Fully Alive
The Finca sky after Holy Hour one Thursday night
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” - St. Catherine of Siena
This month was packed! Two immersion trips came to the Finca to show them our home and mission. One of the students reminded me of this quote by St. Catherine of Siena. This is how I felt on mission this month. On top of the university groups that came, a medical brigade also came during the week of the second immersion group. The greatest gift this month was a man named Fr. Tom. He came with the first group and stayed with us for the second as well, so we could have daily mass for two weeks! Lastly, Theresa and I had a little getaway to Fatima and her husband Bartulomé’s for the weekend!
Mountain Medics
A nonprofit by the name “Mountain Medics” is run from Denver, Colorado started by a man named Graham. He brought 7 doctors from around the U.S. to see patients here for 3 days. Teddy, Theresa, and I were blessed to accompany them to help out in whatever way was needed. Teddy and Theresa turned into nurses for the week and helped take vitals and intake! We were also able to help translate in consults. This was my favorite part because I was able to learn from the doctors and the questions they asked, as well as be up close with the patients, which is my favorite part of my job. In the chaos of normal consults in the Finca clinic, I am rarely with the patient as it is only two nurses or sometimes just me, and I have to check people in, prepare medications, etc. So I was able to cherish this time to truly see and hear the patient. We were only seeing patients in the Finca for the last day of the brigade; the other two days, we were up in the mountains. These were some of the craziest and best and best days of my life. The roads to get to the mountain towns are so steep and long that the people often cannot come down for medical care. In the rainy season, the roads get so slippery that it isn’t safe to come down, as there is a risk of falling off the side of the road. We got to the top of the mountain around 8 am and typically left around 4 pm. I met truly beautiful souls up there and look forward to the next time we go back.
Weekend at Fatima’s
Fatima invited us over for a little weekend getaway. We relaxed and ate wonderful food. She is a great cook and even taught us some of her recipes from El Salvador where she’s from.
