This morning was a wonderful reminder of why I'm working so hard. Of why school is worth so much effort and time and energy. I shadowed a physician at the clinic in Como this morning, and it was so much fun. Time flew by, and I honestly think I learned more during those few hours than I had all semester in clin med. And hopefully, we made an impact on those individuals and families who came. I hope they saw Christ and his love and compassion in our actions.
One of the last patients we saw was a mother and her daughter. The mom spoke broken English and the appointment progressed with her sharing little information. We went through her basic blood chemistry with her and then asked if she had any other concerns or questions, really trying to figure out why she had come in. She hesitated but finally started explaining something to her daughter in Spanish. As I caught bits and pieces, I heard her say "doble vista" and at that point interjected (in very broken Spanish, mind you) to ask about that. When she realized that someone on the "medical team" spoke her language, she started to really tell us her story and what was going on. It amazed me at how much of a wall a language barrier really is. It also makes me all the more anxious to learn Spanish better and practice more and more.
Thanks for the encouraging morning, Lord! And thanks for the rain (as we were waiting for the shuttle, the heavens openned up and soaked all of us!).
Now, back to studying. :)
1 comment:
That's a fabulous story C. It really is amazing to see how people will open up when they know they'll be listened to. I'm really glad that God's given you such a passion for the Hispanic population & you're able to communicate w/ them in ways I doubt I'll ever be able to. Yay for life experiences! :-)
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