La Ceiba- Medical Mission

We have finally started real research work... not that we weren't doing work with Mercy Ships but that was a familiar environment. We are now working with an American team whom I contacted months ago from New Zealand. And it's working really well. I've not done much by way of interviews yet- I think those will be better towards the end of the research, but have been spending a lot of time just observing and trying to build relationships with the team. That process has been helped immeasurably by Luis, whose translation skills have been valuable. The team does not have many translators, so Luis help is appreciated and this has lead to a more or less open door for me.
The team is Christian, an is working from a church here in La Ceiba. They are doing mainly basic medicine- coughs, colds, stomach aches and so on. They get through about 100-200 patients per day. They work very hard and have the best of intentions so it's a little difficult to stand back and be objective- but thats the nature of research.
Other than research life here is settling into a routine- clinic most of the day, dinner at the mall or the hotel comedor (cafe) and the evening writing notes in our tiny hotel room. Today being Sunday we have taken it a little slower. We went to church- we thought that this would be an important part of building relationships both with the team and with the pastor and church whom we hope to interview later.
After finishing here in this internet cafe, we plan to visit a new friend here in La Ceiba, then head back to the hotel for a nice cool swim and to relax!