Grace and Aunikah with friends! Notice the machetees which are used in field work. Almost all such work is done by hand. It's slow and difficult and this back breaking work can lead to lots of physical pain - especially as people age. The medicines MDP brings help provide great relief!
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MDP Interpreter Ana Ovalle (pictured in pink) was able to briefly meet with her family members in Guatemala City!
We are into our 3rd day here in San Lucas and starting to hit our groove as an outstanding MDP team.
Today we were in the pueblo of San Martin. San Martin is a small village that sits a little ways up the volcano. We travelled through corn fields where the men were harvesting their corn by hand and up into the higher altitude where the coffee plants grow. The people of San Martin were happy to see us and greeted us with smiles and great warmth. Everything is dusty and dirty. It is the dry season and the dust is thick in the air. It was so good to see my team quickly set up our work in the pavilion next to the school. Within minutes we had transformed the space into a clinic with a working pharmacy, an intake desk, 2 provider stations and a nursing station. This team works so efficiently and with great kindness towards one another. We worked with the health care promoter from the pueblo and Jesus Antonio. We were able to see about 35 patients. Some of them were quite sick and in great need of the medicines that we brought. It is a rich blessing to have 2 native Spanish speakers with us on this trip. Ana is from Guatemala City and Gladys is from Paraguay. Our providers are enjoying their quality interpreting. I am also able to relax a little and rely on them for a lot. Kim has been in charge of the blogging and that also has been a great help to me this week, although it has been difficult to find internet in town. I feel so blessed to be able to walk among the people of Guatemala again. It is great to be back in San Lucas and to be greeted by so many familiar and friendly faces. Fr. Greg is still in the States receiving treatment for his skin cancer and the people here are deeply concerned about his health and also the future of San Lucas. The parish employs 400 people and has many projects from healthcare to coffee production to land reform that it is involved in. They are beginning to look to the future and are hopeful that their connections with the people from the United States will continue. I am once again struck with awe as I watch the poor. They have so few material items and their lives are so difficult, and yet they walk with great pride and are kind, generous and loving to one another. Family and people are important to them and as I watch them I am inspired to take more time for the important things in my life. I am also saddened that they have to live the way they do. It is a difficult existence which I can only imagine. We hope for a better world ….and do what we can. I am thankful to be able to work with Minnesota Doctors for People and all of its fantastic volunteers and donors. I know that we are making a difference in the lives of the people we see. We are healing the sick and extending our hands to those who are in need. Touching lives and having our lives touched simultaneously forever changed. 2/22/11
Hello Classes, We arrived in San Lucas, Guatemala on Sunday at 6:30ish. We started our week with a Spanish speaking Mass. Then we ate dinner at the parish where we will eat all of our meals. We traveled the town and found Sarita an amazing ice cream shop. At about 8:30 we headed back to our unique hotel because we had to catch curfew at 9 o’clock because we were told by the parish that dangerous incidents have happened after 9 p.m. Monday we woke to the sounds of roosters, it was around 3 a.m. when they started with the cock-a-doodle-do. At about 7:30 we met on the balcony of the hotel to have prayer, with the view of 2 volcanoes in the scenery. At 8 we had breakfast at the parish consisting of oatmeal, black beans, rolls, and Guatemalan grown bananas. We later went on a tour of the parish volunteer work sites; including the New Woman’s Center, the Tree Farms, and the Coffee Plantation. Then we listened to Toribio who talked to us about the arboles or trees. You could tell that he was very passionate about his work and he was very intelligent for not attending college. We rode in the back of a truck back to the parish to have lunch. From the back of the trucks the views are AMAZING!!! After Lunch we met our first friend his name is Douglas (pronounced: DOOOOGLASS.) We ended up working in the gardens that evening because they didn’t have any medical clinics set up to work at for the night. We hoed moss around 52 rows of coffee bean plants (but remember there are two sides to each row.) After work we walked back to the parish for dinner. After dinner we went to watch soccer