Community nursing in Colombia, 16 March 1965.

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    Well it seems to be that we're sitting here three of us, my
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    friends, Amigas meus. That's the only Spanish I
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    know and that goes way back to days in the Philippines.
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    But the two of you are from Colombia miss
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    Olivera [Esther Gabriela Olivera] and Miss Berryhill [Verna Eva Elizabeth Berryhill]. And let's say I am formerly
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    from the Philippines with those two words of Spanish and I am
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    very much interested in finding out about
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    Colombia.
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    And after all what you really do there
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    in this area of nursing in the vast
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    area of medical needs. My thought
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    would be can't we just talk. Can't we just have Fun sitting here.
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    Miss Olivera just
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    what in the world do you do anyhow will you tell me. Well
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    I should say it's not easy to explain a few words what we do there.
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    But I'll say that we are public health nurses. We don't
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    have a hospital. And, all the work we do is with the
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    community in the houses and through the school children.
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    In the houses and families of the
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    children from the school and also from the church. Now, do do the two of you
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    work together? Do
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    you follow the same? Yes
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    we used to be at team work and we worked
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    in Bucaramanga  and now when we go back this time. O
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    ne will go back to work at Bucaramanga and the other will go to Medellin this bigger city. And our church there is smaller.
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    The this is really through the church that you do that? Is that? Yes
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    this is and shall we say a Presbyterian work.
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    We work for all the evangelicals there. And it doesn't matter if they
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    are Pentecostals or Four Square Gospel or whatever they are
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    and our church people too. But, we work for the evangelical people.
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    And I want to tell you that we don't use the word Christian because all
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    the countries in South America are Roman Catholic. If
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    they are by name only, I don't know, but statistics show
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    that the Roman Catholic population is
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    more or mostly by name and they are  Easter and
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    Christmas, Roman Catholics are really. Any way, we
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    can't use the word Christians because then we offend the brothers.
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    You know this interests me immensely because that was our
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    whole approach and something we had to remember in the Philippines
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    because after all Christians, the Philippines thru the years,
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    a Christian nation as such with Christmas was Easter.
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    And it's quite similar. Yes this is doubly interesting that
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    we sort of talk each other's language here. Miss Berryhill we talk your
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    language right along too, with even though we've been
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    separated by years and oceans and what have you. Well as I
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    said this is this is really fun. Miss Berryhill you were Miss
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    Olivera has gotten us into this now.
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    What really? Could you give us an idea give me an idea of what a
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    day is in in the life of the two of you maybe chatting back
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    and forth. What do you do specifically.
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    My day is a day of wonderful opportunity there. There are public
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    hospitals it's true, but people come in from rural areas and go to the
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    public hospital and often of the hundred or 150 people who go to the different
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    clinics at 7:00. They often can only see 50. So you see that during the
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    day. We're often asked to see people who've tried the hospital first and haven't been able to be
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    seen and then have come to our dispensary in the church
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    in the Presbyterian Church. And then of course after we've seen them, we
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    do have friendly doctors. They are not members of our church yet, but they are friendly to
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    their cause because they feel that we're trying to help their people. May I interrupt
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    just a second.
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    You said the clinic in the church. Yes that's right. I
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    have it all right in that church.
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    Well it's not in the building our church. The sanctuary is separate because it's very
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    necessary.
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    You see many people we have come are actually
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    members or baptized members of the Catholic Church. And, they would be excommunicated if they
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    came inside the sanctuary. So we have our dispensary attached.
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    It's part of an old house that 50 years ago belonged to some of the first missionaries there. It was the
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    old missionary house. Mr. Allan [Alexander Macdonald Allan] in his days almost 50 years ago had this
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    home. And, this is where we hold our dispensary. The people can come to this
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    area without any danger. Of course we have many people come. We, last year
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    because we offer prenatal care and the hospital is not able to do this. By the way, in in
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    our city of more than 180,000 people, there are three registered nurses.
