Today, we had another early breakfast at 6:30 and loaded up for an 8:00 departure. We arrived at Vinaninkarena at about 9:00 and, like yesterday, we were greeted by a large crowd of friendly Malagasy people. We gathered outside for our morning song and prayer by the church’s pastor, which just happened to include the same parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10)  that was read at yesterday’s clinic.  Dr. Harison and Joanna then gave their introductions.  

While most of the team was busy setting up for our clinic inside the church, a few of our team members along with Pastor Tahiana gave a lesson in tooth brushing to the Malagasy children complete with a giant sized model of teeth and a huge toothbrush.  After the demonstration, Pastor Tahiana played a bible verse trivia game with the children, and the lucky winners received a large tube of toothpaste.  The children and adults then all lined up, and each received a toothbrush and smaller tubes of toothpaste.

Clinic ran smoothly again today as 540 children and adults proceeded through registration, the vitals station, triage, the provider station, and finally pharmacy where 1342 prescribed medications were distributed with nurse instruction. We took a short break during clinic to enjoy our delicious packed lunch provided by the mission guesthouse staff.

Above: Healthcare providers Lee, PA and Joanna, APRN with wound care/triage/all around float Grace, EMT.

Below:  Our team’s pharmacy members (Lynn, Linda & Buzz, Linda, and Gary) are shown setting up, during the busy clinic time, and at the end during cleanup.  Well done, pharmacy team!

We finished our busy day at about 4:00 when we loaded up the van and headed back to the mission guesthouse.

As soon as we arrived back at the house, Dr. Harison immediately began to prep for a difficult surgery on a 16 month old girl we had seen at yesterday’s clinic.  He removed a large cyst from her neck and a smaller cyst on her back.  Several team members were present to observe (and one participate in) the surgery, while others walked to the local grocery store for snacks.

Thanks to excess donations made to one of our team members for this mission trip and to another team member, the surgery (~ $250) is going to be covered, and the girl’s family was able to meet one of the team members and provide warm thanks. Please keep her in prayers for a complete and quick healing!

After the surgery, Dr. Harison and another Malagasy medical provider challenged the local kids to a corn hole game.  They played until dark and Dr. Harison finished the night undefeated!

After dinner, we read our group devotion “The seed is the word of God” followed by a discussion and Luther’s Evening Prayer.  We ended the night counting and sorting meds to prepare to do it all again tomorrow!  All glory to God as we serve our Malagasy brothers and sisters in Christ!