Hello everyone! 

My experience on this Presidents Without Borders trip completely exceeded my expectations. Every day I was immensely impressed in everyone's (doctors, patients, and volunteers) patience, kindness, and understanding. This was my first time visiting a Spanish-speaking country and I was very excited to finally utilize my Spanish skills with native speakers.  I quickly found out I wasn't as good as I thought I was, but everyone was willing to help me understand, even help me increase my vocabulary! By the end of the week I was much more confident speaking in Spanish. 

Being a pre-health student interested in practicing medicine in underserved areas/populations,  I was able to gain valuable insight into the common struggles and diseases of those types of patients as I may encounter in the future as  I worked alongside the doctors in the clinics.  Each day brought new challenges, and even greater rewards as the patients thanked us all from the bottom of their hearts for the simple health care we were able to provide for them. This trip further inspired me to pursue a career in medicine and I made memories with my fellow volunteers I will never ever forget! 

Lindsey Dove 

Hello, Everyone
I had the great opportunity to accompany our large group of W& J students from PWB to Merida, Mexico. Thank you Joe W. for making this happen, you did a wonderful job!  It was my first mission trip and I had absolutely no spanish speaking or reading skills.   (I do now)
First of all, let me say how very proud of and optimistic I am for our next generation of "care-givers."
Everyone put forth a great effort to give the best care they could manage and it was amazing to watch!
We had 8 Hispanic doctors, dentists, a massage therapist and a nurse to show us how to treat and manage the care for the people in the villages for 5 days.  They set a great example of how important their skills and knowledge were to the people of Mexico.  They also set an example of how to be happy and have fun doing the work they love.  I observed that with very little economically, the people in the countryside of Merida were very happy and loving and I came to realize that we as Americans have so much more but seem to find reasons to complain and be unhappy.  I feel that this was an important and valuable lesson or (gift) that I brought back with me from the trip and I will remember those patient faces waiting for treatment in the hot, hot, hot (did I mention how hot it was yet?) heat and never once complained and were extremely grateful for our care.
There were so many outstanding memories and I look forward to running into my students (friends) this year on campus and just laughing and sharing our funny and memorable events and experiences.
I hope you all have a good year and that you share your memories with us all.
"dios the bendiga" (God Bless You all!)
Donna Hunter, RN
PS: # Juan Carlos  # Piñata for Chris # morning devotions # 7 women in 1 bedroom with 1 bathroom :-/  #air mattresses  #long van rides   # hammocks # regalia # Marshall aka Jesus # whole fried fish for lunch  # harchata  # pink flamingos # habanero sauce to the eye # bicycle rides # "coconut shack" (yum) # sweet church ladies who cooked for us # trips to farmacia  # cenotés   # baby alligator? # UNO # exhausted and dehydrated, but grateful for the experience # life changing # ;D

Working as a Translator in Merida

Hey guys! So during the PWB 2014 trip to Merida, Mexico I had the opportunity to work as a translator and checking patients in for the first couple of days of the trip. Even though it is not as medically-oriented, I learned a ton. I have a decent knowledge of Spanish, but I had to re-learn my alphabet fast, as I spelled out patients names. Plus, everyone had tons of questions or they didn't know which doctor they needed to see, so I learned medical terminology in Spanish as well. One of my favorite memories from this position was sitting in one of the pueblos surrounded by a group of old women who were waiting to be called, and just talking with them. These women were older and were sharing their life stories with me as well as giving advice all in Spanish. I was just impressed by their willingness to be so open with me as well as how patient all of our patients were, since some waited all day for their appointments and they did not normally get rude about the wait. In the last couple of days I was able to do more medically-oriented work (Which was tons of fun!), however I  am really happy for the initial first couple of days since I learned a lot about the people that we were helping and their culture, my own Spanish ability, as well as that I really enjoyed working with people. So all in all, this was a great trip! :)

