Hey! So my time here in Ecuador is winding down…only 2 weeks left, this week and next week and then my program is over. It seems like just yesterday I was arriving here in Ecuador meeting everyone, starting Spanish classes, and getting ready for the experience of a lifetime! Now as I look back I can say that is exactly what it has been an experience of a lifetime and one that I will never forget! It has shaped me and changed me J

My Spanish classes are officially over I finished them this week, only having classes on Monday and Tuesday. Mondays classes were pretty rough because I was with a teacher I was not expecting to be with, one whom I had never been with and he did not want to teach or work on what I wanted to work on…however after talking to the director she changed my professor for the last day and I was back with one of the best teachers and ended on a great note!!! J I will need to continue to take Spanish once I get back into the states so I do not lose everything I have gained here and can keep up my ability to talk and converse!

This week I am at Comite del Pueblo… a clinic in the north of Quito which is about an hour bus ride away in a very poor part of town. Monday was very exciting I was with a Gynecologist and we saw many different pregnant women from 5-40 weeks! I was able to feel the head and butt of a baby inside the womb!!! It was amazing and such a miracle!!! I was also able to listen and hear the heartbeat of the baby! J awwww! I was able to feel different positions of the baby in mothers who are in different weeks. In one woman the baby's head was in her side by her ribs, and its butt was sticking up. In another that was 39 weeks, the baby had moved into the correct position to deliver and I was able to feel that the head was down by the pelvis bones! I was in shock and loved having this opportunity since this was something I had not yet experienced here! I was happy that I was in a clinic where the doctor was letting me feel and observe! Julie went down into the emergency part of this clinic today because the doctor's room is quite small and there is not a lot of room. We plan on switching back and forth each day to get to see different things!

I went back and forth from the clinic upstairs to the emergency room and got to experience a handful of different things. Upstairs with the gynecologist I also got to see the insides of women's vaginas and the lower part of their uterus, along with listening to more babies hearts, and feeling the positions of the head, back, and butt! That was a pretty neat and amazing experience!! Most of the women that came in were there for routine checkups. We had women of all different ages from 16-40 who were pregnant or not. We did see a couple women who had mammary problems. One girl was19 years old and was lactating for unknown reasons and had never been pregnant and was not pregnant. All of her blood levels her normal; however she did have a fat deposit that had formed on her right breast. The doctor ordered her to get a CT scan of her brain and was going to have her discuss payment options with a social services lady upstairs because it was crucial that she get this test. A couple other women had fatty deposits forming on their breasts that were not cancerous and he just prescribed a medication and said they should go away with time.

In the emergency room, which was more like an urgent care center because most of what I got to see was sick kids coming in with ear aches, fevers, or coughs. One interesting thing I did get to see a couple of the days were the police would bring in drunks or drug addicts off the street before taking them to prison to make sure they were ok, or they would bring in people from prison who said "they were sick." Even though everyone we saw was fine and left shortly after being seen in handcuffs. A security guard who worked at the hospital came in to emergency room because his foot hurt, and he ended up having a hairline fracture in his right ankle. I saw a young boy who was 12 years old who had a piece of concrete suck in his eye from working construction, and they had to remove it and patch his eye up. There were about 5-6 people who had really infected abscesses on their bodies that they did not take care of and they became really infected; some were on their legs, butt, heel, and arms. The doctor said it was because most people out here do not bathe in clean water and do not clean themselves thoroughly that they tend to get a lot of infections and do not take care of them until they are really infected and down into the muscle or bone. It was really sad. One little boy was 6 months old and had abscesses on the tops of his feet, and his mother had not cleaned or changed his bandages in 4 days and the gauze was stuck to his skin and the skin was starting to grow within the gauze. The doctor had to clean the gauze and rip of the kid's skin and open all of the wounds back up….

It was really sad here because this clinic was in one of the poorest parts of Quito and most of the people do not have money to take care of themselves, or their children and they do not put in the time or effort to do so.Most of the children end up getting sick with diseases that could have been prevented in the first place. I saw a boy who was 6 years old and had asthma and could barely breathe, and this was the 2nd time his mother had brought him into the clinic for his breathing in 4 months. He was wheezing and when you listened to his lungs you knew right away he had asthma. The doctor asked if the last time they were here the doctor gave them a prescription and the mother said yes, but that she did not buy it because she does not have the money to buy it. Therefore her son has been suffering and will continue to suffer… it was really sad. The doctor tried to explain that without this medicine her son will not get better and his breathing will only get worse…the mother said she understood but it is likely that he will not get the medication that he needs. L

After seeing how all of these kids live, I realize how fortunate I am, and how lucky I am that I have the medical care and attention that I need at anytime. As well as how fortunate I am to have grown up and grow up in the family that I do, with the things that I have, and have everything that I have. Seeing these people live on barely anything, and get by day to day just hoping to survive really makes me feel privileged!

During our afternoons we hangout around Quito, used our computers, went to the Mariscal and explored and went around to different places for lunch! We had some great fajitas one day!! I'm looking forward to coming home and having some great home cooked food!!!! J We also went and saw Quantum Solace in the movie theatre here one night for $2! What a deal! J It was in English with Spanish subtitles! Other than that not much is going on…we are looking at going to a Bull Fight next week.

This weekend, tomorrow, we are going to Otavalo the big bargain flee market where we can shop and barter! And then Sunday we are going to Mitad del Mundo! The equator! On Sunday there are supposed to be a lot of cool things that you can do around the equator and all the museums are open so we are going to go up there and explore, should be fun!

This trip has been an amazing experience for me and has really opened my eyes to the world around me and how other people live. The hardships they endure and the lifestyle they live.

I have one more week here in Ecuador and only have clinics on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because next week is a festival week in Quito and not much will be going on in the hospitals and clinics and most people take off work to party and celebrate!

Can't wait to see you all so soon.

Love,

Britt