Tyrus Park & Jessica Osterman volunteers of Ecotrackers in the Esmeraldas Hospital

It is hard to believe that a time period as short as three weeks is enough to change someone forever, but after spending the last three weeks in the town of Esmeraldas on the coast of Ecuador we can confidently say that we have changed. Working in the hospital in Esmeraldas was easily one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences; to have the opportunity to see physicians do so much with so little and to see the impact they made on the community was incredible. Before departing for Esmeraldas, we were told by Dr. Moreno, the director of Ecotrackers, that we would have the opportunity to experience the ¨Medicine of War,¨ however, neither of us realized the magnitude of what we would see over the following three weeks. On our first Friday night at the hospital, we were thrown into the emergency room setting, not really knowing what to expect. Several births and stab wounds later we were performing our first pelvic exams, helping in the delivery room and practicing the different types of sutures on a piece of denim. And that was all the first night. Over the course of the three weeks, we had the opportunity to interact with doctors, medical students and nurses in the hospital, improve our Spanish and practice medicine in a more natural setting without the reliance on machines and computers. In Esmeraldas, we were afforded many more opportunities for patient interaction than we would have had in the States. Before our three weeks had ended we had had the opportunity to suture patients, scrub in for a Cesarean surgery, deliver babies and assist on various other minor procedures and surgeries. By the end of our three weeks we had become fixtures in both the hospital and community which was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment after such a short time. One night towards the end of our trip we were eating dinner and a woman came up to us with her lab results and asked if we were doctors and if we could look at her results for her. It was an incredible feeling to earn the trust and confidence of the residents of a city like Esmeraldas, and we owe them a thank you in return for allowing us to further our medical knowledge through them.
Though the travel guides we had looked through described Esmeraldas as one of the more dangerous and poorer cities in Ecuador, the people we met and later called friends showed a sense of kindness and compassion that would be considered amazing in any circumstance. The faculty at the hospital met us with open arms and open minds and quickly made us feel comfortable working side by side with them. They were patient in their lessons and demonstrated a MacGyver-ness not often seen in medicine in the States, using what little resources they had to help the many around them. Every item was utilized and adapted to perform its expected task as well as a dozen newly invented ones. The hospital functioned fluidly amidst the frequent glimpses of chaos, as the emergency room filled with deliveries, gun shot wounds, stab victims, and many other common weekend injuries. Through the 24 hour shifts, the blood, and the sweat the faculty was able to maintain their spirit and sense of humour each day. They felt more like a group of close friends gathered together rather than individuals hired to perform a service. Though we were there for only a short time, we left Esmeraldas with the tremendous feeling that comes from doing something that is simultaneously both scary and enjoyable, as well as with the weight of many new friendships.
Names: Tyrus Park & Jessica Osterman
Country: United States
Date: July 14th 2005Click here to get more information on the community