Feliz Dia Mama!

Today was the first day that I worked in the hospital, and it was certainly the best day that I have had yet. We started rounds at 8:00 A.M, which were entirely in Spanish. There are about 15 volunteers at Hospitales de Esperanza(Hospitals of Hope) right now, and most of us went on rounds, so there were about 13 of us following two of the main doctors in the Hospital. Since the patients and doctors only spoke Spanish, I couldn't always tell what was going on, but I got the major gist of everything.

After rounds, I went and worked en el Departmento Pediatricos(The Pediatrics Department). The Pediatrics doctor and her patients all only spoke Spanish, so I got much better at hearing and communicating in Spanish by the end of the day. We saw 8 children from 9:00 to 11:00, and most of their health problems were more severe than those of the children of the United States. As most of you probably know, most of the health problems in the U.S are due to obesity from over eating and not being active enough. This is also true for children in the U.S, but it is not so in Bolivia or most of the third world.

3 of the children that we saw today only had mild health concerns such as a cold or fever, but the other five were in fairly poor condition. One child had congenital heart disease, and another even had three parasites, one of which was Giardia(you can look that one up if you don't know what it is). Nevertheless, the children were very cute and pleasant, and the Pediatrics Doctor was also very pleasant and understanding about language barriers between English and Spanish. I found it very interesting that you could see some cultural differences between Bolivia and America but also some similarities by watching the parents of the children. The parents were all very concerned for the health of their children and even made the health of their children a higher priority than their own, which is similar to the U.S. However, more often than not grandmothers would come back to the examination room with mothers, which is different from the U.S.

I should mention that it is Mother's Day(Dia De Mama) in Bolivia today, and the hospital had many planned activities for this occasion. Mothers in the community were invited into the hospital for a presentation on proper breast feeding techniques and given raffle tickets to win door prizes. There were also children at a local school in the community who sang songs for their mothers, which was very fun to see and hear. At the end, the hospital provided everyone in attendance with some snacks and sodas.

I found it very encouraging to see that Hospitals of Hope is more than just a hospital. It is also a crucial part of the town of Vinto and city of Cochabamba as a whole. After the mother's day presentations, the pastor at the hospital shared the gospel in Spanish. Even though I couldn't understand every single word, I was able to pick up on quite a bit. He shared very openly and directly and was completely in his delivery of Biblical truth.

Please pray that the Bolivian people's hearts will continue to be touched and changed by the kindness and love that is being shown to them at Hospitals of Hope. This is truly a powerful and effective ministry, and I have no doubt that lives are being changed. Please keep the people of Cochabamba and all over Bolivia in your prayers.

Kevin Quinby

P.S I have found that if anyone mumbles around me I think they are speaking in Spanish now instead of English. It's pretty weird.

The Guest house where I am living.