Anytime volunteers come down, I have at least one bout of apprehension. Don’t get me wrong. I’m stoked to have new people come down and experience a place and culture I love. One of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced is watching a person change to completely embrace this culture in a mere seven days. However, there’s usually a day or two in which I freak out that someone coming down will just hate everything about this place and the week will be awful for them. Yeah. I’m not sure what I’d do in that situation, and praise Jesus, I’ve yet had a reason to find out (yet another example of why worry and anxiety are a waste!). This past week we had a team of 12 come down for a Stroke Camp--six people from Iowa, Des Moines University (including Meesh), six people from Pennsylvania, Arcadia University, and to round it out six patients from our area (plus Brooke and I). Phenomenal hardly begins to describe the way God moved throughout those seven days, in and out of the clinic.
Huge tears fell from my eyes Monday morning, the first day of camp (day three on the island for the volunteers) when one of our long time patients led us in prayer and choked up with sobs about getting a second chance of life. I too have been given a second chance on this island, with these people, to serve and to do what I love to do as a PT and an individual. I love that my patients here are so thankful for simply life, to wake up in the morning, and aren't afraid to praise God for that! I thought then that I knew how incredible of a week it would be (and how much I would cry throughout). . . but I was wrong. It was so much more! My heart remains full recalling moments throughout the week. . .
Pre-testing on the first day! Kate, Tiffany and Jane ran the Wolf Motor Function Test with Marshie to start.
Kathy is a professor at Des Moines and was a huge help in both heart and expertise all week. She made huge gains, in particular, with Sylvan.
Lauren, Sam, and Ashley with Sylvan for his 6 Minute Walk Test!
Brian and Kate with Ms. Buttas. Mon, she a work!
Marshie, Mas Easton, and Sylvan
Sam and Tiffany with a smiling Ms. Buttas
Kevon, being so young, loves sports and competitions. Ashley and everyone else put him through the ropes!
We all got pretty creative with Ms. Yvonne as well, although Erica and Brian may have taken the cake with this one!
Love her! We first saw her last fall and she's made great gains since then. She reminds me constantly why I love being a PT and living in this country!
Every morning begins with an hour mat routine! Not as easy as it looks!
Brooke was our fearless leader and camp director for the week. Dr. Kathy had some great ideas to add too!
Who says PT isn't fun! These guys worked and worked 6-8 hours a day . . . but they got to play some too!
Mi incredible older sisters. So blessed by Brooke and Meesh!
(Can't get this to rotate the right way) Body Weight Treadmill Training! Everyone did it!
End of the day musical chairs. Mas Easton's a sneaky one!
Kevon and sports . . .
Good ole NMES.
Dance contest winners!
Marshie made huge gains with the balance harness . . . He never quits trying. Love it!
Every morning we start with devotions and Jamaican choruses. This happened to be the group's favorite . . . so much so that they 'performed' it for our talent show at Anna's and then the next morning here, for the patients!
As 1 in 4 Jamaicans have high blood pressure, and these guys are at even a higher risk b/c they've already had one stroke, checking BP is a continual practice throughout camp. . . especially b/c no one wants to quit or stop working!
Post-testing! Every single, I mean, EVERY SINGLE person improved on EVERY SINGLE one of the five tests. . .
Yvonne schooled her last Timed Up and Go and Wolf Motor scores, Marshie tripled his walking distance, Sylvan moved down two fall risk levels in his balance, Kevon completed 4 more hand tasks. . . this is incredible especially with the range of lower level to higher level functioning that we had at the camp. Medicare, listen up!
What graduation is complete without certificates??
All Smiles (and a few tears too!)
June 2011 Stroke Camp
After work, we must play! Boat ride out to Pelican Bar (bar out in the middle of the ocean)
Da Likkle Brutte, still fearlessly leading :)
Love dem!
That night we came home and Anna threw Meesh a not-so surprise Jamaican wedding reception! So much fun! Meesh got married May 7, but here her Jamaican community family was able to celebrate too!
Kevon and Webster are both deaf but incredible teachers. Kevon's been teaching me JSL weekly and I'm loving it! Ashley got me started with it during this week.
Da Broom Brothers are incredible bongo players and played throughout the night . . . meaning we danced , danced, danced!
This guy can move . . . in ways that should physiologically not be possible! But Anna showed him a thing or two too!
A small sample of what these two sounded like . . .and this was hours into the party!! Feel the rhythm!
Followed the week up with a sunrise hike . . . love this country and God's beauty in it!
It wasn’t a perfect week, by far. But sometimes imperfection makes things a lot more fun. Like when the water pump for the house breaks or it takes 14 of you over an hour to set up two canvas gazebos. Or the jeep battery dies on your way home. Or you have to push the bus to get it unstuck on the rain laden hill. . . Seven days of flexibility for sure. I'm learning to laugh with it all. :) Seven days of healing, love, JOY, patience, and perseverance. Seven days to try new things, step up and succeed. Seven days full of the reminder that I can still be who I was made to be as a PT (and I love it!). Seven days of watching hearts open, faith come alive, and seeds be planted.
At graduation, Mr. Easton said, “We work as one. We incorporated real good.” Mon, how true that is! God knows just what He is doing, and as it says in 1 Corinthians, He continues to bring about just the right parts to make up a full body, for work, for service, and to create change that glorifies His name. He knew exactly who to send down for this past week. All praise, glory, and honor be to Him! These types of changes will last, certainly in my own heart, but hopefully and prayerfully in the patients’ and volunteers’ lives as well.
