Screening Day at the National Stadium

We geared up for “Screening Day”. These are the two days that appointments are handed out to the fortunate few for orthopedic surgeries, maxofacial surgeries or other maladies that the surgeons on the ship are able to correct to make a significant difference in a person's life. Screening Day takes place in the National Stadium (which is in much need of repair). Several thousand men, women and children line up at the stadium gates in the hopes of being selected. They wait in the 95 degree temperatures, many have traveled many miles (and in some cases another country) in the hope of receiving care. If selected as a viable candidate, they move through various stations where they are registered, vitals are taken, they are examined to be certain they are well enough for surgery and given the golden appointment ticket. However, if they are not selected, it is heart wrenching. This country is one of the vary poorest in the world and this could be their one shot at receiving the care that they desparately need. 

We (the crew) spent time in prayer asking God to direct the selection and we were also briefed on what we might encounter and the types of deformities we might see.