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    A friend of ours who's in consultation from the
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    federal government in its consultation and nursing, Gabriella and
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    myself were the only three registered nurses in the whole city. And of course this woman that
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    came was the priest's secretary. I don't think it's any secret to know that the people
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    I've heard that we are able to give prenatal care. Because the hospital still cannot
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    do it and the doctors are overburdened with work. They're wonderful but it is so much work,
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    and it does cost a lot of money and time. So we were able to give prenatal care. Plus see a
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    lot of people many many people I should say come from the rural areas. They get up early
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    in the morning about two. They go as far as it can. We are near the Magdalena River. They
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    come by mule back, by other means, because we're very short of trunk roads
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    and this hasn't been fully developed yet. And then of course they come a distance by
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    rail road or by one of those multi-use buses that carry animals and people and
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    children cargo and cargo throughout the country. They come to see
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    us. And, of course, if it's possible, we try to find a place to stay with someone from the
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    church or some friends or you see we use the contacts from our
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    school and from our church. If this is not possible, then we have extra mats and
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    sometimes they can stay with a friend or with us. If we were really doing
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    this with a cup of tea apiece or the cup of coffee.
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    Coffee is my biggest meal. We have good coffee in Bucaramanga. We were
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    really doing this with that coffee
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    I'd probably take a swallow about here and say   May I ask another question.
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    Where Miss Gabriela.
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    Miss Olivera where do you get your medicines
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    from? What's the story of. Do they just sort of roll in
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    like a lot of pills by the thousands.  What is the story there? We have different sources for our medicines when we are here on
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    furlough we recieve many free samples of different doctors in the churches
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    furlough we recieve many free samples of different doctors in the churches
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    and we take as much as we can but that doesn't last too long. So
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    we have we have to buy the medicines and that is our problem because
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    our budget is very very small. And the time
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    comes when we don't have the money and so much need. So we asked the
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    patients to pay whatever they can. Shall we say five
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    cents US or 10 cents US or what ever they can or even if they
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    can't nothing.
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    We just use the medicines we have and that that is our
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    big problem.
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    You might say that from the summer offering for medical mission. Yes it may
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    work in South America in particular in Colombia and benefits each year one
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    nurse receives about 250 to 300 dollars. And with that we can see
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    about 3000 to 3500 patients. In other words, we can buy medicine
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    wholesale. If people can't pay they pay the first time and pay a portion of it
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    if they can't. We don't refuse anyone.
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    And of course we will always depend upon gifts from our
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    family and from friends to be able to buy more medicine because
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    the problems in Colombia of malnutrition and tropical
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    diseases including malaria and yellow fever are very very tremendous.
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    And they say as far as medical statistics in Colombia
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    that more than 50 percent of the children die from birth to age five years
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    from malnutrition and from communicable diseases. Of course we have a high birth rate but we
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    also have a high death rate. There are only two hospital beds in the cities per thousand
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    adults. Come again!  two hospital beds per thousand adults. That's the
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    present per capita situation of the
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    hospitals in the country in that. And, most doctors are
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    concentrated in the cities of course where they have good facilities.
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    But Columbia is still a rural country with more, more than 65 percent of the
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    people living in the rural areas. Which brings up another problem were problems of housing
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    challenges of housing as people are living in the rural areas not only since the violence in
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    1948 but also since they feel that they must have some education for their
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    children. An average rural education in Columbia is Grade 3 or grade 4 they need 6 grades of education. And of course it's not always available. In
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    a picture in my mind. Here's a little girl in grade 3. Studying
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    the elements of mathematics and of course is not unlike the United States. Her
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    parents long ago  have been unable to help her with
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    her school or with her homework because they had no more than two grades
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    education. If they do. Our education in Columbia is geared to
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    strictly well it's geared to an education
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    that will prepare them for high school and for university but only two
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    percent are able to go.
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    You just you have these Pictures on here on the table and
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    the interesting. You were talking about this one.
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    Miss Berryhill. Are any of these pictures along here, Miss Olivera, that you sort of
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    just like to refer to that remind you of a story or of a person or  someone that might bring something to mind
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    just like to refer to that remind you of a story of a person or  someone that might bring something on.
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    Well the most important thing really to know is
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    that they want to learn. They want to be able to
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    have an education. But the curriculum is so high
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    that they can't finish. They maybe they go three
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    years the city primary years  to school and then they have to quit then they start to work and they
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    learn some trade by working and that we have
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    almost all the children in our school. They have to
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    stop going to school and start to work. And that
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    that is the only future they have. There is no future and maybe they
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    will be. They will have a little place where they fix
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    cars or maybe they have a little carpenter shop but they don't know the
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    trade really. They do what ever they can with their hands. And I used to
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    tell Betty that they do their work with their hands with their teeth and
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    with their nails because really I don't know how they work. And here I have a picture
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    of beautiful. What do you call that? It's
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    a monkey wrench set that was sent. And, this young man is 12 years old and he's
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    really having an advantage of being able to finish in our schools. His brother
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    started as an apprentice to a mechanic with three tools
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    when he was age nine. Now of course he's a mechanic. But this boy is able to
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    finish in the primary school and be able to go to high school. He has hope of the future. Just
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    because someone cared.
