Dangriga, Belize – February 1990
On my quiet walk along the beach on my way to breakfast this morning, I saw a man cutting grass by hand with a machete. Skinny dogs and horses wandered around loose.
After a delicious breakfast with the team, we boarded the old school bus and bumped along for 90 minutes past fragrant orange groves until we arrived in Georgetown. The medical team set up the clinic in a cement block church building, and the dentists worked down the road from us. We saw people of African descent in the morning and Mayan Indians in the afternoon, another slow relaxed day without too many patients. I learned much by watching Dr. Don and Dr. Joel examine the patients.
I stood on the bus on the way back so the bumps didn’t make my back hurt as much. We stopped for an ice cream break at an enthusiastic Texas missionary lady’s home who begged for a nurse to come work with her.
Dinner under the tent by lantern light was great with fresh fried jewel fish, mashed potatoes, noodles, fresh-squeezed orange juice, hot tea, and a warm lemon meringue pie all made by the Pastor’s wife from their local produce. Judy and I felt uneasy when we became lost walking back in the dark to our hotel. Loud reggae rock music blared everywhere. Men drinking alcohol lined the narrow second-floor balcony and leered at us as we walked past them on our way to our room. We quickly locked our room door and thanked the Lord for keeping us safe. Judy told me how she was beaten to a pulp in her home by a robber about 20 years ago. I told her how I was mugged in my home. Then we read the Bible and prayed together, and went to sleep.
“When I am afraid, I will trust in Thee…In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”
Psalm 53:3, 11 KJV
Wednesday – Santa Rosa
Today we held the clinic in a one-room thatched-roof schoolhouse in the beautiful Mayan village of Santa Rosa. The friendly people gave us ice-cold Cokes to refresh us on the hot humid day which felt like 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
We finished early so we walked through the rainforest where I saw a pig pen and numerous chickens roaming freely. I met another pen pal named Teresa for my Bible Clubbers back home. She proudly showed me the bracelet she made with the letters “The Bible” woven into it which I bought from her. She appears to know Christ as her Savior as do many of the people with whom I have shared the gospel, but they don’t seem to have had much Bible teaching.
Our day ended with a fabulous dinner in Dangriga of freshly caught lobster tail with lemon meringue pie. Pastor R. is also a lobster fisherman. I can only imagine how much work it took for him to catch and clean all those lobsters. What a labor of love. At this rate, I don’t think I’ll lose any weight.
To be continued next post… 🙂
Pamela's Nursing Reflections 