I just spent this past weekend hiking Volcano Mombacho, ziplining through Mombacho, walking through the colonial city of Granada, listening to a Nicaraguan band play American songs, and watching the World Cup Final at a bar with other ex-pats! Pictures to come soon!
I also had to say good-bye to the Centro de Salud in La Concha on Friday. The highlights there include:
1. Watching the Vectoral Disease Technician educate health volunteers how to test for malaria
2. Distributing Temeflor (water insecticide) into people's homes, barrels, tanks, etc. to combat the reproduction of dengue mosquitoes
3. Scouring pulperias (local street stores) for expired products that may contribute to diarrhea and other health problems
4. Making Dengue Prevention posters and presenting them to the clinic
The clinic here is definitely much more resourceful than the clinic I worked with in Malawi. The workers here seem much more committed to their work, though their standard of practice may not be very high. Here we had running water, actual desks for the health professionals, private consultation rooms, etc. They even had an ambulance at their expense. They had plenty of educational materials (which they don't seem to use very often) regarding family planning, HIV, dengue, etc. I was surprised to even find an asthma machine at the clinic. But that just goes to say how limited Malawi's resources are. Of course Nicaragua is lacking many necessary resources like x-rays and other expensive instruments, and not using gloves or practicing private consultations when necessary, but Nicaragua is doing much better than Malawi based on what I've seen.
