Team Costa Rica: Clinic Day 3

Today marks our third day! We set up clinic inside of a small community center here in San Jose and treated 179 patients. We laughed, we prayed and we bonded with our patients in a way that transcends our cultural differences and language barriers. I met a woman who welcomed me, and my very bad Spanish, with open arms. As I spoke to her about her medications she reached out to put her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek (which is a huge part of this culture). I could feel the gratitude, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have made a difference in her life.

You would think at this point we would start to get tired, but everyday here seems better than the last. Everyday we embrace more of the culture and are able to start to close the gap between our cultures and really connect with the people that we meet. Many of us have downloaded language apps to study Spanish at the end of the day. Our translators have been nothing but supportive and it’s been amazing to get to know them, ourselves, and our team every minute that we are here.

+ Stacey Probert, Nursing Student, South Carolina
+ Matt Baker, Nursing Student, South Carolina