After visiting the community, we visited the University of Guayaquil, which under President Rafael Correa has become free for the last two years. Interesting idea. I wonder how well it will work in the long run. But the students at the present are grateful for this great opportunity. This is their college of nursing - these students are in their last year of nursing school, like us. Kirsten and I were asked to speak - addressing our program and how it works in the U.S. Overall, what we found out is that we have much more in common than we all thought. Same classes, same huge time commitment, same stress, same desire to help others that keeps you going even through all that.While we were standing around waiting for our bus, we attracted the attention of the middle school students who had just been released for the day. We got them singing this kids song called Los Elefantes, about Elefants balancing on a spiderweb. Yes, that's me pretending to be the elefant. I actually got them to dance with me too, but then after a while they just stopped and stared and laughed at me. Oh well :)

On Tuesday May 4th we were oriented to the Community. In the Community around Guayaquil we work with an organization called Hogar de Cristo (Home of Christ) who does a lot of wonderful work. They work with the very poorest of the poor in Ecuador by building homes for families (who basically just have to pay the price of materials), supplement poor nutrition in school children, empower women through micro-loans, and many other things. Here is the soymilk that is produced by Hogar de Cristo - it wasn't my favorite, but it apparently helps schoolkids and members of the community get some of the nutrients they need. BYU is working towards a grant that will help us supplement soymilk and other foods with calcium and iron, which are greatly needed. The research we have done in the community will work toward that goal.


Same story in the Pediatric Hospital. One liscenced nurse to 25 patients was the estimate, varying from place to place, such as one nurse to 7 NICU babies. In the U.S. one nurse will have three or four pediatric patients at the most and usually only 2 NICU babies at a time.
Tuesday May 4th, we were oriented to the hospitals. This is Luis Vernaza General Hospital. This is the beautiful courtyard of the hospital interior. The actual hospital is quite different from any hospital experience I've had in the U.S. The nursing shortage is extreme here and there are far fewer resources. Large rooms with about 30 patients will have 1-3 licensed nurses.