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Landing in Bolivia. I'm with a group of doctors from Roanoke who will be helping the Bolivian people with their medical needs.
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The doctor next to me is Dr. Aubrey Knight. He was my mom's doctor, and that is how I found out about the trip.
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This is our hotel in the city of Cochabamba, which is the third largest city in Bolivia.
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This was my room. It was very small, but very clean and quite cozy.
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This was the view from out side my window. Lots of green.
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When I opened my window, I could actually smell the clean scent of the laundry. So refreshing.
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The next morning, we arrived at the Cochabamba Aeronautical Base.
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This is the medical clinic, and it was built in honor of my brother, Michael Correll. After my father died, Michael took over as president of my dad's mission. Michael was close friends with the missionary there in Bolivia, which led to the building of the clinic.
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The people started lining up very early in the morning for medical treatment. For most of them, this was the only place they could receive free help.
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They gave the doctors such a warm welcome. The band was even there to play our National Anthem.
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This is General Fernandez. Through the missionaries, he heard about Michael's desire to build a clinic, and pulled the strings to have it built on his air base.
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This is the plaque they put up in front of the clinic.
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This is Jaime and Gaby Torrico, the missionaries that were close friends with Michael and General Fernandez. They are such great people.
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My brother was so honored by this clinic. Before he died of ALS, Michael was able to travel here and see the clinic for himself. How proud he felt! He so loved the Bolivian people, and he had a real passion for their needs.
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So many children were there. This is one of the many that received medical help.
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Some of the scenes were so sad, like this man who came for help.
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My heart broke for this man. He had walked five miles to try to get some help at the clinic.
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I was worried about him because he stood almost the whole time. I wanted him to sit down and rest.
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When he wasn't looking, I took a picture of his foot. And to think he walked so far on these poor feet.
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After he was seen by the doctors, he headed back on that long trip home.
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This little gal had never been seen by a doctor, and she was so nervous.
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I found out this little lady had dressed up in her best to come and see the doctors.
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There were a lot of little babies crawling around.
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Maybe it doesn't look like it, but this man was actually smiling at me. When I started to take the photo, his wife just grinned and turned away. She was quite shy.
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When they first arrived, they were given a number. He was quite proud of his.
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I just couldn't resist holding this little cutie.
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I just loved the hats they wore.
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She wanted to show us how she wraps up and carries her baby. Step 1, lay him on the blanket.
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Step 2, do a quick snap with the blanket.
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Step 3, show off baby! I'm afraid if I tried that, I would wind up slinging that baby across the road! = )
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Ahhhhhh...he was so cute.
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Because I was Michael's sister, the general offered to take me on a tour of the air base. Next to me is his aide.
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I felt pretty special being shown around the base. Some of these planes were so awesome looking.
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I think this was my favorite one.
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I even got to get into one of the big helicopters. That was awesome!
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Next he took me to the farm where they raise all kinds of crops and animals.....even guinea pigs.
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Their squeals were so loud as they tried to butt each other out of the way to get to the feed trough.
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OMG.......I had forgotten pigs do this.
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For some reason when I look at this picture I want to say: "What you lookin' at, Willis!"
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Doesn't he look just like Wilbur from "Charlotte's Web?"
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The Arkansas Razorbacks would be proud of this big ol' hog! Wow...he was huge!
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We ended up the tour by going to his office. He let me wear his hat for the photo, and gave me one of those flags on his desk. It was a nice souvenir.
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The next day we headed out to this little church in one of the smaller villages.
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Jaime helping one of the older ladies into the waiting area. Once again, so many people came for medical care.
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Even he ones that couldn't walk well still came to see the doctors.
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One of the many things I loved about Bolivia was how colorful everyone looked.
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Eating a little something while waiting to be seen.
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She was such a beautiful young girl.
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It looked like he was wondering who in the heck are all of these strange people.
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I love this photo. This Bible belonged to the minister of this little church.
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She was such a sweetie. She walked right up and sat on my lap.
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I loved how this man got so dressed up.
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So many sweet little girls waiting with their parents.
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One of the women being checked out by one our the doctors.
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They just love their hats.
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This guy was really pretty, but he sure had an attitude!
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So many of the people wore blankets instead of heavy coats. That seemed to be the Bolivian way.
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I just loved the children. They were all so sweet.
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Another great hat.
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My job on this trip was mainly to do the photography, which, of course, I love.
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While they were waiting, a lot of the women spun their yarn for blankets they would later make. Fascinating.
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It was so fascinating watching them that I asked them to teach me how to do it.
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I tried over and over, however, as you can see by their faces, I just couldn't get the hang of it. It was fun trying.
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The ladies were preparing our lunch.
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This gal got the potatoes ready.
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How about some meat with those potatoes!
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Everybody seemed to be digging right in. I was pretty hungry, so I did, too. It tasted like dumplings and spinach.
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Time to do the dishes.
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While the doctors were finishing up, I took a little walk around the town.
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This was taken looking down one of the side streets.
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A few streets over, it was a bit more active.
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After throwing this over her shoulder, then she picked up this heavy pot.
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It was a mighty small shop, but it had a lot to sell.
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This was a real nice fruit stand. The bananas were so sweet.
