Health Fair

Hillside has health fairs once a month at different villages in the Toledo district. This Sunday we drove two hours to a village called Otoxha. I had previously visited this particular village one week ago to talk with the alcalde ("chief") of the village, village chair person, community health worker, and school principal to get their approval to visit their village. They were very excited to have us. These health fairs are geared more towards kids and are meant to be fun, but I've found they take lots of work to organize!

At the fair we taught kids how to brush their teeth and floss. We had a plastic model of dentures that the kids could use to demonstrate how they would brush their teeth, which they really enjoyed! We handed out tooth paste, tooth brushes, and floss. We had another station set up teaching kids about nutrition. The medical students made up game where the kids had to place certain foods in the right food group. We also played soccer, jump rope, and tag with the kids teaching them about the importance of exercise. We also had a station for face painting. I personally got really good at painting butterflies that day! We also checked the adults blood sugars and pressures. If we saw any abnormal results we let the person know that in the beginning of May Hillside  would be back in their village for mobile clinic. On mobile clinics we do full assessments of the patients and have many medications and supplies that are needed.

After the health fair ended we drove down the road to have lunch at the alcalde's house. His wife prepared a dish for us called caldo, which means soup in spanish. It's comparable to chicken soup and is usually served with tortillas. It was my first time tasting caldo and I really enjoyed it!