Our morning started lazily, after arriving at the boat at 4am this morning. We got settled in our rooms with the only instruction being, “be awake and ready for lunch by noon!” This afternoon was spent getting organized to see patients beginning on Friday. Hygiene kits were assembled, the pharmacy organized, assignments were given for serving in the various areas of the clinic, and OTC ibuprofen, Tylenol and children’s vitamins were sorted and bagged. We all enjoyed getting to know each other while working together!

Our first day of seeing patients went well! The concerns were varied, but seemed to focus on aches and pains, well checks for their children, receiving reading and sunglasses, and many dental needs. Without fail, everyone we saw was kind and grateful. The children simply loved playing a fishing game while waiting their turn to be seen. We had a torrential downpour in the early afternoon and waited it out before seeing patients again. We had one patient that just loved everything about his care…first he was seen by the dentist, then came back through for a medical checkup. He was so chatty; he earned the nickname “words!” 😂 He then got a massage, juice and a milkshake before the boat left the village. He literally had to run to get off the boat before it left! We have everything ready to go to start again in the morning!

We gave care today in two small villages, one in the morning and the other a 2-hour boat ride further. Lovely families with many well-behaved children are the norm! It is delightful to offer well checkups, vitamins, hygiene packs, and sunglasses to these families. The village we served this afternoon had about 10 buildings and was very peaceful. It had an Assembly of God church, houses, and gardens. Families mostly traveled to the medical boat in their own smaller boats.

 

We stared out day off in a time together worship, listening to a message given by our team member, David, and taking communion together as a team. During our church service this morning, Teddy was speaking that there is no one else in the entire world that followers come to worship and observe communion in honor of, then Jesus! There is nothing more powerful than that. As we were finishing up with our church together, people were already lined up and coming right now to be seen. It’s going to be another wonderful day aboard the CBM Amazonia.

Today was another eventful day on the river. In the morning, most of the local villagers had common complaints of fever, muscle pain, and cough/cold. While most of these complaints can be easily treated with commonly used medicines, these individuals have no access to a local store or pharmacy to treat these symptoms. One man arrived with a splinter buried deep in his finger that had been there for several days.

In the afternoon, we moved to another village about 1 hour away. Upon arrival, it soon became apparent that the area had a local outbreak of a virus causing fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Our team had arrived just in time to provide them much needed relief.

Here are a few pictures of our day. The 1st picture is from one of the villages today. As we docked, several team members left to boat to help set up the check in location in the village. As soon as we started up the stairs, there was a sign that read “When you enter, God bless you. When you leave, God be with you.” What a great way to be welcomed to this village. The 2nd picture is our pharmacist, David, with two brothers, he and his wife, Joy go to Connection Pointe Christian Church in Brownsburg, IN. The 3rd picture is the most handsome little guy ever that is proud of his sunglasses💙. The last picture is Sara, our Brazilian dentist. She is drinking coconut water (what we would call coconut milk) from a coconut cut from a tree last night. She is so wonderful…went to school for 10 yrs to become a dentist and is just 27yrs old right now. Sara and her wonderful assistant, and teammate, Merle, worked until 8pm last night seeing patients. It was a long and rewarding day!

What a full day! Our medical clinic was very busy with well checkups, dispensing OTC pain meds, worming meds, and vitamins. Many needed reading glasses, in addition to the sunglasses each person received. Three people needed wound care. Many dental visits and extractions. We had several patients in their 80’s, and it was enjoyable to interact with each one. One of the elderly women cried as she was leaving the clinic, and we realized that she was grateful for the loving care and help she received. Through her tears she said, “I was well attended.” We shed a couple of tears with her!

After traveling back to Sao Sebastiao, we spent the morning walking the community and visiting the CBM Greenhouse. Such a wonderful blessing from the Lord. After touring the grounds, we enjoyed some fresh juice made by CBM Staff Member, Santana. After we finished our tour, we made our way back to the boat to treat a few families from the local church, and then we began our long journey back to Manaus.

After traveling all night, we arrived in Manaus around 10:00 am. After docking close to the city, we were able to visit the local fish market, craft market, and shops. We enjoyed our time in the city. We then got back on the boat and traveled to the “floating dock, where we spent the rest of the day and evening. We had a wonderful cookout together, shared our final thoughts with our team and CBM staff, said our “see you laters”, and then prepared for our long day of travel ahead. What an amazing week it has been!

We boarded a bus and headed for the airport at midnight to begin our travel home. We are blessed and thankful the week that we shared with our new friends in Brazil. God was certainly with us and give all thanks to him!