Chile: One Last Item

We returned to the Dr. Lautaro Navarro hospital (pictured) late Saturday night after two days of relaxing in the mountains of Patagonia. The power supply for the central station came in and so we went down to install it and get the second central station up and running. It took only a few minutes to install the power supply and another few minutes to configure the central station. This now gave the hospital two central stations that would enable them to expand in the future.

And so ends another medical project. This was a great project. The hospital was wonderful. Our hosts, the Punta Arenas Rotary Club, treated us so well. The doctors and nurses were exceptional. There is no doubt in my mind that this equipment will serve the hospital well for many years. Not so much because of the equipment, but because the hospital personnel are truly outstanding and will be able to fully utilize these monitors for many years to come.

I have to add one more note on this project to Chile. Our bus driver, Sergio, was terrific. He would pick us up at any time during the day or night and deliver us to wherever we needed to go. Even last night when we called him to pick us up from the bus station (we were returning from our trip to the mountains), and take part of the group to the hotel and then some of us to the hospital. So at 9:30 PM he met us, and his daughter, Joseline, was with him. We met her several times before, but yesterday was a special day for her. It was her 13th birthday and when we found out we sang 'Happy Birthday' and that made her laugh. I can’t fault her for that—it was pretty bad.

So this morning, Sergio and Joseline met us at the hotel for our drive to the airport. Sergio shook each of our hands and seemed very emotional. After we got on the bus he presented the team with a gift—a large wood carved penguin. It is the first time that I have ever received a gift from our driver. It was quite humbling.