BEKAH AT SAN IGNACIO HOSPITAL

Life is beautiful. So delicate, and yet so strong. Full of joy and of pain. I have seen this in a new way during my two weeks at the San Ignacio Hospital Campus. I worked in the Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center (VCTC) for HIV and spent several days in the Labor and Delivery unit as well. In these two weeks I saw life, and the destruction of life. Nine tests for HIV, six births. I felt nervous with each HIV test, breathed and pushed with new young mothers, sweated, was stretched, and got a taste of health care in the developing world. I finally saw beyond what my books talk about and heard people’s stories firsthand. I saw the effects of HIV on Belizean society, and witnessed the toll AIDS takes on an individual’s body as TB, fatigue, weight loss, and other sickness take over. I offered my smile to a sick man and my hand to a pained woman; each beautiful as they pressed on. There’s something about those few seconds of connection, a silent message, affirming both their battle and my dream to be a nurse. Yes, I have learned that life is beautiful. It is emanated from the joy and pain of those I had the privilege of meeting this month.