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Primate Behavior And Ecology
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Day 1: Travel from U.S. to Managua, Nicaragua Travel to colonial city of Granada for dinner
Day 2: Travel to Island of Ometepe for lunch Settle in at the Ometepe Biological Station
Divide up donated medical supplies into three Split into two groups

Group 1

Day 3: Visit San Ramon Waterfalls. The San Ramon water fall is located about 3km from The Ometepe Biological Field station at 500 meters of elevation with a tropical
dry forest habitat. We will return to the station for lunch and relax for the rest of the day.

Day 4: Mountain bike to the city of Altagracia. This trip will include the opportunity to take a dip at the fresh water beaches of Santo Domingo and end up in the city of Altagracia for lunch. After lunch we will visit the ‘Si a La Vida’ project which is a rehabilitation center for teenage glue sniffers. The staff there will give you an informal talk about the project and the mental health problems that the kids are having. The kids make colorful cotton hand made bracelets for fundraising. After ‘Si a La Vida’, we will return to the biological station. For students and staff members that are not
able to make the trip by mountain bike, we will provide a vehicle.





 

Day 5: Kayak to monkey Island. A leisurely trip by ocean kayak to monkey island followed by a bike ride to Hacienda Merida for lunch. Everyone should be able to participate in this trip which is less demanding than the others.

Day 6: Climb into a volcanic crater lake. Take a vehicle to Merida and start climbing the volcano all the way to the top and then descend into a crater lake. You will be able to experience some of the most beautiful dry forest preserve in the tropics. At mid elevation the forest completely changes to a wet cloud forest and at the very top the volcano will change again to an elfin forest (high wind disturbance).

Day 7: Horse back riding expedition. This trip will include visits to some ancient petroglyphs that where carved by native Americans hundreds of years ago. The Museum director of Altagracia will be our guide and will interpret the stones for us.

 
 

Day 8-12: Work in rural clinics at base of Maderas volcano. The subsequent five days will be spent working in rural medical clinics on the island. Group two will begin the cultural experiences described above after having spent the first five days working in the clinics. Typically approximately 1,000 patients will be seen in the three clinics staffed by the two groups over the ten days. One student typically Works as a pharmacist issuing the medication that the doctors and other two students in each team prescribe to each patient. The philosophy of the project is to let students from developed countries experience the way medicine is practiced in the third world without the hi-tech equipment that they have to work with. Students that speak Spanish help as translators

Day 13: Depart Ometepe Island for Granada. Alter lunch in Granada, ther will be time to visit monuments of Granada: the Casa de los Leones, San Francisco Convent and its Museum, the colorful market, the charming cobblestone streets, and numerous architecturally significant churches and monuments.

Day 14: Visit Masaya National Park and market places. Visit Masaya Volcano National Park, with the stunning and active Santiago crater. We will also visit the
ecological museum, with various themes such as : geology, history, vulcanology and ecology. Next, we will visit Nicaragua's most popular open-air handicraft market located in Masaya, where you can purchase Nicaraguan handicrafts at exceptionally low prices. Then, we will drive to Catarina, one of the famous traditional towns where ornamental plants and flowers are grown. Here we will enjoy one of our country's most impressive panoramic views, looking over the Apoyo Lagoon. Before returning to your departure point we’ll pass by San Juan de Oriente and observe artisans making pottery.

 
 

Day 15: Depart for the U.S.
Fees:

The cost of the trip is $890.00 (per person) and includes the following:

  • Pre arrival organization
  • Doctors, nurses and cleaning crew salaries
  • Clean up and maintenance of the clinics
  • Transportation, room and board for Nicaraguan doctors
  • Room and board at the Ometepe Biological Field station for students and staff members
  • Daily transportation to the clinics for everyone
  • Room and board in Granada and the tours described above

Not included in the fees are the following:

  • Beer ($1.00 each) or other alcoholic beverages
  • Soda ($0.75 each)
  • Exit and airport taxes in Nicaragua ($30.00)
  • Visa requirements ($10.00)
  • Tips

Students and doctors live in a central location (the Ometepe Biological Field Station located in the San Ramon waterfall trail) and every day we commute on pick-up rucks to each individual clinic and eat lunch at each clinic location. We generally work from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. and a cleaning crew is hired to clean up the clinic while we are working. The Government presence in this rural areas is very limited so the funding for this project is done strictly by payments of the students and University staff members that participate in the project.

