We spent three days in the office working diligently to close out projects and file project information for our replacements. This will be the routine for the final two months of our mission. We did break out a few times this week though.
PLEASANT PICHIDEGUA
We traveled two hours south for a ceremony at Hospital Pichidegua. The highway south is always full of interesting travelers.
The Pichidegua Community Hospital is responsible for providing basic health care for a rural population of 20,000 people. The facility provides inpatient and outpatient care, emergency care, and support services. One attending physician sees on average 90 patients per day.
The dentist was operating with 3 dental handpieces and 2 contra-angle handpieces. The donation of additional instruments will improve the quality of patient care, providing enough instruments for the rotation to sterilize equipment without pausing patient care.
New gynecological exam tables will replace those that were in poor condition with backrest failure when the patient exceeds a certain weight causing a fall risk. They were made of wood covered in vinyl. It is not possible to disinfect the wooden parts after they come in contact with body fluids. New lamps will replace those with precarious electrical wiring. The old lamps generated a lot of heat which made them impractical since they cannot get too close to the patient’s body due to the risk of burns. Healthcare providers were using lights on their cell phones to see to examine patients.
The request for stainless-steel shelving and food preparation table and storage is vital to meet the requirements of food service hygiene. These replaced wooden storage and food prep surfaces. The hospital food service did not have health authorization since the existing shelving and tables did not meet standards of hygiene and health standards. The new equipment will allow for hospital accreditation in their food service department.
A new respiratory physiotherapy table was necessary because the existing one had no railing, no support for a sanitary paper sheet, and the backrest did not work. The railing is vital since newborns, infants, and older adults who are at risk of falling are cared for here. The table, in addition to being used for examination, will also be used for procedures and exercises such as respiratory Kinesitherapy and PT exercises for pulmonary rehabilitation.
SYMPHONY SIGNING
The mayor was not available to attend the concert last Saturday, so we had a small signing ceremony with her for the donation of musical instruments to the youth symphony in Cerrillos.
Friday Dinner Date with the Lindquists
FOUNTAINS OF HOPE, PEACE & KNOWLEDGE
This lovely fountain is found on the grounds outside our office. It is undergoing repairs more often than it is running so we thought we should snap a picture on one of its rare days with running water. Water represents life, purity, and renewal. That is what we experienced this weekend as we listened to the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are grateful for the technology that allows us to be taught by prophets and apostles twice a year no matter where we are in the world. We drank our fill from the fountain of “living water” and look forward to being able to access these talks online and use them as part of our gospel study for the next six months. The blessing of having a living prophet and apostles on the earth is tremendous. They help us keep an eternal perspective with our focus on the Savior, and guide us through days of stress and strife.
BREAKFAST AT BOHNS
President and Hermana Bohn are the mission leaders in the Santiago East mission. They are an amazing couple that not only cares for 168 young missionaries but also for the senior missionaries as well. They invite us to their home for breakfast twice a year on General Conference Sundays. It was a lovely morning shared together.
Sister Bohn made a “tree of life” for our mission. Each missionary’s name is written on a button. It symbolically represents the missionaries bringing friends to the Savior to taste the fruit of the tree which is the love of God. As missionaries come to the end of their mission, Elders cut a white button off the bottom of their shirt and sew it next to their name button (Sisters are provided with a button) representing how we are all tied together in the great work of gathering Israel. We stitched our buttons to this mission tree today.
Abrazos, Élder y Hermana Lamb, (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 