PWB Mexico Trip - Day 1

Yesterday the group started out with an orientation in the morning and then we got divided into two groups and worked at Merida Church 60 and Merida Church 61. Each church had two dentists, one physician, and one opthamologist. We will be getting divided into these two groups everyday in order to cover more ground and help more patients across the region. The physician, opthamologist, and dentist each had a pair of students to assist them as they saw patients and had the opportunity to perform minor tasks such as passing and cleaning utensils. Furthermore, these students had the opportunity to witness tooth cleanings, tooth extractions, and conducted eye exams. Some students assisted the nurse in taking vital signs to prepare them for the doctor. Another group of students worked to create a makeshift pharmacy where all the patients who saw the doctors came to fill their prescriptions. Others worked as translators with the patients, bringing them from the waiting area to the exam rooms. When the work day was completed the group went to a central plaza downtown near the worksite. The plaza was hosting a festival and we had the opportunity to exchange dollars for pesos and shop in the countless "tiendas" in the square. This was followed by a traditional Mexican meal at Los Trompos.

Mexico Trip 2014!!

In four days, twelve Presidents Without Borders members will be traveling to Merida, Mexico. These students will be participating in volunteer work all around the city for an entire week. Each day they will travel from village to village setting up a clinic and assisting doctors in helping local villagers. Some of the towns they will be traveling to include: Progreso, Temax, Canzacab, Telchack Pueblo, Dzilam González, and Dzilam Bravo. Students will work with nutritionists, dentists, physicians, physical therapists, and optometrists. They will be immersed in both a medical and cultural experience that will hopefully open their eyes to what life is like beyond the U.S. Borders.  It will be a life changing experience for both the students and the citizens of Merida.

So for the past week I have had the opportunity to work on the surgery team. We had two wonderful surgeons with us. Bart Saxbe is a general surgeon and Randy Kahan is a obstetrics and gynecological surgeon. Most of the surgeries done were herinas and vaginal historectomies.  It was probably the most interesting thing to be a part of because of the situation we were in. We had the luxury of working inside a hospital and using their facilities, which would never happen in the states. No U.S. hospital would let a random group of people come into their facility and bring in your own patients and surgeons without there being some sort of legal problems. At any rate, we were able to get into the hospital, but we still had problems with getting patients into the operating rooms because the surgeons of the hospital took up all the rooms until they were done for the day.  So we didn't get into surgery until 2 in the afternoon and finish at 9 or 10 at night.  This was the case for the first few days, until one of the surgeons put his foot down and was able to get us are own room for the whole day.  Then we were able to get into a groove and really get through a lot of surgeries. From a personal perspective, I was really nervous because I have really no surgery experience and speak little Spanish.  This caused a problem because I was able to scrub into the surgeries and hand them instrument, but I had no idea what the names of them were and the person explaining to me spoke Spanish! Eventually, I was able to learn the names of instrument and techniques from different surgeries.  It was truly a great experience and I am so glad I was apart of it. I am looking forward to the trip to Tulum, which is where the eight of us will be for the second week of the trip.

Lino

Today we were very prepared for the tasks that we had before our group as we medically served the people of Merida. While working in the suburbs of Merida, the Presidents without Borders teams assisted in the treatment of many dental and optometric needs all while helping to run a functional pharmacy. It was very amazing to see the personal level at which we could connect to each and every patient and I am really feeling confident that the following days will continue to be amazing! 

Josiah

Hello everyone!
We had a very long day today. We landed in Merida last night and arrive at our houses in Merida at a little after 1:00am. To clarify for all parents, we are staying in Merida this week, not Xpujil. Link and I are staying in one house, Joe and Josiah in another, and all the girls in a third. This is a large project with over 20 total people on board. We woke up bright and early and put in about 6 hours of clinical work today. After clinic, we went to a town square in Merida to see local dancers. Tomorrow we are starting bright and early and will be off to a new clinical site at 7:30am.