 

To further the benefits from these missions, we request that each patient bring used batteries as a form of payment for each free appointment and medication we ask. There are no recycling facilities for this toxic waste in Nicaragua which are otherwise thrown into the environment. We store them properly at Hacienda Merida for proper disposal. For people that can not come up with batteries we take in plastic garbage as a form of payment.

Alvaro Molina
Estacion Biologica de Ometepe
Hacienda Merida
San Ramon, Ometepe Island
www.lasuerte.org
email ometepe@racsa.co.c

 

Other Information:

Once dates and duration of each trip are confirmed, pre-organization steps include a census of the population in the Madera’s Volcano area (population 5000) and individual appointments with dates and times are assigned and reminder notices sent. Kids under 5, the elderly and pregnant women are given priority. This is done about 45 days before the group arrives and start working in each clinic. We cover an area of about 38 kilometers on very rural roads and use three rural clinics (Tichana, Merida and Balgue). Each of these clinics where chosen because of their geographic location on the volcanic island so most people can walk to the clinics for each appointment. In the case of Carthage College (from Kenosha, Wisconsin) we hire five local Nicaraguan doctor so we can staff each clinic adequately for a two weeks.
This will be the third year that we have done this and we are expecting about 30 students from Wisconsin to work with the local clinics this winter. Each person brings about 70 lbs of medication as part of their luggage which is then distributed by local doctors in the three rural clinics in Ometepe Our future goal is to have at least four groups doing medical missions throughout the year. It will be a very long time before Nicaragua alone can provide it citizens with sufficient medical care in rural areas like Ometepe. The Carthage College team arrives in January every year, so we are looking to cover the rest of the year every 3 to 4 months with a new group. First of all dates need to be assign so students in the US can sight up and contribute.

References

Dr. Patrick Pfaffle
Chair, Department of Biology
Carthage College
2001 Alford Park Drive
Kenosha, WI 53140-1994
Email patrick@carthage.edu
Dr. Roger Lindberg
Department of Biology
Carthage College
2001 Alford Park Drive
Kenosha, WI 53140-1994
Email:
rlindberg@carthage.edu
Dr. Julio Rivera
Department of Geography
Carthage College
2001 Alford Park Drive
Kenosha, WI 53140-1994
Email: julio@carthage.edu

Fundacion Ometepe, Hacienda Merida 11-02-04

INFORME DE TRABAJO REALIZADO POR LA BRIGADA DE ESTUDIANTES CARTHAGE UNIVERSITY – WISCONSIN. OMETEPE 2004.

Estacion Biologica de Ometepe

Hacienda Merida

Isla de Ometepe, Logo de Nicaragua

Sr. Álvaro Molina

Con el propósito de brindar ayuda, coloabaror en la atención médica gratuita, así como el de suministrar medicamentos sin costo alguno. La brigada de Estudiantes de PRE-Universitario de Carthage Uiversity, Wisconsin llegaron a ometepe en su tercera visita para este trabajo. Comprendido en periodo del 10 al 19 de enero, 2004.

Previamente el trabajo de terreno y de coordinación con el MINSA ( Ministerio de Salud) local, la comunidad y médicos que participan en la atención médica se realiza más de un mes de anticipación.

Bajo la dirección de los Profesores Julio Rivera Jr., Roger Lindberg; los 30 estudiantes sé divididen en grupos de cuatro para 5 clinicas ya establecidas, un Médico General, Enfermeras del Puesto de Salud, colaboradora de la cuminad, interprete en algunas clínicas.

