Inahuaya

So in a previous blog I mentioned we were going to Iparia for a mini-clinic. Well, plans change and we didn’t end up going to Iparia. Instead, the night before we were to leave for this mini-clinic plans fell through and Jenni was frantically calling around, trying to find a place for us to go. We had already bought medicines and were all packed and ready to go, we just didn’t have a place to go. On top of that, there was a medical team of 14 people en-route from Gordon Adventist Hospital in Dalton, Georgia who were still planning on having a clinic. Thankfully, with God’s help we were able to find a place. Inahuaya is a river village about halfway between Iquitos and Pucallpa, meaninging a 24hr ride on a boat launch.
Throughout this whole clinic experience, the word flexible took on a whole new meaning. Changing clinic destinations less than 24hrs before departure, changing boat launches, differing arrival/departure times, things just not working the way you planned them are all different ways our faith and flexibility were tested last week. The trip to get to the clinic itself was such an experience. Spending 24hrs on a boat was a new experience for me and it was really fun! We all bought hammocks and lounged in those pretty much the whole boat trip, though some of the time we held a little clinic for those on board. What was really awesome about this medical team, was not only doctors and nurses were coming, but also people trained in optical, eye-glass fitting. During clinics, this was the hot place to be. The lines for optical were always the longest!! I was able to learn how to test people’s vision and find glasses that fit them! Being able to help give someone the ability to see things again is so cool. The look on the person’s face when they are able to see again is amazing!!
When we finally arrived in Inahuaya around 2:30am Friday morning, we were pretty exhausted. Clinic started around 8:30am that morning, leaving little time for sleep. Each day of clinic was to be spent in a different neighboring town. The term “neighboring” is used loosely to refer to any town within 2hrs of traveling. Some days the trip to the clinic location took 20minutes by motocar, other days it took 30minutes by pekepeke and 1-1.5hrs by walking/riding a horse cart/motocar, not leaving took much time for actual clinic. AMOR and Gordon groups were divided into two different groups, each going to different locations for the day and returning to stay in Inahuaya for the night.
Because of there being two groups, our dental team was split as well. Manuel went with one group and Brent and I went with the other. I was excited yet kind of nervous being on our own without some experience teeth-puller watching over your shoulder. Yet, I was calm, knowing God would be guiding the hands in each procedure. The first day was really discouraging for us. We didn’t have the right tools to pull properly and each tooth we had to ask Dr. Mathews for help on, which was frustrating a little for him as well. However, the next 3 days of clinic went much better!! We got the right tools and with God’s help were able to pull quite a number of teeth. In between patients, I was able to hang out with the kids and get to know them, though with my limited spanish, it proved to be quite difficultJ

After the clinic, the Gordon group left for the States and the rest of us went to some hot springs about 25km from Cantamana. They were so amazing! I had never been to hot springs before and to be in a stream of hot water was a totally new experience for me. We slept by the hot springs in a large hut. It was so relaxing to fall asleep in your hammock listening to the water rush over the rocks nearby! The next morning, we hiked out to the main road and started walking back to Cantamana. Since it had rained the night before the roads were too muddy for the motocars to come and pick us up, so we hiked. Dr. Mathews had borrowed a motorcycle for the trip and was going to shuttle us back to Cantamana, so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way, but the motorcycle broke down. So the guys tried to push the bike through the mud for quite a ways, but 25km is a really long way to push a motorcycle, so the bike was left. And we walked. And walked…and walked. We hadn’t exactly planned on hiking this far, so hiking in the mud and on an empty stomach early in the morning was a tiring experience. Yet, it was such a blessing because nobody complained at all. Despite our backs hurting, having no breakfast, and just being discouraged that the bike wasn’t working, everyone was laughing and making the best of the situation. The hot springs were literally in the middle of the jungle and by walking out, I was able to spend more time enjoying the scenery and take some pictures! The early morning sun shone brightly on the green grass and the clear blue sky above was absolutely beautiful!!