As we were leaving the office to head to the clinic last wednesday, the doctor remembered that he needed a signiture from someone for a visa document. The clinic team is trying to get a patient to the states for surgery and needed her parental guardian's permission to apply for a visa. So off we went trekking thorough the backwoods to find this man and get his signature.
First we picked up a cousin of the patient. She was going to get us to their house, since it was quite off the beaten trail. "Take a right at the mango tree," she told the driver as we said good-bye to the pavement and made our way through the low-hanging trees and vines that enclosed this little long-forgotten "road". We inched our way through the brush and crossed a stream or two until we met the end of the road. From there we walked and finally found the house we were looking for. Our guide embraced her cousin and told her why we were there. Unfortunately, her parents weren't currently living in that house. bummer...
Back to the car with the cousin and the patient to continue our hunt for the signature. We made our way back to the highway and then off again on a different dirt road. When we finally arrived at the correct house we hopped out to greet the family. We couldn't just demand the signature and leave. We had to visit for a while, right? So as we waited and chatted they grilled us some corn on the cob. It was great! Just off the stalk. We also played with their bird, Maria. After all that trouble we went to finding him, this man should have felt like a celebrity!Finally after about an hour later we had our signatures and we were back on our way.
I don't know about you, but i don't know any doctor in the states who would make a house call like this.
"Why not email him a copy? Why not fax him the document? Why not just call him and have him meet you in the office to sign the necessary papers?" you might ask.
Because this is Honduras my friend, where almost nothing happens efficiently and yet almost everything seems more enjoyable.
So sit back, enjoy your corn, and soak in the third-world-country atmosphere of it all.
- rebekah
First we picked up a cousin of the patient. She was going to get us to their house, since it was quite off the beaten trail. "Take a right at the mango tree," she told the driver as we said good-bye to the pavement and made our way through the low-hanging trees and vines that enclosed this little long-forgotten "road". We inched our way through the brush and crossed a stream or two until we met the end of the road. From there we walked and finally found the house we were looking for. Our guide embraced her cousin and told her why we were there. Unfortunately, her parents weren't currently living in that house. bummer...
Back to the car with the cousin and the patient to continue our hunt for the signature. We made our way back to the highway and then off again on a different dirt road. When we finally arrived at the correct house we hopped out to greet the family. We couldn't just demand the signature and leave. We had to visit for a while, right? So as we waited and chatted they grilled us some corn on the cob. It was great! Just off the stalk. We also played with their bird, Maria. After all that trouble we went to finding him, this man should have felt like a celebrity!Finally after about an hour later we had our signatures and we were back on our way.
I don't know about you, but i don't know any doctor in the states who would make a house call like this.
"Why not email him a copy? Why not fax him the document? Why not just call him and have him meet you in the office to sign the necessary papers?" you might ask.
Because this is Honduras my friend, where almost nothing happens efficiently and yet almost everything seems more enjoyable.
So sit back, enjoy your corn, and soak in the third-world-country atmosphere of it all.
- rebekah
1 comment:
great post rebekah. you're right. it's all about relationships and you interns have been building them with Christ's love, all summer. Good Job.
jarrod
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