Yesterday morning (day 4) we got up and had to be on the road by 5:30am to make the trip across the mountains to service and indigenous group (the Cabécar) and banana plantation workers. What was supposed to be a 3h trip turned into 4.5hrs due to a crash which closed the main highway forcing us to back track and take the windy mountain pass (Gravol was needed).
The area of the Atlantic coastal plane is humid. We all stared sweating immediately after stepping out of our air conditioned bus, causing our clothes to stick to us as we set up the makeshift clinic. Needless to say, by the time we started taking patients (100 had lined up by the time we arrived) I was not in a great mood.
However, once I had an 11 year old girl in front of me with a -10.00 diopters of uncorrected myopia and approximately -4.00 diopters of oblique astigmatism it all became very clear why were had put ourselves through the rigorous clinic schedule and less than comfortable working envy: to give the gift of sight to a girl who has never before seen clearly in her life.
After the clinic was packed up, our host took us down to the nearby Chirripo river. I wasn’t exact sure why but when we got there she explained that for the Cabecar have to cross a river on foot to get to and from their mountain reserve, often carrying their bikes of their backs and wearing boots to protecting snake bites. Shortly after, a teenager came to the river bank to do that very thing. Watching him wade across the river carrying his bike overhead with boots flooded in water was humbling to say the least.
So after an exhausting, rewarding and humbling day. I was up again this morning at 5am ready to do it all over again.
Dr. France Muise, Nova Scotia
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