THE TRAVELING POD

June 2022

Sunset off the clinic boat

This has been one of the most naturally beautiful and adventurous week that I have had! Moving through the Amazonian rivers of Beni Bolivia has been one of my favorite experiences so far.

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After the clinic in Trinidad with Medfund, I was introduced to Phil, the brother of Phil (Medfund’s general director). Phil is a doctor, and the coordinator for the Samaritans Purse Ruth Bell Clinic Boat. I was boarded with three doctors, two dentists and a nurse. We started on the Rio Ibare river, and then onto the larger Rio Mamore river of the Amazon basin of Beni Bolivia. We spent 11 days on the boat, and it was so much fun. We all worked hard, and there was time to play hard too.

We engaged with many different communities, where we would stop the boat, and walk to their community. Then, we would set up the different clinics on the boat, and the village people would come onto the boat for treatment. A lot of the professionals were prepared for the people, in the sense that they had brought presents for the kids, like drawing books and crayons. One doctor had brought a portable polaroid printer, and she would take family photos and hand them to the family’s.

The clinics on the boat ran in the morning to lunch, and then afternoon to dinner. In some bigger communities, we would have a community concert at their church, and we would sing together with guitars. The local pastor would speak, and Phil would also talk with his Bible. My favorite activity with the community was to play soccer, and it was so much fun. I suck at soccer, but what helped me during the game was my fitness level. I have an exercise routine that I continue where ever I am, and that is what allowed me to be competitive, even though I do suck bad haha. One day, I got on well with some of the kids, and we went swimming, yes, in the alligator and other amazing creatures that lie beneath. To be honest, I was so excited and not scared. If the locals are not worried, I am not worried. They did tell me the aggressive black alligator is further up the river, and they do not swim there. That thought just didn’t satisfy me, who keeps track of the black alligator? Why does the alligator limit itself to one area, and I just believe what they said. I am pretty chilled person, so I just went with the flow, and pretended I believe what they said, and enjoyed a fun swim. The boat was great for swimming, it has three levels, and we were able to jump off the roof into the water, and it definitely was nice to get an adrenaline rush.

My personal experience with the clinic was fantastic. I was the first podiatrist they had on that boat, and most patients had no idea what I did. The doctors had to encourage patients to see me, and once one person from the community was seen being treated by me, they started to feel confident to approach me. I was amazed with the amount of ingrown nail problems there were. It felt so good to provide a service, and see how appreciative the people were. It is so encouraging to do something that someone else values, it gives you a deep satisfaction and sense of purpose. I encourage anyone to find something they are good at and volunteer your time to help solve a small problem for someone. The downside to my experience was that I missed out on so many stories and connections with my language barrier. I heard some touching stories through other peoples encounters with patients, and I was limited to a few sentences. A lot of communities spoke other dialects but there was always people from the community that spoke Spanish.

Clinic was rewarding but where I had my most fun was exploring nature with Phil and others. I met a really cool Ecuadorian girl called Antonella, and she came along on most of our adventures. We went from catching baby alligators at night, making cool videos in the river with a floating donut, and laying under the visible Milky Way and stars.

The boat was so much fun and rewarding, and I enjoyed the people that were on the boat. At night, when we weren’t with local communities doing activities, we were playing cards and laughing. Everyone came from all walks of life for one common purpose, and that was to help people and shine Jesus’s love of His kingdom.