Greetings from Sucre, Bolivia,
Welcome to the beginning of the second week of mission in Sucre, Bolivia. Thanks for all the comments to the newsletter articles. The weekend saw a variety of events. We encourage the mission team to experience the Bolivian culture and life style. There are some things that are similar and others different. Some people visited the local museums. Others went hiking. Still others walked up the Stations of the Cross to the top of mountain. The top is at 10,250 feet, that's a bit of a climb. One brave missioner even went to the Uyuni Salt Flats. If you are a Star Wars fan you will recognize this locations. Of course there was a good amount of shopping for gifts and souvenirs to remember the mission trip. On Sunday for those who were interested the trip to Tarabuco was a high point.
As we start the second week of the mission all teams are up and running. I believe the surgical team had 5 cases to day. That's their daily average. It puts them on pace to have between 40 and 45 cases total. The clinical team continues to travel far outside Sucre to find people in need. They average a 2 to 3 hour drive just to get to the assigned community. Then they have to set up and will usually see well over a 100 patients. They typically get back into Sucre between 7:00pm and 8:00pm. Water With Blessings and construction went to the same barrios again. Fifteen water women graduated from the class. The construction team had an interested day. They put yesso on the walls of a home of a single family of five. The home was approximately 8 by 12, a single room. The yesso is powered gypsum and is hand mixed with water in a bucket. Then spread across the interior walls of the home. It helps seal the building and prevents the insect bites that carries the Chargus disease.
We started to prepare the leave for home. Plans to pay bills were reviewed today. Also the despedida was reviewed and looks to be in place. On Friday morning we start the long journey home. In the mean time we will be getting as much work done as we can and service the people of Sucre.
Bruce