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    Well before we really go out and get some coffee or something like
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    that, let's back up maybe just one second. One more question. And
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    what you may have referred to it. I'm sure you did. But, it may have just
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    slipped by me. To what extent do the two
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    of you, you referred to the clinic attached to the church and
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    all. To what extent do the two of you go from place to place? Do you
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    have a sort of a? Do you visit the homes? Do you have a sort of a traveling
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    clinic program? Yes. Too, could we just briefly sort
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    of say goodbye to this talk with a little information on that.
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    I hope you will stop me if I don't explain it clearly but
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    to all our work is done.
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    Going to the homes and there we I mean we are midwives also and
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    we used to deliver babies and go to the houses and take care of the mother during
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    the labor time. And then after, we followed the mother
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    three, four, five days with home visits and
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    I will say that in the five years we were doing this, we never, thanks to the Lord,
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    had any postpartum or infection or anything like that. And, we
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    didn't give the mother any antibiotic shots to prevent
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    this. We think that they should be able to
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    recuperate themselves without any antibiotic or were
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    given them by them and giving them the proper care in the house but nothing
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    else that. We are very happy to know that all these children we deliver
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    are in good health as they were in good
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    health until we left.
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    And I don't know now. You know I knew the three of us
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    had something in common because when you talk about
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    being midwives You remind me very very much
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    that, what is it 20 years or so ago way way up in
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    the hills of the Philippines in the jungles and in the pig hunting country.
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    I helped a midwife of the Philippines
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    bring a baby into this world and it was one of the most thrilling
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    experiences. That. Well,  I'll just never forget it.
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    So you see look three midwifes a together Ha, Ha, and
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    that's a joke.
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    But listen this has been just wonderful.
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    I hope you get a chance to hear you. We feel the church is there. It may
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    not be in a sanctuary or a special place but the church and your house and every
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    community where we have been able to share with other Christian
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    friends in Latin America. The church is there and it's reaching out. And we've been able to help
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    train many people in these new areas Lancer progress. We're all for it
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    because we've been able to go in and have us share from our church
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    in teaching first aid and teaching so many things that people have asked for, where they have no
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    doctor and no drugstore. This is just a little bit of the sharing we've been able to do. And
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    there's the church working because God has given it an
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    opportunity in these days to do it to do its job
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    and to witness.
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    And I'm just wondering how well how long we'll be able to be there is
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    one question, but also whether you are there,
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    whether you're there sharing in this marvelous opportunity we have in
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    1965 and on through the years. People don't have very
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    long to live. They have about 45 years life expectancy. 50 percent of the babies
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    died before the age five. There are many challenges and
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    women and men today are sharing in this wonderful challenge
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    where the church is reaching out to help its own.
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    Miss Olivera  I wonder either in English or
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    in Spanish if we might not just the
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    three pray together if you would sort
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    of lead us in a little prayer that would be the three of us praying
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    as we hope that everyone across this
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    country would be praying with us as they hear you.
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    Would you ? The only thing I could
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    do it in English.
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    It would be the Lord's Prayer because if you need to speak
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    English I will repeat it in Spanish although I don't think it will.
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    Well I was thinking just of a little prayer from your
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    heart as you might feel it. You wanted to pray
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    in English for the work that you are doing
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    or even in Spanish to sort of. It seems to
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    me that we we just like to say good bye to this
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    particular little session together.
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    How was your view of it. Right. But I should say.
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    Some say Christos, mi corazon audios.R
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    epeat it in English.
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    Christ breaks the bonds and gives me joy. How is it possible to live
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    without him? It's the foundation stone of my life. Thou art
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    you who liberates me from eternal death. How can I live one day
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    without Jesus Christ. This is the prayer of a man from the
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    plains as he rides along on horseback and thinks of all that Jesus Christ means
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    to him in Colombia today and the joy and the peace and the hope
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    that he finds in him.
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    that he finds in him.

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