La Paz, Part 2
We arrived in La Paz Friday afternoon, checked in to the Villa Marina Hotel that
the Rotarians arranged and paid for during our stay. It includes breakfast each
morning and is a very nice hotel to stay in. It sits right next to a very large
marina (someone told me the second largest in La Paz), that is part of the same
complex as the hotel. Breakfast is spent overlooking the marina and Sea of
Cortez each morning. Saturday and Sunday are spent cleaning up and organizing
the fabrication laboratory and patient fitting room at the special education
complex where we hold the clinic. We had brought down a ton of stuff that was
donated, filling up all of Brad's Suburban and most of my long bed pickup, that
we needed to offload at our clinic. Monday morning starts the clinic, with Dr.
Bob, Brad, and Dr. Alejandro Aguirre evaluating and measuring/casting various
patients, while Skip and I mostly stay in the fabrication lab making legs, arms,
and braces. The clinic starts at 9:00AM and runs until ???, usually we stop at
around 6 or 6:30PM. One of the Rotarians will bring us by lunch every weekday,
everything from seafood to Chinese to fried chicken, all very delicious.
Tuesday night we attend the weekly Rotarian meeting at the same hotel we're
staying at. They used to hold their meetings at the Los Arcos Hotel, but with
it's closing they now hold it at the Villa Marina. During the week more
volunteers fly in, including Brad's daughter Becky, Dr. Bob's daughter Julie,
Frank Rodriguez CP(e), and Rich (sorry, I forgot his last name) who is a
prosthetist/orthotist from the Concord/Walnut Creek area. They all pitch in to
help at the clinic for the next week or so, flying back to the US at various
times. One day we insisted that Becky and Julie go whale watching. They came
back that night just bubbling! They both had one of the best experiences of
their lives at Puerto Chale, a small section of southern Mag Bay. By Sunday
most everybody leaves for the US including Dr. Bob, Skip, Julie, and Becky.
Rich stays until Wed. or Thurs., and Louise (Brad's wife) arrives during this
time by plane to ride back by car with Brad when we're finished at the clinic.
So basically, we spend 17 days working at the clinic, taking one day off on a
Sunday. I think Alejandro said we saw a total of 46 patients, but I don't know
if that includes the 7 we saw on our drive down. The Friday before we leave the
Rotarians had a closing ceremony at the complex. Rotarians along with their
families were there, bringing food and beverages, as well as several of the
patients we had seen over the previous 2 weeks. One special guest was the
American actor John Amos, who, besides starring in his own sitcom and appearing
in many TV shows and movies, played one of the roles of "Kunta Kinte" in Alex
Haley's TV series "Roots." I happened to meet John one morning at the "Dingy
Dock," the restaurant at the hotel. I introduced myself and told him of what we
were doing in La Paz. He was also down there (he lives there part time) doing
his own philanthropic activities. See:
http://www.thehalleyscometfoundation.org/
While he was having breakfast, I ran back to Dr. Bob's room to get him over
there before John left. Bob has grown to know me well by now, and thought that
I was pulling his leg. Boy was he surprised!! Anyway, Dr. Bob, Dr. Alejandro
(who just happened to show up that morning) sat with John and explained what the
Rotarians were doing, and he agreed to lend his celebrity to our closing
ceremonies. He was quite the hit, with almost everybody there getting their
picture taken with him. Alejandro joked that maybe he could get Sharon Stone to
appear at their next clinic. After the ceremony, I had the chance to show John
and his lady Madeline our fitting room and fabrication lab and explain how we
made various limbs and braces. It was quite the treat for me as well.
Saturday and Sunday and Monday were spent seeing the last of the patients (or so
we thought), and Brad and Frank fit and delivered a hip disarticulation
prostheses (one MAJOR project). Louise takes Frank to the airport that
afternoon. She and Brad will head off to Loreto on Tuesday morning to see some
of the patients on their way home. The next morning when we arrive at the
clinic to do a final clean up and inventory for the next clinic - SURPRISE!!
There are several patients and their families waiting to see us. We work
through the morning finishing up and Brad and Louise leave for Loreto. I stay
at the hotel one more night and attend another Rotarian meeting, getting a
chance to thank all the guys for their kindness during our stay. The next
morning I leave for home...
To be continued.........
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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