The past few days have been a whirl wind and it has been hard to find time to blog. That being said, this entry is about our events on Thursday morning.

Thursday morning was our chance to see the last treatment stop psychiatric patients make on their way to recovery. The facility we went to was a lovely house, which was built after the earthquake demolished their old building. The workers here (which included psychologists and social workers) helped to give the patients independence by teaching them a skill that they could then use to get a job. Examples included baking, knitting, and gardening. In fact, the breakfast they served us included bread and berry pastries that the patients had made themselves. They were delicious!

Both the workers and patients were so kind there. One of the patients spoke a little English and she sat and talked with me in English for a while. I was so impressed that she put in the effort to speak with me! We all fully realize now how exhausting it can be to try to talk to someone in another language!

We can all safely agree that whatever Chileans lack in medicinal psychiatric care, they make up for in compassion. Every place we have gone, the workers have been a team who do everything they can to get the patients back on their feet and out in the community again. However cliche is sounds, it really is such an inspiration the way these people dedicate their lives to help people who are less fortunate.

More on life in Chile later!