Post Numero Uno

Five days into the trip, two days without suitcases, 2 minor illnesses, and 4 unsuccessful attempts at posting on this blog...

It is Friday in Cochabamba and we just finished in the burn center and are spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the late spring-like weather. This has been an eventful week full of amazing and new experiences and the usual frustrations of traveling in a developing country.

We arrived to Cochabamba early Monday morning after 24+ hours of traveling and, despite our luggage still being in Miami, were excited and overwhelmed to be back in this great city. We immediately took to the streets and reacclimated ourselves to the local culture and our favorite jaunts from the last trip. We began the medical portion of the trip on Tuesday morning and met with Drs. Romero and Montano and the rest of the burn center staff before receiving a tour of the entire Viedma hospital complex: the maternity hospital (complete with a staggering 300 beds), gastroenterology hospital, general Viedma hospital (wards), emergency room, and intensive care units. We received a uniformly warm welcome in spite of the fact that we were wearing 2-day old jeans and t-shirts complete with borrowed female white coats with puffed out sleeves that made us look more like 80´s prom queens than actual US medical students. We were invited to spend time in each location throughout our two week stay in Cochabamba and have already participated on gastroenterology rounds (2 cases of chagas disease) with plans to spend time in labor and delivery and the adult emergency room.

The burn center is an incredibly busy place right now with 14 out of 15 beds filled with burned children. Their injuries include 2nd degree burns caused by scalding water and soup, 3rd degree burns from open flame injuries, 3rd degree burns from electrocution, and 3rd degree burns from gas explosions. Approximately 85% of the injuries occurred in the kitchen where children act with great autonomy, assisting in the preparation of food and susceptible to the dangers that abound in rudimentary homes. The children are as stoic and wonderful as we remembered them and we were instantly reminded of the purpose for all the work we´ve put into MS4BCI over the past 2.5 years.

We took part in a lengthy round-table conversation with Dr. Oscar Romero (director of the burn center) about the donation of a mechanical ventilator, a process that has been in process for months now. They are still in desparate need of this equipment and we are working as hard as we can to make this purchase while we are in the country. Additionally, we are working to provide direct funding to one of the children in the burn center who received severe burns to over 70% of his body a few months back in a gas explosion. His family is poor and have no way of paying the $4,000 medical bill that has amassed due to the multiple surgeries, medicines, and life-saving measures undertaken over the past months. We have tentatively reached an agreement with the hospital to pay 1/2 of his bill with the hospital covering the other half. One of our initial goals when we first established MS4BCI in 2007 was to find ways to directly help the children and their families and we are excited about the opportunity to make a difference in the life of this deserving boy. We will write a dedicated post with his entire story and the difference MS4BCI hopes to make in his life sometime next week.

Our current weekend plans take us to Oruro for the Carnevale celebration which as been described as a can´t miss cultural event. We will spend next week in Cochabamba before traveling elsewhere in Bolivia for the remainder of the trip and will do our best to keep you updated!

Thanks for all the prayers, emails, and thoughts!
-Will Bynum