Evan

Preparing for our Departure to Mexico - 8/2/2013

Hello PWBers!

It's Friday, August 2nd, and we will be departing for Xpujil in Campeche Mexico. There will be eight of us going: Myself (Evan Wagner), Cat Zylstra, Tiffany Mayhugh, Lino Ruggeri, Josiah Ritchey, Hannah Morrissey, Brianna Hewitt, and Joe Williams. Our flight leaves at this afternoon from Pittsburgh and we should be arriving in Merida, Mexico in the evening. We will be staying for 2 full weeks and we will be coming home on August 17th. We have preparatory meetings starting at 8:00am on campus tomorrow morning then we are off! We have an excellent team going on this trip and I can't wait to get there and get started!

We will have daily updates, so keep checking back!

See everyone tomorrow,
Evan

Final full Day

When we woke up this morning we could all tell that it was going to be a bittersweet day. After working for the past 5 days helping hudreds of patients get the care they needed, we were finally getting a chance to see another side of Nicaragua but at the same time we knew that our time in this country was winding down.

Our first stop on our adventure was the most active volcano in North America having just errupted a mere four months ago. Our guide Lynda mentioned that the area is so special that even NASA uses the terrain as a model for Mars rovers! Climbing to the top of the crater was definitely a moving experience and as we got closer we could feel the heat through our hardhats.

After a quick 2 hour lunch at Papa John's we were off to the artisan market where Nicaragua's finest craftmakers displayed their wares. Our haggling skills were pushed to the test as we bought hammocks, bracelets, and wooden crafts that you might possibly enjoy (especially if you are related to one of our adventurers!).

The most exciting part of our trip today was our boat ride on Lake Nicaragua where we avoided the dreaded freshwater bullsharks and managed to feed some monkeys Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza on the infamous Monkey Island. Afterwards we wandered through the streets of Granada enjoying the slow pace of Central American Life.

When we got on the bus to return to our adopted home, we were tired but are eager to share our stories and experiences with allof you. So if you see us on campus or in town ask!  

Last day in clinics!

We are about to go out to eat at a place called E ski mo... I don’t know how to spell it in Spanish. However, we had a humbling last day of clinics.  When got to the clinic this morning there was already around 50 people waiting for us and we had to turn away people because they were all waiting for the dentist. A little baby who was only 2 months old came to the clinic and had a trachea tube in its throat but the baby was really sick so Dr. Diana sent it straight to the hospital. Also, yesterday an older woman came in and Dr. Diana thought she had bone cancer because there was some type of lump on the top of her mouth. We stopped taking medical patients around 10:30 yet we did not finish until 12.  One of our translator's fathers who is a doctor graciously offered his day off to come help with the clinic.  I thought that was really amazing.  Once we ate lunch, we had to do inventory which was extremely frustrating.  We had to go through all the medicine and count how many of ech type of pill was left.  Once we were done with that, we moved everything out of the clinic and onto the bus to then be unloaded at Jo Ann's house.  After that we went home and got ready for our dinner.  The place we went to was extremely nice.  I got a cheeseburger, fries, and a banana smoothie...suprisingly it was only 8 dollars total.  When we got back from dinner, there were honestly hundreds of flying ants all over Quinta Shalom and in our bedroom. It was really gross.  That was all the adventures of today!

Entertainment Thursday

On this beautiful morning, we arrived at the clinic with our buttercup yellow President's Without Borders t-shirts.  It was a pretty busy day at the clinic today because the power kept turning off.  I personally worked in the dentist area this afternoon and saw some teeth extractions.  All the children love to color and we are running out of room on the boards, where we tape up their masterpieces.  When we finally arrived home around 7pm, our dinner was delicious stir-fry chicken, rice, and tres leches for dessert.  We had some wonderful entertainment tonight.  We had Seth clog dancing and a man singing opera.  However, our favorite entertainment was Lynda's poetry and she handed out prizes! Before we got ready for bed, we made our way down to Pops ice cream shop and met another pittsburgh native.  Well, hopefully our last day of clinic will be successful.

