Where There Is No Doctor

The PC Medical Office gave us a few presents upon arrival. First, a tool kit of various medical supplies from typical drugs to ace bandages to a whistle to anti-diarrhea pills. Second, a book entitled Where There Is No Doctor. I’ve already used it twice.

One of the statistics that they gave us was that most injuries here are sports related. As the nurse said, “We teach you how to be safe, but we don’t teach you how to play soccer.” Every Monday when all 36 of us trainees convene at the training center in Santa Lucia, a group of us plays a hardcore game of soccer afterwards. Last week, I rolled my ankle pretty good while playing soccer with my family on Sunday, then on Monday, I took a few balls and kicks in the same spot. The next day, I woke up with a swollen, bruised ankle. Somehow, in all my years of running, I had never sprained my ankle, thus, I cracked open my new book to see if it had any suggestions on how to fix my ankle. In reality, I knew what to do, but it was still nice to have.

This Monday, after some “rest”, i.e. I didn’t run last week, but I still walked a few miles every day, my ankle felt better, and being Monday, soccer was a must. I never have been very good at soccer, except for being able to run up and down the field, but my skills are improving: I scored a goal and had a few good steals and blocks. However, I hurt myself again. I kicked the ball hard, whilst knocking down Katie, and from that karma, jammed my toe to the extent that it feels it may be broken. It’s to the point that I can’t put any weight on it. My trusty book says ice, elevation, rest, which is quite the bummer, because I was excited to start running again now that my ankle is better! The nurse was right, they can’t teach us to play soccer. But, hopefully it gets better by Sunday, when we leave for Field Based Training: a week out visiting ecotourism volunteers in their sites, one of them being Chilasco, the tallest waterfall in all of Central America. Rest assured, I will write a good blog about that week!