Young mothers

I didn't really want to get up this morning (can you tell from the photo on the left?). I slept fine, but it was cold... and the prospect of getting out from under the covers was not really appealing.

From right to left: me, Amanda, Liz (and Greg is taking the photo). This is the group I will be with for the rest of the month for rotations. In this picture we are waiting outside Hospital Obrero for Dra. Santivañez to come and hop on a minibus to the clinic, Servicio de Adolescentes.


We had a busier day at the clinic. Lots of young mothers-to-be, and a couple women at 40 weeks. The belly isn't so squishy at 40 weeks... but lumpy, like skin stretched over a baby. Sorry that wasn't very poetic. The picture to the right is a view of the clinic as we arrived this morning - the line is forming out the door and the sign on the building reads "Centro Municipal de Salud - Alto Miraflores." The bottom of the sign also names three sponsors - USAID, Save the Children, and a third which I'm not sure of. We weren't told much about this clinic before we got to it, so I have some research to do on my own time.

We also got to sit in on a support group for young mothers. It was led by the woman in the baseball cap to the left, and I kept thinking of you, Mom, when you were at the center in Ione. She talked about communication (nonverbal cues from children, what it means to really listen to someone) and sexually transmitted infections (methods of prevention like fidelity, condoms). There was a big turnout (see picture below) with lots of kids - running around or nursing. The only downside was the glaring sun.



So now I'm back at home (after an afternoon Spanish class and some homework-doing), and trying to think of something "interesting" to say about my day at the clinic. Each woman has her own story with its own problems (some of which come out in the doctor visits), but as a whole, they don't strike me as very different than other underpriveleged, young mothers. They don't even strike me as very different than other people "dealing with life." Am I missing something? Maybe there is something more profound to say about them being Bolivianas and mothers at 17. This might sound weird, but I don't think I have anything profound to say about them because I feel oddly close to them, and anything I could say would just belittle the whole situation and make me feel like a traitor to something inside me.