Armenia Medical Mission 2014 – DAY 7 – By Kyle Kevorkian

Day 7: Our first full day of clinic in Stepanavan. Our clinic days here are like any other, but slightly different due to the layout of the land that we have to work on. Our facilities include a church which is one large room full of pews, an outdoor bathroom, and the AMAA service center across a courtyard from the church. Inside the chapel are the vital signs, urine, triage, and pharmacy stations. In the service center just outside are where the doctors are located. The clinic here can become quite a mess if not managed properly because the crowds are unruly, pushing and shoving to get in (but i suppose we all have a little bit of that Armenian impatience in us). Also, since there are two different buildings and the restrooms are outside,  the flow of traffic can get a bit hectic. Some patients get lost and wander on their way over to the doctors’ offices and others stop and mingle with other patients who are flowing into the clinic with their urine from the bathrooms. In short, if crowd control is not properly managed, the clinic here can get a bit crazy. Thankfully, we were all able to get the flow down to a dime and we sent hundreds of patients through the clinic in a clean and timely manner. After the clinic, we had our dinner, but instead of going straight back to the hotel, we walked down to the gorge. The gorge is a large canyon that we went on a bridge to cross over and admire. It is a beautiful sight and it is amazing to stop and reflect on the Lord’s work and the majesty of Armenia after a long day of working. After we saw the gorge, we all went back to the hotel. Most people sat in their rooms and relaxed, but a few of us had a different idea. About six of us walked to a nearby store where we bought lavash, nutella, wafers, and M&M’s. At first this seems like a ridiculous mix of good to buy, but it served us a purpose (which some still may think quite absurd). With these materials, we set out the make the traditional (or “we-did-it-once-so-now-its-a-tradition” tradition) Lavash-Nutella cake for one of our group member’s birthday. We brought the materials to the hotel kitchen and began to prepare the cake. We layered lavash and covered them with nutella, then between the layers we stuck rows of small wafer cookies. Finally, we covered the whole thing in Nutella! When the masterpiece was complete, we set it in the refrigerator at the hotel and all settled down for some rest and relaxation before the last day of clinic.