Las poblaciones de ubicación:

- Santo Domingo

- Balgüe

- La palma

- Tichaná

- Mérida

Se atendía todo el día, con descanso para la hora de almuerzo.

Dependiendo de la zona de ubicación del Puesto de Salud (Clínica), la atención de los pacientes; las experiencias y el trabajo fueron diferentes, si podemos hacer mención de las principales tareas:

ü Conducción de la Consulta Médica.

ü En la atención de los niños (Pediatría): calculo de su estado de nutrición, deficit ( percentil ), posibles causas del problema.

ü Calculo de las dosis de los diferentes antibióticos a utilizar en las diferentes infecciones a tratar; caso que ameritara. Que antibiótico elegir, a que intervalos y por cuanto tiempo deberíamos utilizar.

ü Practica de la auscultación de los pacientes con problemas respiratorios. Reconociendo cuando los campos pulmonares están limpios o con posible ruidos que orienten a cuadro infeccioso bacteriano, sumado a otros datos clínicos.

ü Lectura e interpretación de resultados de laboratorios (análisis)tanto en niños como en adultos: reconocimientos de anemia, parasitosis más frecuentes, examen general de orina y otros.

ü Sutura menores y retiros de puntos, limpieza de heridas.

ü Controles prenatales (control de la mujer embarazada). Destacando aspectos de importancia e útiles. Calculo de la fecha probable de parto ( en algunos casos con fórmulas otros con el gesto grama) así como las semanas de gestación al momento de la consulta. Palpación y maniobras en la mujer embarazada (Maniobras de Leopold), auscultación de la frecuencia cardiaca fetal.

Podemos anotar como causas más frecuentes de atención médica los problemas de:

ü Problemas respiratorios; bronquitis, faringiotis neumonias, catarro común.

ü Parasitosis

ü Anemia, desnutrición (bajo peso).

ü Micosis (problemas de índole dermatológicos), tiña corporis, pedis.

ü Enfermedades crónicas: artritis, hipertensión arterial, diabetes( sus complicaciones )

ü Sepsis urinaria

ü Enfermedades acido-pépticas

ü Enfermedades vaginales

ü Otros: lumbalgia, alergias, cefaleas, problemas de índole emocional.

En total se brindaron 1,385 consultas médicas. Distribuidas de la siguiente manera:

CLINICA NÚM. DE PACIENTES FEMENINO MASCULINO NIÑOS ADULTOS
STO. DOMI. 236 124 112 - -
BALGÚE 344 240 104 101 243
LA PALMA 241 149 92 92 96
TICHANA 217 115 102 112 129
MERIDA 347 227 120 - -
TOTAL 1,385
       

** en el momento de realizar el informe no contamos la cifra donde aparece (-)

La atención diaria de paciente, promedio fue de 25-35 pacientes día.

Se presentaron algunas limitaciones en cuanto comunicación, dado la diferencia de idiomas, agotamiento del medicamento de uso más frecuente en los primeros cinco días de atención.

Con relación a la disposición, entrega ala trabajo diario en las clínicas por parte de los estudiantes esta es catalogada de EXCELENTE. Indudablemente que hay estudiantes que prestan un poco más de atención e interés que otros. Este interés se es más manifiesto en los estudiantes que optarán una carrera de ciencias médicas.

Los estudiantes de Carthage Collage son dignos de admirar dado las condiciones en que se trabaja, se agradece de gran manera su ayuda. Además de contribuir a la limpieza de desechos que contaminan nuestro lago ( baterías, plástico) a cambio de la ayuda brindada.

Se visitó el Centro de Salud de Altagracia para la realización de los turnos nocturnos, pero las experiencias fue pobres.

El trabajo realizado contribuye a la unión entre la comunidad y los estudiantes y nosotros como Médicos, enfermeras y colaboradores en salud.

Dr. Roberto Alvarado (Merida)

Dr. Reynaldo Barrios (Santo Domingo)

Dr. Luisa Amanda Navarrete (Tichana)

Dr. Carlos Morales (La Palma)

Dr. Fatima Pedrosa (Balgue)

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