Prayers Answered
When I first started work here in Paraguay I was very frustrated. Marianne and I had taken an intense 4 week Spanish immersion course in Costa Rica prior to our arrival, but it was much less than adequate for what I needed to be able to communicate on a daily basis in the native language. I immediately started private tutor lessons with a retired elementary teacher 3 mornings a week. I also met with a young woman for conversation practice for 2 afternoons a week. But I was still lost. I didn’t understand anything when someone else talked. Attending meetings with a group of people, sometimes 2 people talking at the same time, other times someone getting excited and talking very rapidly was a total disaster for me.
Introductory Note: MAESTRA is a health clinic project from Friendship Mission, one of the Global Mission partners in Paraguay.
When I first started work here in Paraguay I was very frustrated. Marianne and I had taken an intense 4 week Spanish immersion course in Costa Rica prior to our arrival, but it was much less than adequate for what I needed to be able to communicate on a daily basis in the native language. I immediately started private tutor lessons with a retired elementary teacher 3 mornings a week. I also met with a young woman for conversation practice for 2 afternoons a week. But I was still lost. I didn’t understand anything when someone else talked. Attending meetings with a group of people, sometimes 2 people talking at the same time, other times someone getting excited and talking very rapidly was a total disaster for me.
My prayers at the time went something like: “Holy Spirit, you sent me here to do your work and I have answered your call. Why can’t you just instill in me the ability to speak and understand Spanish so that we can get on with it?” But of course it didn’t happen.
The first doctor that I worked with had studied some English and we were able to communicate well enough to work together and submit a proposal to obtain start-up funds for Project MAESTRA. Our first outreach clinic took place at Don Bosco Rogas School for street children. I remember riding in the back seat with Dr. Liliana and I noticed that she had a large infected welt on her arm and I asked her about it. She tried to explain that it was an ant bite reaction, but I didn’t know the word for ant (hormiga) and she didn’t know it in English, so I pulled out my trusty dictionary to look it up. When she noticed that I was having trouble locating the word because I was looking in the “O’s” (the “H” is silent) she said, “Con “H”, Paul.” and looked it up for me. We were probably all thinking the same thing: “What’s this guy going to do when he sees patients?”
The children at Don Bosco Rogas are indeed from the streets of Asuncion. Most of them have mothers but no fathers. They spent their primary years with their mothers on the streets begging, selling fruit or candy, washing windshields at traffic lights and whatever else could be done to earn money for food. Their first language is Guaranie, but most of them also speak Spanish. Though they are hardy and have lived a rough life, they are not bitter and resentful as one might expect, but are open and friendly, reflecting the Paraguayan culture.
Understandably I was nervous when I saw the first patient. But it went well. We were able to communicate well enough that I was able to properly examine and treat him. With subsequent patients I was more at ease and all went well. Of course there were times when there was a break in communication, but Liliana was there to help, so there was never a time when a patient went for lack of proper treatment. Within a couple of weeks I was able to care for patients without assistance related to the language barrier, and as time has moved on I have become very adept at treating patients and earning their respect. I have come to enjoy doing the clinics. When we first started I would dread each time the nurse brought in another chart of a patient for me to see, wondering how many more are there and are we going to get out of here at a reasonable time. Now I look forward to seeing and meeting each patient, listening to there problems and providing appropriate care. And we have grown. Last week Dr. Zulma and I saw 42 patients in one afternoon clinic…a new record for MAESTRA.
When I first started seeing patients 2 years ago I attributed the ease of my ability to communicate with patients to the fact that I had been doing clinical practice for so many years that it just came natural for me. But now as I look back I realize that what really happened is that my prayers were answered. The Holy Spirit really did give to me the ability to speak with and understand the very people that I was sent here to care for.
Shalom,
Paul Jacquay
Paul Jacquay serves as a long term volunteer at Mision de Amistad (Friendship Mission) in Paraguay. Paul works as health consultant for the medical department and is a nurse trainer at the Mision de Amistad School of Nursing.