Vicam Pueblo, Day 8, Friday

Sunrise of our last full day's clinic:

Vicam Pueblo is another Yaqui village, and the poorest and most remote village we visited on this trip. I was starting to get sick that day, and we thought it would be best for me to stay back at camp, away from all the village dust that would aggravate my cough. That turned out to be a wise decision, because the team later told me that in addition to the normal dust from the village, the local men were mixing cement just upwind of the clinic site. Everyone got to breathe an extra amount of dust that day!

So I have only a few photos, shared by others on the trip. Lucas sent me a couple of emails with some amazing shots, but communications being what they are in Mexico, I never received them. Bummer! But we're going to try to see if we can put Lucas's video of the trip on the blog, or, if not, at least provide a link for you to click. 

So here are the few shots I have from Vicam Pueblo:

A typical Yaqui home:

The glasses table is always in high demand. We let each person test out the strength of the various magnifications of reading glasses by handing them a Bible in Spanish to read. And if they don't have a Bible at home, we send it home with them. It may be the only book they own. 

These next few photos were actually taken several days earlier at Vicam, but other than a dirt floor instead of concrete, it could have been Vicam Pueblo. The Yaqui men are characterized by their cowboy hats, bandanas, and often plaid shirts and denim jackets. The women wear bright colors, long skirts and shawls. Despite the dusty village, most of them are remarkably clean.

He's not a bandito... Many of the Yaquis wear their bandanas over their faces to keep from breathing the ubiquitous dust.

The women's shawls are multi-purpose, protecting them from sun, wind, and dust.

9 pm and we're finally ending a VERY long day! From this shot of the Benda family and friend Rachel, 

Can you tell that we're all winding down? 

Unfortunately, that's all I have from our day at Vicam Pueblo. But I'll include a few miscellaneous shots from throughout the mission:

Here's a common sight. We refill our water bottles from the cooler of "safe" water and try not to let any tap water into our mouths. That means brushing our teeth and rinsing toothbrushes with bottled water, and making sure not to open our mouths in the shower. As far as I know, nobody in the group was stricken with "Montezuma's Revenge" on this trip, though some of us ended up with a nasty respiratory bug. We know you'll all appreciate us bringing that souvenir home to share!

Mike is the perfect head of the Triage team. He loves the children, especially, and he often lets them hear their heartbeats with his stethoscope. It's a new experience for many of them!

This little guy was so proud of his balloons that there was NO WAY he was going to remove them from around his head and neck! So he couldn't hear his own heartbeat...his buddy had to listen for him.

I love this silhouette shot of Mark, "el jeffe." His attention to detail, with good-natured humor, is a character trait we all appreciate. He's firm but flexible, and I think he's really in his element when he's leading our mission trips. 

And here he gets a shoulder massage from Jessica to reward him for all his great work.

Finally got the whole pharmacy team to face the same direction...usually when I go to take pictures of them, I get the tops of 3 heads bending over paperwork, and 2 rear ends of those selecting meds from the cabinet. I think they'll appreciate this photo much more!

Apparently witchcraft is a real concern in many of the areas in Mexico. Here is a sign prohibiting witches from entering one of the Mexican churches

Here are two of the Glasses divas, Robin and Maureen, modeling their most fashionable eyewear. We provide all styles of sunglasses for the people to choose from, and usually the ones with the most "bling" are snapped up first.

And Rachel and Robin peddling eye drops, to soothe dust-encrusted eyelids.

The Mexican intercom system at work: when the nurses are free and ready for another patient to be brought to them, they hold up 2 fingers. That signals our San Carlos volunteers to escort the next person in line over to the nurses' station. And when they're finished with a patient who needs to go to the doctor, they hold up a fist. Then our volunteer will escort the patient to the next available doctor.

Tomorrow will be a welcome half day of clinic right here behind Casa de Esperanza. Then we'll sort and clean and pack all our gear and we'll enjoy a farewell dinner before heading out EARLY Sunday morning.