Tell me more! Tell me more! (The Clinic Part 2)

   To hear about the humble beginings of this place makes me so excited for what is to come.  And it´s all happening relatively fast with the help from many churches in the states!  I need to find some before pictures from the other missionaries to share with you all.  It´s really mind blowing.
   Okay when I was telling you about the clinic before, we left off with triage.  Now after you are seen by our general practitioner or obstetrician, you might need to get a prescription filled.  No prob.

Our farmacia is growing daily and we pray one day to have an independent one next door to the clinic.

Or you might need to have some labs drawn.  Well just waltz upstairs and Kelvin can help you out with that.  The second floor was added not too long before I arrived.  The same folks who built it will most likely come and build a third floor soon!

Has it been a while since you´ve seen a dentist?  Dr. Angel and Kenedy will gladly have a look at your teeth for only three soles.  They can do cleanings, X-rays and fillings too.

The church across the street from the clinic has recently opened a little cafe where you can go for a tamal, papa relleno, baked good or a glass of freshly blended juice (all for s/1.00 each) and read a book from the library to brush up on your Spanish (or English).  Almost always you can hear some kind of music being practiced in the church classrooms not too far away and there´s a peaceful garden just outside where you can always find someone to chat with or just lay on the grass and enjoy the sun and fresh coastal air.  All of this has been built little by little by mission teams from the US. 

On the other side of town, in a sector of Trujillo called Manuel Arevalo, we bought a block of property a few years back.  On this property stands a new church that is thriving as of late and this.  We started building this rather huge clinic a few years ago with pledges that would fund it completely.  Well, shortly after the economic disaster of October 2008, the promised funds stopped coming in.  So here we are with a half-way constructed facility.  We refuse to give up though.  God certainly has his purposes for everything.  Dale Ellision is on furlough in the States right now raising funds in hopes that we can open by the end of the year.  I too am going back in June for two weeks in order to raise funds for me to stay and help with this new work!  This leads me to my first prayer request: that churches will team with me financially (and spiritually as some already have been) to keep me hear another year.  It´s hard work and far from friends and family, but I´m happy to be serving here while I can and think that it´s definitely too soon to go home.  Also, we are praying for the presidential elections that are soon to take place.  Everyone I talk to is kind of up in arms because both of the candidates have major ethical issues that are super concerning.  As I mentioned before one of them might even kick us Americans out for good (which would take a good while to enforce, but still).  He basically is a huge fan of communism, and has won the votes of the poor (which is kind of the majority) by promising them the moon.  So there you go, my prayer requests for the next few of months.  Thanks for reading.  Please keep in touch     
-Y

"Por el GRAN CAMBIO"

Just about every square inch of Peru has been decked with campaign paraphernalia over the past few months.  I even woke up one morning to find that the view from my office window had been completely blocked by a banner the size of Florida with one of the candidates for president smiling down at the street vendors in front.  Absolutely everyone was obligated to vote yesterday.  The punishment for not fulfilling that duty is that of being prohibited to leave the country or access your own bank account.  A little harsh no?   You vote in the town you were born in, unless you've changed residency, which would kind of make you a trader.

So it was a bit tricky getting a taxi and traffic was kind of terrible.

Not only have people been wearing all kinds of brightly colored advertisements, but the streets have been full of fireworks and music and dancers and balloons and floating lanterns.  This was only allowed up until a few days before the elections.

Last week this matchbox was set on my table when eating ceviche at the market next to the clinic.  I also scored a key chain that serves as a bottle opener.  A couple of the missionaries ordered beer with their dinners at a local restaurant a couple of nights before the elections.  A little while after serving it to them, the waitress came back and apologized that because of the 'dry law' (stating that alcohol can't be sold or served so many days before and during the elections) they were going to have to take the beers back.  Public meetings are also prohibited on election day, meaning most churches had to cancel their services. 

All my friends wanted this guy on the top left to win but he failed to make it to the top two.  The candidates who did make the top two will run again in a few weeks for the final presidential position.  I hear that one of them, if he wins, will probably boot us non-Peruvians out of the country.  Bluh.