Azogues, Ecuador: Amazing Clinic Day

Clinic day was every bit as amazing as I expected it would be. We had so many children and families to see that it seemed impossible we could screen all of them in one day, but we did, and had a full schedule of surgeries for the next day.

But to do that, many families had to wait for hours and hours. I learned early to pay attention to the noise level. When it began to get loud with restless children, I would go out into the waiting area with crayons, and activities books provided by Ronald McDonald House Charities, who generously sponsored this trip. My wonderful mentor, Sheila Wolfson, clued me in to this. Once the children were occupied, the noise level would drop for a time, and I returned to helping Sheila make charts for those scheduled for surgery. That meant that I got to see all of the children that we will be helping in the next two weeks.