Chicken Pox Epidemic: Rancho Santa Fe 2009

This weekend the Chicken Pox struck at Rancho Santa Fe, and it struck hard. On Friday evening an 8 year old girl, Ana Gabriela, came into the clinic with some "very itchy bug bites." I took one look at her, handed her a bottle of calamine lotion, and told her she had to stay in the clinic.

Saturday morning the children started to file in, one by one; all itchy, all covered in red bumps. By the time I left on Saturday afternoon the running total was 9, very chicken poxy children. These kids did not just have 4 or 5 chicken pox; they are all covered from head to toe. The worst case has about 14 chicken pox just on his scalp. His abdomen, back, neck and arms are completely covered. Poor little guy was so itchy. Another child has them inside of his ears.

Saturday night I spent the night in the clinic slathering on the calamine lotion, trying to quell fevers, and entertaining itchy children that could not sleep. After they fell asleep they all slept well for the most part and there were no major chicken pox crises in the wee hours of the morning.
Sunday morning we all awoke, I passed out the Tylenol, and applied yet another round of calamine lotion. Someone suggested that I line up all the kids, fill a super soaker with calamine lotion, and hose them down. While efficient, something about this seems a little bit inhumane. I think I'll stick with the old fashioned method. The chosen few with chicken pox still continued to trickle in through out the morning. Surprising, most of the kids have been from the older hogars, between ages 9 and 14 years old. It hasn't hit my little kids Casa Suyapa yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Also, thank goodness none of the immunosupressed kids with HIV have gotten it! We are trying to quarantine and contain all the kids that have it so far.

I lost track of the total count of the itchy and infirm children, but I'm sure that the number will continue to climb. I can see a lot more calamine lotion and Tylenol in my future this week.

Time is flying! I can't believe it has already been a month since I posted my last blog! I have now been in Honduras for just over 4 months. Some days it seems like I just arrived last week and other days I feel like I've been here for years, but I am just now starting to feel truly acclimated with Honduran life. I keep thinking that I have adjusted, and saying that I have adjusted, but then something else unexpected and new comes along and shows me how much I have to learn. When I first arrived in Honduras I felt like someone surprised me by throwing me into a freezing cold lake and said "swim!" I started drowning. Then slowly I learned how to tread water in this new place, new culture, and new language. I stayed in the treading water phase for a bit; just enough to keep my head above the water. I am just now beginning to actually swim and make progress. I think the next few months will be full of progress and wonderful new opportunities to learn and grow.

All in all, life is going really well. The last few weeks have been crowed with all sorts of insane business. In the past few weeks the Honduran school year has ended, we have celebrated Quinceneras, another volunteer and I have met with officials from the Honduran Ministry of Health to obtain a license for our surgery center, and we have experienced the elections of a new president in an unstable political environment.

With school out, the ranch is a more relaxed place. The kids are not on such a tight schedule. This leaves more time to spend with the kids, but also more time for them to think up mischievous ways to get into a lot of trouble. Some of them are becoming pretty creative.

Quinceneras were definitely one of the high lights of my time here so far. In Latin American culture, turning 15 is a celebrated event. In November we celebrated the 15th birthdays of all the kids at the ranch who have turned 15 in 2009. There were about 50 boys and girls all together. The girls worked for weeks, sewing their own dresses and making their tiaras. Each of the children asked an adult to be their Madrina or Padrino (Godmother or father) for the night. We had a special mass and blessing for the Quinceneros, followed by a fancy dinner, and an elaborate party at the school. The kids had so much fun dancing and playing with one another until 1 in the morning! Most of my kids from Casa Suyapa were asleep on the floor by 9:30 pm.

Another volunteer, Andrea from Minnesota, and I have been working very hard over the past few months to obtain a legal license for the surgical center at the ranch. After many renovations in the surgery center and the external clinic, arguing with people in Spanish, and baking Ghirardelli Brownies for the women from the ministry of health, the surgery center will finally be licensed on December 16th! We are so excited for it to be the 16th. We may or may not be able to sleep after this date.

Honduras officially and unofficially has a new president. His name is Pepe Lobo. A regal name no doubt. Pepe Lobo lost the previous election to the infamous Mel Zelaya and has now returned triumphant. There is still some question about whether or not the elections were legitimate as Mel Zelaya called for all of his supporters to boycott the election. His reasoning was that by voting in the election, voters would be legitimizing the coup that took place in June. The elections took place with out any serious events, protests, or political unrest. Hopefully all will continue to be peaceful over the next few months.

My time with my kids in Casa Suyapa is always the highlight of my day. Last Thursday we celebrated the November and December birthdays. Every two months we have a huge birthday celebration. It always includes delicious food prepared by the Tias, pinatas, and complete chaos. This past week was no different. We also play a very uniquely Honduran game called Chop el Dulce. This game involves blind folding toddlers, handing them a Machete, and then having them try to chop a tiny piece of candy in half. When I first witnessed this game I was somewhat appalled! In the US we give four yearolds safety scissors to cut a page from a coloring book. Here we give toddlers machetes! The game has never produced any serious injuries and the kids and Tios alike absolutely love it! All and all the birthday celebration was complete chaos, but absolutely fantastic. I left Casa Suyapa that night with frosting and cake all over my face.

Yesterday I traveled with two other volunteers from NPH to a little town called San Juancito visit a Peace Corps volunteer who lives nearbye. This tiny town is one of the most beautiful places I've been since I've been in Honduras. Its an old mining town, with very interesting architecture, nestled at the base of the La Tigra National Park. The mountains surrounding it are absolutely beautiful! There isn't much to do in this town but look around, relax, and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Two other local Peace Corps volunteers spent the night in San Juancito as well. It was a great weekend away from the Ranch, so nice refresh ourselves for the coming week, and a lot of fun to meet new people. Also, I really enjoyed learning about other projects and service that the Peace Corps volunteers are working on in our region of Honduras.

Well, that's all from me for now. Feliz Navidad! I hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season and perhaps the snow. Here it is still 80 degrees and sunny. Its okay to be jealous!

Peace,

Anna