I recently had the privilege of visiting Subirana, which is one of the Honduran reservations for the Indigenous Pech Indians. The Pech are known to be very poor with few resources. We frequently have patients in the clinic who are from this area because they know that they will receive quality care, but more importantly, that they will receive free care. I did not realize, however, until the long drive to their village, how difficult it is just to arrive at the clinic. By car, the drive is approximately three hours. However, since no one in this village owns a car, patients have to get rides from whoever they can and take a number of buses to arrive at the clinic. It is a very difficult journey.
A few months ago, in the afternoon, a mother and her daughter arrived at the clinic. Laylana had been having issues with her kidneys for quite some, had been in the hospital before, and, had been discharged a few weeks before this visit. It was a difficult journey for Laylana and her family to arrive at the clinic that day, but due to her condition, her mother brought her in. Laylana wore a towel around her stomach to keep people from staring at her. If you didn't know better, you would think this little 11 year old was 9 mo. pregnant. Laylana's stomach, as well much of the rest of her body was swollen beyond exaggeration. Laylana was going into renal failure. Laylana was sent to the hospital with a referral from one of our doctors, but not without first praying with Laylana and her family. She spent more than 23 days in the hospital. I was able to return to Subirana with a brigade that was recently here. Laylana greeted me with a huge smile on her face. I hardly recognized her. She is seen here holding a picture of what she once looked like. It is an amazing transformation. She is now a normal, smiling and beautiful 11 year old girl thanks to God's protection and provision.