Day 6

Hola! Today was fantastic... and every day seems to be filled with more excitement and bonding within our small group. Although waking up for breakfast at 6:45 AM is becoming more difficult, we somehow find strength to push through our long day. This morning, we had pancakes, fresh pineapple and watermelon, and mini hot dogs (we found out they were NOT sausage). We arrived at the clinic in time to set up all of our equipment, and I personally had the chance to visit the local school. Evan, Allie, and myself (Seth) informed elementary children on the importance of healthy diets, clean water, and facts about Diabetes. Instantly, smiles were brought to our face by the interest of the kids with their participation in exercises and asking us questions. The first class was more than excited to take a photo with us and some children wanted to know if we were Japanese, if Allie was French, and they were even interested in preventing Diabetes. In total, we visited about 11 elementary classrooms. On our way out the kids were eyeing the new soccer ball Allie had, so of course we played with them. Little did we know, these kids didn't even care which team they were on, boundaries of the field, or whether or not they snuck in a few handballs. I'm pretty sure 60 of us were playing soccer at one point. On the sidelines, children wanted numerous pictures with us. After about 20 minutes of recess, we left the clinic with our translator, drenched in sweat. Visiting these children was honestly the best experience so far. Not only did I see God working through us to reach out to these kids, but it was also heartwarming to hear them say "thank you" and "goodbye" in English as we left.

After arriving back at the clinic, I had the chance of working with the dentists. These three dentists are the nicest and most patient people I have ever worked with. throughout the day, they saw a total of 30 patients. Dr. Diana saw 38 patients and our pharmacy team filled 173 prescriptions. Our clinic was filled with more children than we could handle... but we occupied them with coloring and toys. For lunch, we hand mountains of rice, beef with onions, and homemade tortillas. Today was the longest day so far. We did not leave the clinic until 6:30 PM and thought we would miss dinner! ... Yes, we spent 10 1/2 hours in the clinic. Luckily, we made it back to Quinta Shalom for dinner, and the cooks threw us another curve ball with "normal" food. We had delicious fish, potatoes, pasta, and vegetables. A few of us even decided to make a quick trip for ice cream! This evening, we decided to play some card games. We were bored by Uno, and decided to play spoons. Currently we are sitting on the patio relaxing (and sweating), but hoping time slows down so we can enjoy the rest of our week down here.

Adios!

Day 5

Hello! Today was another great day in Nicaragua. Breakfast was at 6:45, and we arrived at the clinic just before 8 o'clock. The clinic was much less chaotic today than it was yesterday. I worked in the dental area and it was so interesting! I was able to participate in cleanings, fillings, and extractions. The three dentists were Nicaraguan women. At first, the language barrier made it somewhat difficult to understand what tools they were asking for to perform certain procedures, but I eventually got the hang of it. We also had a wonderful translator though who is actually studying to be a dentist herself- so that really helped, of course! We saw a total of 32 patients in the dental section of our clinic. The dentists are amazing. They worked so hard! Today we closed the clinic about an hour and 45 minutes after our intended closing time. When we returned to the guesthouse dinner was prepared for us and we all ate it so quickly! Our dinner consisted of spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, banana bread, and bread with butter. The food here is great! After dinner, a group of us walked to the ice cream shop that we can't seem to get enough of! I happen to be obsessed with the ice cream flavor "pasion queque," which we jokingly translate literally as "passion whatwhat." After our ice cream adventure, we walked back to the guesthouse and sat outside chatting about all different kinds of things. We certainly never run out of things to talk about! We even got complemented today by Jo Ann and Dr. Diana for how well we all work together and get along :) Well, that's all for now! Tomorrow is another day of clinics, hopefully it will run as smoothly as today!

-- Chloe :)

First day of Clinics!

