Work Wraps Up in Nicaragua

Project HOPE volunteer Patricia Olenick was forced to leave the Continuing Promise Mission 2011 early due to a torn retina. “What a bummer,” she kept saying. “I really wanted to work with the Mayan midwives in Guatemala.”

Even as the team bid “Adios” to Olenick, their work continued at the Mendez medical site in Nicaragua. Today, more than 1,000 patients were treated at the site.

While working out in the heat, volunteer nurses Wendy LaFargue and Darci Niestroy enjoyed both the blazing sun and hard rain, which cooled down the rest of the day. Niestroy cut off wrist bands at the exit, so patients could go home, and helped direct traffic.

LaFargue served as a traffic controller up front, helping people find their appropriate doctors after they checked in. “We Kept the flow of patients steady,” she says.

On Sunday, Niestroy heads out again to break down the Mendez site. After that, we are underway for a couple of days and will arrive in Guatemala by mid-week.