Clinic Love / Hate

In a clinic in another town, but similar.

When our guard came to me saying that he had had stomach pains for the last five weeks and they were getting worse with a higher fever, it was pretty clear that we needed see a doctor ASAP. As we sat in the clinic waiting room with rusty screened windows and old but clean tile from floor to ceiling, I was extremely grateful that a church from the States had sent missionaries to work in this area and start this clinic just about a mile from our house many years ago. There is another private clinic in our quadrant of the city and a few others around town, but this one has a reputation for cleanliness and good treatment, as well as affordable prices. Because we had to go back morning and evening for many days for IV drip injections, I spent a lot of time in this boring little clinic, called the “Hope Clinic,” feeling very glad that people from the States were still supporting it. Otherwise I don’t know where most of the residents of this part of town and outlying area go for quality treatment when they are really sick? There is a national hospital in town, but we’ve heard horror stories about the many drawbacks of going there. In contrast, there are well trained nurses with the necessary supplies to help with just about any illness and a lab for testing here. I feel lucky to be able to see the daily fruit and appreciation of this church’s gift to the community, which most of the people who have contributed will never be able to see or be sure of.

That was the time when I had a lot of love for this clinic. Then, after four days of treatment our guard finished the medicine and he went back to see the doctor and get the official test results to confirm that it really was Typhoid. It is at 4 p.m. when the doctor starts work, but our guard arrived at 4:30 on Thursday and the doctor had already left. The next day we went at 4 and waited three hours, but he never came. Same things on Saturday. So, then Monday when we finally got to see the doctor, he got upset at his nurses who had not filled the prescription fully! But that is their habit for this kind of treatment, since it is so expensive that most people can’t buy the whole course at one time. But no one ever told us there were two more days of treatment we had to buy. So, we had to start the whole treatment over again and our guard, who is also terrified of needles, had to endure another few weeks of feeling pretty ill. In the end, the treatment was close to $200, which is not at all affordable for most people here. It was frustrating to have an error like that, but overall, I’m still very thankful that this area has at least this level of medical coverage. We also rest assured that there is an even better church-run clinic about 30 minutes outside of our town with a doctor from New Zealand who is very good. Unfortunately he’s on leave for a few months right now!

-- El Padre