On February 17 I contemplated skipping volunteering because I was so tired, but I am very glad that I made myself get out of bed and go! Many of the other volunteers were unable to make it this week, so I was much more necessary than usual! The other girl who was there and I were rushing to get all of the medical records ready. The doctors who come to the clinic are there completely voluntarily. Their ministry is so admirable, so it is important to us to make sure that everything is ready when they arrive and they don't have to wait for us.
The number of patients that we can see at the clinic depends on how many doctors show up. Sometimes one doctor shows up and other times it is two. On this day we had a lot of patients, and we were unsure if one or two doctors were going to come. Because we had a lot of patients, we were very much hoping that both doctors showed up so that we didn't have to turn any of the patients today.
The other girl actually lives at the Catholic Worker House, and she was noticeably upset when she considered the possibility of having to tell up to 10 patients that they could not be seen. Her care and concern for the patients was very inspirational to me. Sometimes it is easy to think of patients as patients first, rather than as people first. This girl's concern centered me and reminded me of how important it is to always remember that the patients are people.
Both doctors showed up and we were able to help everyone. It was a very successful week!
