News from Tuesday's work and Plans for Wednesday

Hello again from all of us here in WARM El Salvador. It is now Wednesday morning.
Though the Salvadorean winter officially begins this month, we've so far been treated to quite warm weather. We did have the first thundershower  last night and discovered why this country has such lush, green vegetation and beautiful sunsets.

We spent a full day at Siloe running the medical clinic. Since it was Mother's Day here in El Salvador - officially May 10th every year and always a work holiday, the focus for our clinic was the Siloe church members and families and then the surrounding community and their families.

Daniel "Ranger" Salvador

We only worked with one Doctor on Tuesday, Daniel. Daniel is an amazing and tireless worker. He's only 24 years old. Went to university beginning when he was only 16 years old and completed his entire 8 years of training and medical school and recently became a doctor. We have nicknamed him Daniel Ranger... This name is taken from Salvadorean slang that sort of indicates someone who never stops, a bit like the Energizer Bunny but strong and relentless. The amazing thing we've watched while working with Daniel is that despite the long lines and long hours as he sees patients each day - a total of 136 by himself for example, he continues to listen with compassion and care deeply about each individual he sees. Always smiling, eager to laugh, he takes time with each patient, never rushing them and making sure he hears every concern. Quite a gift to the work here as he has recently become the school doctor and visits the students each week.

The team continues to be amazingly Gumby-like. Gumby, as you may know, is the flexible green character who has inspired our behavior. We try in every situation to be flexible and adaptable to whatever arises and this team has gone above and beyond what they even imagined. We've been stretched and challenged to do things we didn't expect. Roberto spent a whole day as a dental assistant, making his father we're proud I'm sure. Dana has surprised us by at one moment carrying around a month old baby and in the next moment, a pet iguana. The most striking thing has been a total willingness to step in wherever needed.

Today's plan takes us to Altavista, a notorious suburb outside the city, riddled with gang trouble. This is the location of Christ for the City's soccer school and the medical clinic that is already established and run by Dr. Walter. We will be seeing patients from the surrounding area including the community Bendicion de Dios where Mariner's Teams have previously visited.

After that work, we'll head to church and then out to dinner.