Stories from Guatemala…and pictures

Hola! I’m back from my 11 day mission trip to Guatemala and it was a truly amazing experience! I made some great friends, treated a lot of people, and hopefully left some tools and lessons that the clinic staff can use beyond my time there to improve their care of the local people in the San Juan and San Pablo lake communities.

The mission group I joined was from Uncle Ken and Aunt Sandy’s church, Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church. The primary mission was to fund and build two homes in the San Pablo community for two very deserving families who were living in dirt floor, corn husk walled, 1-2 roomed houses with 10+ inhabitants each. I did not personally contribute to the physical labor of building these cinder block houses, but I did get to spend the week working as the solo provider in a clinic in the neighboring village of San Juan that was built by volunteers, just like our group. I was armed with my stethoscope, a few medical books I brought with me, a very well stocked pharmacy (shelves full of medicines and supplies brought by past volunteers), and some great local staff members. I was accompanied by two amazing English-to-Spanish translator volunteers who relayed my own words to the clinic “nurse,” who then relayed that translation to the indigenous people who speak Tuzujil, one of 22 different Mayan dialects around the Atitlan Lake area. The “nurse” is an extremely smart young man who has a basic medical technician certification and is currently working very hard to complete his equivalent of a high school degree…he is the closest thing the community has to a doctor.

I was “La Doctora” 24/7 while I was there and learned quickly to carry my stethoscope and a small kit of first aid supplies and medicines on my person at all times. I never knew when I was going to be asked to “take a look” at someone in their home or on the street. I made several house calls, one very important one on my first clinic day to the family of one of the houses our group was building. The owner was a man with ongoing chest pain that I treated medically until we finally got him an appointment with a cardiologist in Guatemala City the Friday before we left. I still haven’t heard how it turned out for him. I also saw his 2 month old granddaughter in their temporary home and treated her for a pneumonia with oral antibiotics. All the pediatricians out there reading this would gasp if they heard that and knew that she was febrile and retracting when I examined her! But, when you’re in a third world you make do with what you have, and a hospital with IV antibiotics and possibly a PICU was not one of those things. I knew that waiting one more day to start treatment may have meant her death, so we found a pharmacy (which opened quite literally by the grace of God for us), bought some medicine, administered the first dose, and left strict instructions for how to continue. By Thursday she was happy, sleeping, eating, and breathing comfortably again. She’s not “in the clear” yet by any means, but by the time we left she looked like she was going to be okay. I have loads more stories just like those, and some a bit more tragic, but you’ll have to join me for coffee some night you have a few free hours to hear all of those. 🙂

I can’t explain to you how great (and sometimes terrifying) it felt to practice this kind of medicine. I really felt like I made a real difference in some of these people’s lives, and I learned so much from them in return. I’m so thankful for the experience and to my family for supporting me in this trip from back home. I love you Jacob!!!! Sorry you all got burried in snow while I was gone…I won’t mention the part about the beautiful 80 degree sunny weather. he he. Enjoy the pictures.