Week 2 (1/20-24/14) Language School and Medical Equipment Sterilization

Spanish class would occupy every afternoon this week. My teacher, Carmen, has a number of family members who are doctors. She said she enjoyed reading and brought in The Little Prince, Collected Poems of Ruben Dario, and the newspaper all for me to read in Spanish. We discussed everything from capitalism to socialism to absurdism to Nicaraguan history. I reviewed tenses with her, including the present, simple preterit, imperfect past, and future. She gave me homework, and had me read Spanish out loud to her, which was a useful exercise for me because it was something I have rarely done.

Stephanie and I met with Magda and Dr. Herrera from the Center for the Investigation of Demographics and Health (CIDS) on Wednesday to plan for the breastfeeding project groups. Next week, Stephanie and I are going to spend an afternoon in El Tololar, so that we can present the breastfeeding project results, and I can lead the men’s group as well as interview Carlos about the counseling that he provides about breastfeeding. This week, I also completed a large proportion of the research for my medical equipment sterilization project and completed the preliminary analysis.

Briefly, the clinic in El Tololar has to turn away gyn and dental patients about one day per week because they do not have sterile medical equipment. The current equipment sterilization practice is taking tools back to HEODRA (the main teaching hospital in Leon) by bus or truck for sterilization there. Because patients are being turned away in the current system, the clinic has expressed interest in obtaining an autoclave for sterilizing medical equipment onsite. For my project, I am completing a comparative cost-benefit analysis to help determine the optimal solution. I found that compared to the status quo or chemical equipment sterilization, an autoclave was indeed the optimal solution to the clinic’s need to sterilize equipment because of the degree to which it would increase their capacity to provide services to patients.

I also watched the Nicaraguan baseball championship with Sebastian’s dad and brother. I ended up watching the final game, Rivas vs. Managua, and Rivas won 13-8. When I lived in San Juan del Sur in 2009, I passed by the Rivas baseball stadium a few times. This weekend, a nephew of one of the Perez’s is getting married on Saturday, which they invited me to. Then, on Sunday, Sebastian wants to go to the beach.