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It seems that no matter where in the world you travel, you always see a Coke stand.
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How do these women do this all the time. My back hurts just looking at them.
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After walking around for awhile, I saw this beautiful little building.
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Sometimes we went out into remote areas to treat people.....very remote!
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It was hard to walk around these places because of the dirt and rocks. It was really easy to slip and fall.
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The doctors were asked to go to this house and help a very sick man.
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The white flag indicates it is a "pharmacy."
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When we got there, the kids were just going to school.
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I have no idea what kind of plant/flower this is, but I thought it was really interesting.
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If there is a sand pile around, kids will find it!
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One thing I have found while traveling around the world is that kids will be kids no matter where they live.
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The doctors had brought along hand made bears to give out to the children. Most of the them had never seen a stuffed animal.
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This little guy was crying. I don't know if he missed his mommy, or if all of these strange people were scaring him.
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There was one little child that didn't get a bear, and I was trying to get him to come over and get it. He eventually did.
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By the time we were ready to leave, I was actually able to get some of them to come over and take a picture with me. This is when I wished I had a Polaroid so I could show them.
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This little guy was very shy.
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These little guys were NOT shy, in fact, they really showed off for us.
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I was taking a photo of this one little guy's feet when the other two ran over and put their feet in the picture. It was so cute.
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This little girl was so sad. Look at the tear in her eye.
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The plane from "Operation Blessing," an organization that helps in disaster relief and helping with medical aid around the world, was at the airport for a large ceremony. Our group was invited to come.
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There was a lot of security. I was surprised I was able to take his photo.
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There were tons of dignitaries there, which is why there was so much security.
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They let us go aboard the plane, and I got to have my photo taken with the pilots.
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This is a look inside the medical section of the plane.
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This is the surgical part of of the plane.
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What a treat! I got to sit in the pilot's seat.
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One of the other main things the doctors did was perform some surgery. These are four of the surgeons. One is a Bolivian surgeon.
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Well, since I was doing the photography, I had to suit up to take photos of the operations.
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Getting ready for surgery.
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Have camera, ready to shoot....I think!
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Surgery has begun. (If you are at all squeamish, I would suggest you skip the next few photos.)
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Anesthetizing the area for surgery.
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This is the lady that is being operated on.
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Her hand is being held down during the operation.
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A photo of the surgery being performed.
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Working on her varicose veins.
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Someone was photographing me while I was photographing the operations.
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I liked this shot for the intense concentration.
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On to another surgery.
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If I remember correctly, I believe this was an appendix operation.
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Something must have been hurting.
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A couple of hours after surgery, she was feeling a lot better
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One more surgery, and this was on the hand of a little girl.
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The operation is over. She was such a brave little girl.
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My favorite photo.
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After a couple of pretty intense days, it was time to relax and do some sightseeing.
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Part of our day we used the cars, and then we had a delightful little bus...with snacks.
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This is the El Cristo de la Concordia, a large statue of Jesus Christ. It is higher than the Cristo del Corvado in Rio De Janeiro. Standing at the foot of the statue you can see the whole city of Cochabamba. It was a beautiful view.
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It's time for a little group photo.
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These guys were crazy and so much fun.
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After we left the statue, we went to these beautiful gardens. You wouldn't know by looking at these photos how serious they had been a couple of days before. They are definitely relaxing. = )
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All of these guys were like brothers, and I treated them like they were. Actually, for some of them, I was old enough to be their mom!
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I couldn't have taken a trip with greater people than these guys were. The girl on the ground on the left was a daughter of one of the doctors, and she brought her friend. Such sweet kids.
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We were all treated by General Fernandez and his wife to a great lunch.
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Many of his staff were invited to eat with us.
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I can't begin to tell you how great this lunch was. So delicious! It really hit the spot.
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This is Jaime, Jr. He is the son of the missionary, but he also does his work there, especially with his music. The guy was also hilariously funny.
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Lunch time was over, but the fun with everyone was just beginning.
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Our group photo with General Fernandez and the rest of our group.
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On our last day, we went to the Galeria, the big marketplace in Cochabamba.
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They were setting up their covering, and getting ready to sell the crops they had brought.
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I loved these busses. They were all painted a different color and design.
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The vegetables looked so fresh.
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The Galeria was divided into many stalls with all kinds of things to buy.
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Ahhh....being a teacher for so many years, this little girl warmed my heart. She was doing her homework?
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There was even a section where you could buy one of these musical instruments. I think a couple of the guys in the group did.
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My mouth actually watered when I went by this stand. The pineapple smelled so sweet.
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There were lots of bags of peanuts for sale as well as the fruit.
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Next to the delicious smelling pineapples were these big, juicy watermelons.
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How about a little chicken for your supper.
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Here is another beautiful hat.
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I think this was some kind of sauce she was making.
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Another lady selling those fresh veggies.
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I bought one of these bags hanging here.
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This was our gathering spot when the shopping was over. Time to buy one more post card.
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Here is another one of those colorful busses.
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We went to a restaurant called Dumbo for lunch. What you see here is a kind of stew. It didn't look real appetizing, but it was actually quite good.
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The Coke was safe to drink in this restaurant. Boy, did it taste good.
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Bags are packed and ready to go home. Goodbye, Bolivia.
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