Day 4

It was our first day at clinics. It was pretty cool.  I mostly worked in pharmacy - getting prescriptions, finding the medicines in the bottles or boxes, and counting out the pills.  We then had a translator who gave the medicine to the patients and described how to take them in Spanish.  We ate breakfast at 6:45 am and then had our daily devotion led by Amanda.  We arrived at the church around 8 am and the clinic opened at 9.  We closed a little after 4 pm but we did not leave until close to 6 pm because the dental place took longer to do.  Apparently most of the people coming to the clinics will want to see the dentist.  I bet they have never been to a dentist before.  The clinic was a cool experience because it really showed me how fortunate I am to have all the amenities at my beck and call.  After the clinic we came back and had dinner.  Again both lunch and dinner were amazing. It is crazy how amazing the food is here.  I really am surprised. For lunch we had some sort of beef, a lot of rice, some vegetables to put on the rice, some tortillas, and this buttery potato thing.  It was so much food but it was really good. Surprisingly the potato thing was my least favorite and that is weird for me because I love potatoes!  For dinner we had the same vegetable medley we had a couple days ago which was delicious, chicken cordon bleu, and rice.  Isn't it weird the first time I ever ate chicken cordon bleu? It was pretty good. After that a bunch of us, including Dr. Diana went to get ice cream at a place called Pops! I got a sundae with Carmel ice cream and chocolate syrup.  It was really good.  I paid 60 cordobas which is roughly less than 3 dollars! We then went to the local grocery store and it was awesome seeing all the brands we use but in Spanish.  I am now back at Quinta Shalom sitting here with some people just talking about everything.  I'm about to go to bed because breakfast is at 6:45 am.  That is all for now.

Morgan

Today was another exciting day in Nicaragua.  We started the day with a lovely breakfast prepared by the chefs and then attended mass.  Mass was two hours long and featured a band with a keyboard, drums, multiple singers, and guitars.  It was full of upbeat songs that made it impossible not to clap along and sway to the music.  After mass we returned to the house to change and have another fine meal prepared by the wonderful chefs.  Next we loaded the bus full of the donations we had collected and the supplies necessary to run the clinic (which was in the church we had just attended mass at).  Five hours of grueling work followed as the clinic was assembed and the donations were sorted.  We returned to the house after a long day of work and then went out to eat at a restaraunt called tip tops which turned out to be basically a nicaraguan KFC.  We then organized jobs and activites for tomorrows opeing day and ended the day with a group bonding activity consisting of song and dance led by our own Morgan Baxter.

First Full Day

Today was a big day. It started with breakfast, orientation, and morning devotions. Then we explored the  city of Managua. Joann, the program director, took us to a historic site. After, we ate Nicaraguian cusine for lunch. Then we ziplined over a lake. We finishd exploring the city by shopping at a local market. Overall, the day was wonderful. We can't wait for the clinic days!

We have arrived in Nicaragua safely, and are currently settling into the guest house!! Although everybody's extremely tired from the long day of travel, we're all ready to jump into our weekend tours here and get ready for our clinics for the week!

First Blog 7/31/2012

Hey,

So this is the first blog of the crazy adventure!! I am really excited to be leaving on Friday, its just at this moment, I really need to focus on Chem, and its super hard. After a overwhelming process to make this trip happen, I am finally ok to say that I am ready to go. The whole journey of taking over the club from Nick in the fall and establishing our club within a new organization is alot of tedious work, but I think it is paying off.

Our plan is to meet on Friday and fly out Friday afternoon and arrive in Managua around 8pm. This will be a long day with a new group and I am really excited to see what happens. This whole awesome adventure is finally around the corner so I better buckle up, and hold on... only thing left to do is ace this final, and then Nicaragua can be calling our names :).

During the trip, I will make sure that someone updates this everyday, so keep checking to find out what this Nicaraguan adventure has in store for PWB.

-Erin