelings.  We managed a few activities but ended up having to improvise.  Translation: we got to play "beauty salon" which they absolutely loved!  We painted their nails, applied make up, and put earrings on them.  After lunch, we all got back together and did some dancing.  The nurses even invited the male patients to participate.  I admit that I was a bit uneasy at first.  During our Psych clinical rotation in the U.S. last semester, we were only permitted to talk to patients.  It was more observation than anything else.  And here in Panama, we were getting to dance with them.  I was very nervous about the whole contact thing but gradually relaxed and danced a bit after taking some pictures.

   This was the first time that the hospital had ever had USF students and Dr. Cadena told us that she was very impressed with how well we did.  We even got an invitation to return next time!  I hope that the summer groups have just as much fun as we did.
   Shortly after arriving home, we loaded back up to go to the Universidad de Panama for some sort of ceremony.  It turned out to be an award for Dr. Cadena.  For her excellent collaboration work she was given the key to the city of Chitre!  We were all so very proud of her!  I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to come to Panama and to be part of the collaboration's history.