Day 2- La Toza

Today I contributed to the team by participating in a community outreach, where we went door to door completing health surveys. Communication was very important, and being able to speak Spanish was a very valuable asset because it allowed me to communicate with every person I met and help my team better understand their responses. It made me very proud to bring that skill with me to Panama and connect with the community! Getting to know the people from La Toza was a very humbling experience and showed me how privileged we are in the United States to have easier access to healthcare. Many people shared that there are not enough clinics, communication is poor, and the few clinics that are available are not well equipped and very understaffed. People reported that they usually spend about $1 to get to the nearest clinic by bus and $2 for the appointment, and sometimes they still do not receive treatment or medication. Considering that many people only earn about $5/day, this is definitely a major financial burden to them. Overall, I had a great experience today out in the community. It showed me how important teamwork and communication are!

Comments

  1. Good take aways from being out in the community. How hard it would be to decide to use that much money to go to the clinic and for you possibly not even get treatment.

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