January 1, 2017 began my most recent adventure. With 40 of my classmates, teachers, and some other wonderful physical therapists, we set out for a week in Granada, Nicaragua to work with an organization called Viva Nicaragua! to provide physical therapy services to people who may otherwise not have access to this care. Prior to the trip, myself and all my classmates worked hard to raise money to fund this trip and to purchase supplies to bring to our patients. These supplies included walkers, blood pressure cuffs, gait belts, hand sanitizer, and more!
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| Waiting for our flight from Chicago to Atlanta, then on to Nicaragua! |
After our orientation, we all went back to our homestays for lunch with our host families. In the afternoon, everyone met back at the community center to do yoga and play soccer with the children in that community!
My roommates and I spent the evening playing cards with our host brothers. We tried to teach them
"Go Fish", but it didn't quite work with the language barrier! We ended up playing a matching game instead and it was definitely full of laughter!
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| Me, my roommates (Lindsay & Rachel), and Andres |
In the afternoon, the whole group took a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. This lake has hundreds of islands in it! The boat tour took us by an island that had monkeys on it. One boat even got to feed the monkeys from their seats! We then spent a few hours at another island where we could swim in a pool and reflect on our first day with our patients.
Day 3 - Wednesday, we began to implement our treatment plans. I took charge on working with the 2 year old. It was a great challenge for me to put together an hour-long treatment while my 2 other group mates took notes and translated information to/from the family. I think it went really well considering it was my first solo treatment! We also taught our patient with a broken hip and his caregiver how to transfer bed <--> wheelchair more safely. We started a workout plan with the patient who had Polio. And so much more. It was neat to see how motivated and grateful our patients were!
In the afternoon, the whole group went to play soccer and do a pinata with the children in the community. During the soccer game, it started down-pouring! So, we brought the pinata under some trees and didn't let the rain stop our fun!
Day 4 - Another morning of working with patients!! This day was by far the most memorable for me. Our patient who has Parkinson's Disease told us during our first visit that he was scared to walk, even with his walker, because he was afraid of falling and he didn't feel strong enough to pick up the standard walker he owned. So, we decided to bring him a walker with two front wheels and we put tennis balls on the back posts so help the walker slide more easily over the floor of his home.
When we arrived at his house, we found out that it was his birthday! We presented him with the new walker and he agreed to try it out... and he walked with with walker and no other help - only someone guarding him! After a few more exercises while seated, we decided it was time to dance! This patient told us he used to love to dance, but after his Parkinson's began to worsen, he was no longer able to dance. We put on his favorite kind of music - romantic Latin - and we started to dance! I took his hands and he started moving his feet. He took small steps at first, but as the music continued, his family and the rest of my group encouraged him, and I helped him move his arms in bigger motions, he started taking bigger steps, moving his hips, and he even spun me a few times! After taking a break, a fast & upbeat song came on, and our patient stood up with NO assistance to start dancing again! It was incredible to me, to see this man who was at first afraid to move and unable to express himself, stand up and dance without second thought. At the end of our session, he told us "Volvio la vida" - I came back to life. Even now, two weeks later, I still get choked up when I think of how much we impacted this man's life in just one day.
After a wonderful morning of seeing patients, we spent the afternoon on a canopy tour!
Day 5 - Our last day working with patients. Our goal for our last day was to teach family members and provide our patients with plans for continuing therapy once we were gone. It was interesting to me to try to explain and teach what I was doing to a patient's family member, in a foreign language. With some help from our program assistant and my wonderful group mate who knows Spanish very well, it all seemed to work out!
In the afternoon, we went to an active volcano! We could even see the lava flowing at the bottom of it! It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Day 6 - My roommates and I got up a little early and went to the central park to get our last minute souvenirs and gifts! Then, we met up with our group and we spent a few hours at a local nursing home. Some of the children from the community came as well and we talked, danced, and colored with the residents and the children. It was a neat inter-generational gathering!
After the nursing home, we went to Laguna Apoyo, which is a lake created from the crater of a now dormant volcano. It was beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. I took in the views, spent time with friends, and took a nap in a hammock. There was no better way to spend our last day in the beautiful country of Nicaragua!
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| Lindsay, Rachel and I |
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| Me & my treatment group: Kyle, Tommaso, and Alex |
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| Emily, me, Megan, and Katie |
Day 7 - We had an early wake up call to be picked up at 4:30am to get to the airport... just to find out our flight was delayed (what turned out to be almost 3 hours!) We had a very short layover in Atlanta (which included waiting for luggage, hopping lines in security, and sprinting to the flight before they decided not to wait any longer - all in less than an hour!). We all finally arrived back in Chicago safely and tried to prepare to go back to class the next morning.
The week was incredible. The country is beautiful. The people were wonderful and welcoming. I am so thankful to every single person who supported me on this trip. Every financial donation, word of encouragement, and prayer is so much appreciated. The equipment donations went to good use to care for our patients. Anything that was unused was left with Viva Nicaragua! to be donated to other patients or health clinics in the area. A million thanks to everyone. I learned so much about myself, patient care, and Nicaragua. I wouldn't trade that week for anything.
