La Nancy (one of our dogs) gave birth Tuesday night! Only 3 puppies, and one was dead. We found her under one of the beds in the house, squeezed between the wall and some boxes. Kati chased her out of the house and into a big box, where she has been ever since. It was exciting, but it kind of made me sad. Everyone wanted to watch, but I felt terrible shining my flashlight (I’m the only one who has one) in Nancy’s face. I think I let everyone down when I refused, but it felt cruel.

I'm just wrapping up the day now at the clinic. I spent the last few hours rehashing the meeting I had yesterday in Rivas with the nurse, Martita. The meeting was with the director of Pipitos, the government run program for kids with disabilities. There are 4 Pipitos centers in the department of Rivas, and the closest one to us in in the city of Rivas. I went there yesterday in the morning to resupply (there's a pretty good market and lots of pharmacies in Rivas) and had my meeting in the afternoon. The purpose of the visit was basically to attempt to establish a relationship wtih Pipitos and use them as a resource for our therapy class. The meeting was pretty informative, and we now know how to go about forming an aliance with Pipitos that will allow us access to materials and skilled people. I'm pretty excited about the prospects, but at the same time trying to stay focused on the present status of the group. I'm concerned that if the members don't see any immediate benefits to attending our meetings, our numbers will start to dwindle.

At the last meeting, 2 of the mothers demonstrated therapy techniques, but they weren't applicable to everyone (which is going to be an ongoing challenge because our kids span the spectrum of disabilities). I'm certainly pleased that the goal of mutual support was realized on some level, but remain slightly concerned for the overall strength of the group. Hopefully the next meeting will offer a greater reward to our participants, because I was able to solicit a therapist to attend. Yesterday, one of the mothers in our group accompanied me to Pipitos, and she mentioned a masseuse who works at the resort nearby. She told me that this woman had worked with disabled kids before, and through an FSD connection I was able to talk with her today. It's kind of amazing how quickly communication can happen here, despite the lack of technology. I'm not entirely sure of how applicable her background is, but I'm crossing my fingers. I'm also trying to secure the attendence of another therapist who lives in the area, but she doesn't have a phone so reaching her is tricky. No dice today, but I'll try again tomorrow.

Otherwise, still trying to understand the teen pregnancy issue more fully. I was able to ask the doctor a few questions this afternoon and may do some interviews at the nearest secondary school. From what I've gathered (which isn't really that much) there may be a general belief in the community that birth-control injections can lead to infertility if received before the woman has already giving birth once. Not the case, but certainly an important myth to understand/attempt to dispel. The injection is basically the only available "high-tech" female-controlled method of birth control at the government clinic because shipments of the pill are very unreliable (currently they don't have it, and haven't for a while). Obviously a problem. We have a supply of the pill here at our clinic, but it's minuscule and the pill itself is unaffordable for most. The doctor thinks though, that the biggest hindrance to usage of contraceptives is cultural. Girls don't want their parents to know, etc. There's also a religious component, but I'm not sure how deep or pervasive it is. So even if we were able to increase our supply/provide it gratis, I don't know if it would be taken advantage of. I'm looking forward to talking with some more girls and pursuing these issues.

Ok, heading off now for home before the sun goes down.

A la orden (my new favorite way to say bye)