Patience, not Complacence

Each month when SALI classes end, we have Thursday and Friday off before the next month’s cycle begins. Last weekend was our first long weekend, but I decided to stay around Trujillo to relax, spend time with people, and see a few things around town. There were also a couple of people I wanted to see who were supposed to come into the clinic on Thursday, and I didn’t want to miss our Friday home visits to patients.

However, I was a little disappointed. On Thursday, Jenny didn’t bring in Ana, her 22-month-old who needs therapy to correct a misaligned hip in order to be able to walk. Neither did we see César, the 3-year-old whose family Noemí and I visited in Clementina last week. He had a fungus on his hand, and although he was taking some medicine from the government posta de salud, we wanted him to come in when he’d finished it to see how he was doing. Fridays are usually a little slower, but last Friday kept a steady pace, and Noemí couldn’t get away to go out on visits.

So I didn’t get to see most of the people I was hoping to. That’s my favorite part of the clinic so far, or at least the thing I really want to start focusing on: keeping up with patients we see on a regular basis, building relationships with them, and making sure they are getting what they need. I’ve loved getting to go out a couple of times, too, and see them in their homes, where they actually live.

Now that I’ve been working here a month and feel a little more settled, I hope I can do more of that. Although I was a little frustrated not getting to do some of that last week, I realized that I need to be patient. I think I’m learning the need for that with a lot of things here. I don’t need to force things to happen – sometimes I think the best opportunities come when we’re not expecting them, or trying too hard. And I need to be patient, too, because although I am anxious to be active and useful, I have only been working at the clinic four weeks.

At the same time, though, I don’t want to be complacent. It could be tempting to passively go about my work and responsibilities and ya está – that’s it, that’s done, move on to the next thing. But that wouldn’t be very beneficial to the patients, to the clinic’s ministry, or to me. I think I’m at the point where I hopefully can start deciding ways to be more actively involved, and I’m praying to be open to seeing what those opportunities are. Maybe that means, when the line of triage patients slows down, going out to a couple of houses and checking on people we haven’t heard from, or who could just do with a visitor. I kind of hope so.

Today, I went back and saw Cesar and his mother Neida in Clementina. His hand is improving but he now has something on his eye. She said she would bring him into the clinic this afternoon. Poco a poco...

César and his mischievous smile.