Skin and Bones and Beautiful

Aisa - this little one came to see me today...

 Today I had clinic in the community of La Fe.  I have a mobile clinic there every two weeks.  This community has about 1,000 people.  So you would think in the almost year I've been holding clinic there I would have seen about everyone.  However, today a mother of 18years old came in with her one year old son and his sibling.  I saw the 1 year old first.  The weather had changed here, so tons of kiddos coming in with "gripe" (a cold).  Trying to explain to parents that this is a viral infection, and there is no "magic cure" gives me a lot of looks from parents with grumpy looks.  The average doctor here gives antibiotics like they are candy, so when they come to my clinic and clearly don't need any they at times can get very angry.  Anyway - this little guy was basically okay.

Then his sister arrived.  I'll give you a second to try and guess how old she is......

Aisa peeking in our tent - waiting to be seen...

 I took one look at her with her huge belly and red-tinged hair I couldn't believe she was 2 1/2.  She weighed in at 8.8kg (19.36 pounds).  Just to give you an idea, the average 2 1/2 year old in the U.S. weighs in at 12.8kg (28.16 pounds) or the WHO (World Health Organization) states children in Latin America of her age should be about 12.2kg (26.84 pounds) - this little one didn't even show up on the chart she was so underweight. I need to find out where she lives so I can follow up with her and try and bring her some serious nutrition.  Clearly her 18 year old mother is struggling to care for her

And finally, at the end of the day, this little guy came to visit us.  He was quite cute, but of course, being the nurse - my first thought went to the huge puddles of water around the area we were in (it POURED today) and the stool that was in the puddle - and the hookworm that comes along with it.  This is someone's Christmas dinner...