Physical Therapy - Making A Global Impact
Day 1


Day 2
We got to sleep in today, had breakfast at 9, which was made up of fresh baked donuts. We then had a full tour of the grounds. They take care of 350 children on the grounds, from 6 months to high school. There are another 150 they take care of in the city that are either in high school or at university. Before high school they do a year of service on the ranch and if they do 2 more years after high school, NPH pays for them to go to university. Every child learns a trade. Not every child will have a chance to go to university so they start receiving instruction in trades in grade 7-9. The trades consist of farming, tailoring, sewing, wood working, metal work, or shoe making. They try to steer the girls into tailoring or sewing since many of the other available jobs are dangerous parts of town. After the tour I was standing taking a picture of a child when I started to have sharp, pinching pains on my feet. I looked down (I was wearing sandals) and my feet were covered with black ants. I discovered they are far less welcoming than the rest of the people on the ranch. They clamped on with there pincers and it was quite an effort to get them all off. Note to self: be careful where you stand here. We met back up at the surgery center and discussed our roles for the next day. After another great dinner we heard from one of the leaders on the ranch. he said most of the children have been subjected to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Their lives have been tremendously improved thanks to NPH. It was heartbreaking, but encouraging to hear.Day 3

Day 4



Day 5
This morning I scrubbed into a Bankart repair. Unfortunately they didn't have the best supplies and set up for it, so they had to figure things out on the fly. The end result was good, but it took much longer. Instead of 30 minutes, it took 2 hours. It was pretty cool to be involved. After that I returned to the post op area. I've been working with a future PT student on our brigade, a PTA that is on staff here at the orphanage for 1 year, and a recent PT grad from Austria that is also on staff here for a year. They have both been extremely helpful since they are fluent in spanish. Part of my task has been to help them figure out rehab programs for these patients for when they return for follow up visits. We have a pretty good staff with the 4 of us, and things have gone pretty smoothly. The food here has been tremendous, and if anyone is worried about the menu on a brigade, don't be. It has been fantastic and no one has gotten sick. One more day of surgery left.

Day 6

Day 7
