Day 2 - First Screening Day

Hello again! Wow, what a day! We began our day at 5:30am and made it to the hospital by 6:45am. When we arrived they had set up some tents outside where people were already waiting for us. Very quickly the seats started to fill up under the tents. We spent majority of the day out there with the kids waiting to be screened while the medical staff was inside in different stations to evaluate the kids. The two high school students, shown above, had to do their presentation so Garrett and Celia assisted. They taught them about oral hygiene as well as fire safety- stop, drop and roll! Once we pulled out some crayons and paper the kids started coming over and we encouraged the others more shy to come along too. I helped the child life specialist, who is from Peru, to hold the little babies while he spoke to the parents and educated them on the process. It was so fun to hold these little bundles of joy! But true to the latin culture, they bundled them up in fleece pajamas with knit hats and it was over 90 degrees! Guess they didn't want them to catch a chill! Anyway, Garrett quickly got into his role of soccer player and befriened 3 boys that played with him all morning - Enrique, Jorge David and Justin. They all got Rush (Garrett's soccer league) t-shirts and little soccer balls to take home with him. Most of the older kids have had some cleft lip surgeries and were back for the palate surgery. Celia's new best friend was a little girl name Grismelli. No idea how to spell that one! She entertained her while her mom was listening to the child life specialist and she never left Celia's side again! She loved stickers and had them all over her and Celia! The kids and high schoolers, as well as many of us, handed out all sorts of goodies to the kids from little balls, coloring books, mardi gras beads, little cars, stuffed animals, bubbles- they love bubbles!, and much more. After a full day of entertaining we were all a little worn out, mostly from the heat! We took a break for lunch in the AC which was great but my kids didnt care for the food-shocker! Fortunately they had snacks that I had packed. Lots of these families come from very far away. One mom I spoke to had come from Honduras! Once all the 89 kids had been screened we headed out. By the end of the day Garrett looked like he had literally rolled around in dirt all day, he was covered head to toe in dirt! We went to one of the hotels to swim, which was so refreshing! We spent a few hours there and back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. By 9pm my kids were exhausted and ready for bed so we left quickly and got back tot he hotel. We repacked more goodies for tomorrow and we look forward to another day of screening. Tomorrow a bus will arrive with over 100 kids to be screened. Let the entertaining begin!!! To watch my kids help out these little Nicaraguans is so incredible, they have done so well and I am so proud of them! The team is incredible as well! Everyone has been so nice and encouraging to the kids.

Well until tomorrow! So glad we are here helping out!

-Crissy, Garrett & Celia