Each week we have the privilege of helping to provide basic medical and dental care to our beloved Bocachica community.  Some days are super busy and crazy and others are slow and easy.  Currently our small pharmacy is open Monday through Friday, our doctor treats patients Wednesday through Friday, and our dentist treats patients Wednesday and Thursday mornings.  On average, we are able to help about 75 to 100 people each week through our medical ministry.

In our infirmary the most common problems we see are colds, flus and viruses that are going around; skin infections, rashes and funguses; muscular pain; digestive issues, especially parasites and amoebas; respiratory infections; and injuries/accidents such as cuts and burns.

In the dental area, Erika continues to see patients with  typical problems such as cavities and gum disease as well as those who need extractions.  Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that in recent years there is a much higher awareness and interest on behalf of our patients to come for cleanings and preventative procedures.  Erika shared, “Years ago people would come to get a tooth pulled because they were in pain and then I would never see them again.  Now they come to see if the tooth can be repaired and then they continue to come back for cleanings and follow-up.”

Click on the photos below for more details and to read about two of our volunteers, Katrina and Neysdulia, who are fruits of our Child Sponsorship Program.

Elisabeth sewing up a cut foot.

This boy got cut by stepping on a broken light bulb.

Erika and Katrina provide dental care to approximately 16 to 20 people each week.

Katrina, Erika’s dental assistant (standing) was in our Child Sponsorship Program when she was a little girl up until she graduated. Now she has graduated as a Dental Assistant and she volunteers at the mission two mornings each week. What a blessing and an encouragement it is when you see that you planted seed in fertile ground and you can enjoy the fruit of your labor. That doesn’t happen as often as one would like so when it does, it is a gift!

This boy got cut in a fight with a classmate who sliced his hand with a broken bottle.

Some of our medical volunteers (Left to Right): Yolanda from Bogota; Neysdulia, a girl who was in our Sponsorship Program for a time and is now a Registered Nurse, she is volunteering at the mission now but we would love to be able to hire her to work at the clinic some day!; Karoline, our Norwegian nurse; and Martha who helps registering patients, is from Bogota but works in Bocachica with her husband with a ministry started by their church in Bogota.