When we left for Bolivia three-and-a-half years ago (says Amanda), I had absolutely no interest in ears, noses or throats. I knew we were coming to a ministry with a health focus in ENT, but I thought I would be doing other stuff; other stuff being this vague imaginary concept I had. Well, I tell you that 42 months on, my knowledge of ears has more than quintupled (new word). I mean, that probably wasn't a really hard feat because before coming to Bolivia all I knew was that people should have two ears and that ears were for hearing and balance, oh, and that ear infections are not pleasant.
If anyone has been following this blog since we arrived here, they will remember a course I took in April 2010 that the Foundation ran. It was the intermediate level course in Primary Ear and Hearing Care. I was terrified because, well, the course was in Spanish and I had been in the country for four months. I studied ridiculously hard and practically memorized the manual, using my trusty English/Spanish dictionary, and was graciously allowed to write the answers to the Spanish exam in English. All's well that ends well; and I did just that on my exam.
Well, the Foundation has since run that course at least once a year over the past three years and I have thankfully been able to watch from the sidelines as I smile while other poor people sweat through that exam. This year, however, the Foundation decided to run the intermediate course again, immediately followed by the advanced version. I was asked if I was going to participate. I felt that as I currently work in Audiology, it would be very unprofessional of me to say, "Nah, don't really want to." But I knew I was just too busy to study for it like I did the last time. I looked our admin staff directly in their eyes and said, "Is there an exam for the advanced course?" I was assured there wasn't, so I thought, "Sure... why not?"
The Foundation has been in quite the tizzy the last couple of weeks getting everything ready for this course. For the first time it was decided to go big or go home... instead of advertising by word of mouth and invitation letters and holding the course on the Foundation's own premises (which are a bit out of the way for a lot of people), we (well... "we" in the collective sense, I was not involved in the decision) booked the auditorium at the big hospital in the centre of town, and the time was moved from the afternoon to the evening, when more people are free. Furthermore, the advertising campaign was significantly more aggressive. There was a lot of trepidation because we needed at least more than 25 to make the course viable, the ultimate dream was 50 people... and in true Bolivian fashion the week before the course there were about 5-10 people registered. There were some truly nail-biting times recently around these parts. Everyone was involved to try and make it the best it could be; even I spent my share of time sticking stickers on things and stringing string through things.
The basic and intermediate course was held from Monday to Wednesday evening this past week (with the famed exam on the Wednesday night) and the advanced course was Thursday and Friday evening. Yeah... I only had to go for two nights!!! God was really good, because the numbers were amazing; everyone showing up on the night to register... there were 52 people registered for the whole programme and ten more for the advanced course (and they had to send people away because the auditorium was not big enough). There were some birthing pains, as with all big events, and it took some time for the participants to realise that they actually needed to attend and not just pay for the course if they wanted to receive credit, which really goes against the grain in the course-taking culture here (we actually had someone in La Paz who called to register and who wanted to send us the fee and then we were to send them their certificate... without them ever setting foot in the auditorium, let alone the city). Oh, and that they needed to achieve a 70 or above on the exam if they wanted to continue with the advanced portion. Uh-oh!!!!
So I showed up at 6pm on Thursday night for Day 1 of the advanced course. The women behind me asks Georgina, one of the coordinators of the course and a personal friend (who, remember, had assured me there was no exam) if there was going to be a second exam for the advanced portion. And Georgina in all seriousness says, "Si!" And I say, "No..." and she says, "Si..." and we go on like that for quite a while. She really had me going and I was tempted to get up and leave as I had no idea when I was going to be able to review the intermediate material, let alone study the new material... but she finally starts laughing. Phew!!!
The course was four hours each night and as my lift to and from the course was the people running the course, I crawled into bed on Thursday night closer to 11:30. And I was mad at the world when I had to get up on Friday morning, but I definitely felt it was worth it. Maricarmen, the Audiologist who used to work at the Foundation, but now lives in La Paz, and who flew back to be part of the course, assured me that as I work in Audiology currently, the advanced material would not be difficult for me. But, I really did learn new things and when Dr. Lopez went through the mechanics of dizziness and vertigo, (something I did not understand at all) I felt enlightened. Very interesting stuff... and on Friday morning when I had a patient with dizziness who had been sent for a hearing test, I actually said to the patient, "I understand why you're here."
Friday was good as well, although a lot more clinical, and when Dr. Lopez continually asked which antibiotics we would prescribe in specific situations I had to keep mentally repeating, "No idea... no idea... no idea..." But the best part of Friday night was that all the people involved in the running of the course, and two of us from the Foundation that participated in the course, all went out for dinner afterwards. The course finished at 10pm and that's when we went out to eat... I was still eating my steak at midnight last night and crawled into bed about 12:45. I am a party animal. I am also ridiculously tired... so maybe a poor excuse for a party animal.
Anyways, other things happened this week... like Craig leading the Bible study on Exodus 28 (the priestly garments), and KC and I starting to plan the material for the Sex & Relationships portion of the youth group curriculum, but that was minor stuff next to my party-animal experiences. Please come back next Saturday if you want to hear about priestly garments and the importance of abstinence before marriage. I cannot wait.
Prayer
- Youth Leaders are having a planning meeting on Sunday afternoon; please pray for guidance as we finish discussing prayer and move on to relationships.
- We are sending our good audiometer that we use daily in Audiology to La Paz to be calibrated; please pray that it arrives safely and returns safely as well.
- Craig as he prepares and finishes Exodus 28 next Thursday.
- A very interesting and useful course these past two days and the success the Foundation had in running it.
- That we were able to furnish our second bedroom before the arrival of Amanda's mom and aunts at the end of the month.
- Mayerlin, for whose family we've been asking prayer, attended the course as well and passed her exam. I (Amanda) was especially encouraged to see that commitment from her in her attendance and attention to the material.
Craig & Amanda
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