The weeks just keep on getting more and more exciting at Km 8. There were two surgeries this week. One man who came in wanting a tumor removed on his upper thigh and the other was a young woman who had a fatty mass on the back of her leg. With surgeries and small procedures like these come great learning opportunities. Jonathan was able to help with the man’s surgery. He anesthetized the site and watched intently how it was removed. Stephanie also got to try on her surgeon’s gloves with the young woman’s surgery. This time she was calling the shots under the watchful eye of Dr. Cecilia. Both cases, the masses were successfully removed.

Also, big news came Friday afternoon when the pregnant 15-year-old girl who Dr. Cecilia had been seeing came in having contractions. It’s always a miracle to witness a birth and in this case it was Rebecca who was especially excited. Not having participated much in the medical side of AMOR Projects, Rebecca made the girls at Km 8 promise to call her when there was going to be a birth. Well, Friday afternoon as we were watching the chicos play soccer, the call came. Rebecca ran off, pretty much immediately, eager to get the clinic to assist in the birthing process. Well, when she got there, the birth was very much in progress, but not very productive process. The girl, not have ever given birth before, was scared. She didn’t want to push. She was in pain. And rightly said. “It was like seeing a child give birth,” Rebecca recounts. “She should not have been having to go through that. She was way too young. Rachel and I literally had to push for her. We were both pushing on her stomach as hard as we could every time a contraction would come because she had basically given up. It was really sad.” When the baby was finally born, it was very blue. “The baby was in the birth canal for about 45 minutes, which is too long,” Rebecca told me. “The mom also ripped pretty bad and wouldn’t sit still to let Cecilia suture her up. The baby’s umbilical cord was also really weak. We took them to the hospital just to make sure everything was all right. Overall, it was an exhausting night, but I learned a lot.”