We began service visits this week, starting with Jacki and Valerie at Centro de Salud in La Concepción (a/k/a La Concha), which is between Jinotepe and Managua. The area is more rural than Jinotepe, and the clinic is often “packed with patients.” In addition to examining rooms, there is an emergency room, a laboratory, a pharmacy and even dental services.

By far their favorite job is accompanying nurses on visitas del campo, or home visits in the community. These excursions seem to be a combination of health census and educational opportunity, wherein the nurses update family vaccination records, inspect living conditions, and even treat standing water for mosquito larvae. Jacki and Valerie both report that they love their jobs and think the staff at the clinic are “dedicated” and “amazing.”