in a fenced in concrete floored field. We ended our night at the Toliman Restaurant and had a Pina Colada and a Magarita SIN (without) alcohol. Tuesday we started our first clinic in the town of Cerro de Oro. We had three stations; an intake station, nursing station (temperature, weight, etc.) and a Doctors station who diagnose and prescribe medication for the patients. Oh and don’t forget about us, we were in the pharmacy. We gave the doctors their prescribed medicines. We Played Football (SOCCER) with a couple of boys but the pack grew and an hour later there were 20 kids playing with us (these kids, they’re not normal ten year old soccer players, they are AMAZING, even better than Lance, and they can do the Channing Tatum move way better than Annie!) We had lunch at the clinic. While we were eating we felt very bad because the kids that we were playing with don’t eat lunch and they stared at us while we ate with hunger in their eyes, but we weren’t allowed to feed them because of a rule passed by the parish (not wanting to make them into beggars). We had to leave the clinic at 3 to get back for a speech done by Chona! She talked about her life and the difficulties of the violent times during 1981-1985 when Guatemala was facing a civil war and was under military command. She talked about her how her husband and thousands were killed and are still missing. She talked about how she risked her life to save 11 children with the help of Father Greg who is looked upon as a holy man. After dinner we walked around town searching for Kleenex and de-worming medicine, and let me tell you it was very difficult. We went to 10 different stores and almost got attacked by the wild dogs (Grace is deadly afraid of them and you would be too cause they are vicious!!!!) On our journey to find these products we ended up buying many snacks from the market because the prices are INCREDIBLE here. (You get large bottles of pop for $0.50 and chips for $0.15) -------- Les tendremos informados, Grace & Aunikah Read about this in Grace and Aunikah's blog above. The parish has a large reforestation project growing thousands of trees each year and giving them to people to plant on the mountains. Because people use primitive fires for cooking there is a tremendous amount of firewood taken off of the mountains each year. Bare mountain tops lead to devastating mudslides. Our team helped prepare trees to preserve the environment and even hopefully save people's lives.
Being a novice nurse again after 30+ years of experience was somewhat intimidating, yet at the end of the day I feel a sense of appreciation for my MN Doctors for People Team who were supportive each step of the way. Plus, I am overwhelmed with the gratefulness of the women and children we served today. My passion for families seems to continue...whether I am in Minnesota or Guatemala. Yes today for a brief moment I felt out of my element, but I soon learned my mission remains the same---to nurse families. I am anxious for another day--a novice again. Excited.
- Sandra Eggenberger Day one clinic was held at Cerro de Oro "Golden Hill". We saw 28 patients, not a bad first day in about 4 hours. There were challenges for all - the pharmacy satchel was left behind, the interpreters needed interpreters to interpret Kaqchiquel to Spanish to English, and the doctors didn't have their favorite parasite medicine! In spite of all of that Bridgette said we had a fabulous first day of clinic. We are ready for day two!
Our trip yesterday went very smoothly. We made it out of the Cities before the snow hit and had wonderful flights.
The trip from Guatemala City to San Lucas allowed us to see the beautiful country we will experience for the next week. We arrived just in time to find our lovely hotel, arrange our sleeping situation with our new bunk buddies, and make it five minutes late to evening mass at the parish church. That left most of us standing in the back listening to the service full of beautiful mothers and children. I for one, was glad I had heard the similar message Saturday night at mass, so I could recognize that Father Adolfo was also asking me to turn my other cheek when I feel wronged. Different language - same message from Jesus. Today we toured all of the projects of the mission. The mission is extremely excited to have the grand opening of the Womens Community Center. It was amazing to tour with a group from Eagan, many who have seen the progress of the centers construction throughout the years. We are now off the plant trees with "profound roots" and will conduct our first clinic tomorrow morning! I promise pictures when we have more time! Be well < Our team is getting ready and we will post a message very soon. Invite your friends and family to follow our journey to bring medical care to those in need in the San Lucas Toliman area of Guatemala.
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