A Day in the Life

In the morning during school days, we wake up for our 5:45am spiritual event to kick start the day on the right foot. As we file out of the church from the spiritual event, the missionaries and kids are typically found walking side by side or racing across the campo back to their houses to get ready for school. 

The outside of the church!

Prayers during a spiritual event

While some of the missionaries get ready to teach class at the Finca school, the nurses pass some medicines to the kids’ houses, grab some breakfast and then head off to the clinic for a morning of first-come-first-serve appointments for those that need to see the doctor. We see patients from all over neighboring villages, those from right next to the Finca, or those up in the mountains who don’t have much accessibility to healthcare. During the clinic day, we assist Dr. Julio in any procedures needed, prepare medications, start IVs, and give the education necessary for each individual who comes into the clinic. While some come to refill chronic meds and to check on long-term illnesses, others come for medicine for new sicknesses so the education and type of medicine looks different for each person. The nurses have to be vigilant throughout the clinic day to be able to provide proper, individualized care that will stick for the patients when they leave the clinic. For example, some adult patients are unable to read so teaching about their, or their child’s, medicines consists of using colors and pictures to make sure they take them at the right time and the right dose. 

The Clinic: La Clinica de la Sagrada Corazon

At around 12 or 12:30, we finish up the last few patients and head off to a missionary community lunch with all the missionaries, including the missionary family. Lunches typically look like a mix of beans, rice, tortillas and a vegetable of some sort cooked from the outdoor stove, called a fogon. 

The missionary house!

In the afternoon, I have some time to work on planning some of my projects for the semester, such as my professional development classes where we will be teaching the teens how to budget, write a resume, and prepare for a job interview. Once my planning is finished, I like to spend the rest of the afternoon with the kids, taking the younger kids to the park or to the beach to play in the water, or playing cards and chatting with the older kids. It is always so fun to take the kids to the park or to the beach because they are so excited to be able to do something with the missionaries. They will run as fast as they can and start a race to try to make it to the final destination faster than anyone else in the group. 

A "carrera" or race to the park!

Time spent walking the beach

Each evening of the week, we have different activities for the community. On Monday nights, the missionaries have what we call “campo time” which is time spent with either the boys or the girls out on the soccer field playing games such as soccer, football, frisbee, etc. Other nights of the week, we have evening spiritual events such as holy hour or rosary or “tema” which is very similar to a Bible study or Sunday school for the kids. 

Following the event for the evening, us missionaries typically have a house we invite over for dinner, so the kids will come over to help us cook and then we’ll enjoy a meal together in our “sala” or living room. It is always so fun to have the kids over for dinner to be able to get to know them more, hear more about their life here, and share a meal with them. After an evening of laughing and chatting with the kids and their ‘tias’ (the adult in charge of the house of kids), everyone goes home and we close out the night to prepare for the next day!

A beautiful sunset at the end of another day at the Finca!

Thank you for your prayers and support! Know you are in my prayers.

Peace, 

Natalie