El Cayo - Bonacca
Guanaja - Day 6
Thursday, September 9 - We took the clinic downtown today to a tiny island called Bonacca, or El Cayo, where almost 6000 people make their home. Down an alley a short distance from the dock, a church opened its doors to host the clinic and we were warmly greeted by the clinic staff and vice mayor.
What a fun surprise it was to see friends we’d made just the day before, as well as old friends who have come over the years, waiting at the clinic when it opened! Many came by to give us updates on their lives and families as well as health, like the little boy who has been wheelchair bound beginning to take a few steps, a little girl with ventricular septal defect still hoping for life-saving surgery, or a local shop owner stopping by with her son for preventative care. It brought so much joy to our hearts to see patients out in the community on the street and in shops waving to say ‘hello’ or ‘thank you.’ The community expressed their appreciation and support of the team by sending over locally caught lobster for dinner one night.
Perhaps one of biggest milestones of the day was our cardiologist training local health professionals how to use and read an EKG machine! Having this skill set will greatly benefit the community long after our team has gone home. Thank you, Dr. Davis, for your investment in the next generation of care providers in Guanaja!