It was a beautiful morning! We started the day with Mass. Although it was in Spanish, we truly felt the powerful faith of the people. People packed the pews so tightly there wasn't even elbow room. Some even kneeled in the aisle and the overflow crowd started at the steps of the Church. The Mass was filled with great symbolic gestures - lots of incense, many altar servers, candles galore and a feeling of deep reverence throughout the church.
We were welcomed into a pew by a sweet grey-haired woman and her husband. She gestured for us to join her and then reached up and gave each of us a kiss on our cheek. We felt her great joy! When we left I told her that my name was Elena (Spanish for Helen). She radiated with a super big smile and told me that was her name too. Pretty neat! We spent a lovely day on the lake visiting a couple of nearby communities, shopping and exploring. Anyone who has been to Guatemala knows what a tuk-tuk is. Well, guess what? I got to drive one! It was great fun. We ended our day off by having an ice cream treat at the local ice cream shop. We are rested and rejuvenated and ready for a full cllinic tomorrow.
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It's Saturday! We began the day with prayer. Susan led a reflection about God's presence in all of nature and in all we do and are, which was written by Sister Mary Beth of Loyola. Helen shared a reflection about vocations by Henri Nouwen. Breakfast at the parish center included some of their hardy oatmeal and ever present bread and peanut butter and wonderful coffee. Lia headed up the sandwich making crew making our lunches. John Norris' granddaughter and a friend from St. Scholastica joined us for the day.
We climbed into two trucks and stopped at the bodega. No it's not a bar but is the parish clinic pharmacy. It was another enjoyable ride out into the country. People wave at us all along the way. After about 40 minutes we arrived and set up the clinic in San Juan. (Yesterday we were in Porvenir.) We are hauling 5 suitcases of medicines and supplies. The nurses, Shannon and Teri and interpreter greeter, Jill were stationed outside of the building. They toughed out a really hot day in the sun. The doctors and their interpreters, John and Lia; Cathy and Steph; and Bob and Dave each had stations set up in three corners of the room. The pharmacy had a wonderful location just inside the door with 4 tables! Our pharmacy team consisted of Nick, Maggie, Anna, Alyssa and me. The addition of the St. Scholastic students, along with our growing knowlege of the pharmacy world, and tables and more space made for a smooter day for all of us! The doctors commented that they see different types of problems in the different villages. Sprinkled into the day was again a lot of laughter and fun with the village children. They sure love to play and are great fun. We had a steady flow of patients and finished about 3:30 p.m. John bought the whole bunch of us ice cream cones on the way home. After a hot day, that sure hit the spot. John has treated several MDP groups to ice cream. What a guy! And also a great doctor!! Tonight we will go out to eat at a restaurant as a group, instead of joining everyone at the parish. It's a treat for us. We truly appreciate the support and prayers of all of you and look forward to seeing you soon! Oh, and by the way, the weather is outstanding! We will have 2 more days of clinic next week. Good news. We did finally get our medicines through customs! It was a harrowing experience and we were put through a huge 24 hour runaround! We made it to San Lucas about 8 pm last night and joined the rest of the group. They had a nice day touring the mission projects.
Today we had a great day. We started with outdoor prayer focused on charity. Susan, Steph and John all contributed inspirational messages. After a good breakfast, we headed out into the country in the back of a pickup truck and we worked a medical clinic. The pharmacy team was amazing, especially Nick and Maggie. Thanks too to Teri! The whole team settled in and did their jobs and had fun. Our doctors Cathy, John and Bob are super. We were in a small village and to tell the truth I can´t remember´its name tonight. The people were happy and gracious and we worked hard. It´s always so neat to see how everyone pitches in and works together. The children came and played and that is joyful to see and to hear their laughter. Thanks for the message Melissa! Of course we think of all of our MDP friends and are so thankful for your gifts and goodness! Greetings from Guatemala! Our team left Mankato at 3 am. We gathered for a short prayer before we boarded the plane and arrived in a very rainy Miami three hours later. Stephanie flew all night from Peru (8 hours) and joined the team in Miami. The flight to Guatemala City was a little bumpier than normal but all in all was a great flight. And then it got interesting.
Recently Guatemala has adoped some new laws regarding bringing medicines into the country. We actually had our paperwork done from the Ministry of Health (or the Ministry of Magic as Jill calls it). The folks at the airport took all of our medicines and told us that we needed some further documentation from the Ministry of Health. Susan and Lia ventured to get this done while the rest of our team basically waited on the sidewalk outside the airport building. Everyone was exceedingly patient and good as we passed the three hours. Nick and Maggie entertained us with soccer antics and baggage cart rides. Cathy and John struck up a lively conversation in Spanish with an airport worker. Shannon pulled out Bannanagrams and walla! There was even a game of that going on. We all wondered how Bob managed to keep his eyes open since he just had returned from another stint in Haiti some 24 hours prior to taking off for this mission. Susan and Lia returned finally with new documents in hand. As they sprinted with glee into the airport to claim our medicines, they soon learned that there was some red stamp that was missing and that we wouldn´t be able to get it that day. Meanwhile our drivers said that it was too late to head out to our destination of San Lucas that day. John and Bob made arrangements with the driver of a van for a hotel and a very tired team climbed into two vans to head to the hotel. We met for supper and lots of good conversation and laughs last night. After a good nights sleep we are ready for the day. Nick, Cathy, Steph, Dave, Maggie, Shannon and Teri headed out in the van to San Lucas after breakfast. They will take a tour of the parish and see the many wonderful projects there. Bob, Susan and Lia headed back to the Ministry of Health this morning. John, Jill and I are still here at the hotel. We will see what the day has in store for us. If we can´t get the medicines we will head out for San Lucas and buy medicines and start our clinics as soon as we can. We remembered at prayer time this morning how Fr. Greg of San Lucas (who is back in the states celebrating his 50th year as a priest) told us that a village elder had advised him that we need to have patience with ourselves and patience with the people if we are to serve well. God Bless all of you who are following us. Our MDP Team leaves from Mankato, MN bright and early at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17. We are under the leadership of MDP President Susan Peller. Other team members include:
Dr. Bob Christensen Dr. John Norris Dr. Catherine Davis David Coughlan Lia Price Stephanie Price Stokman Teresa Simonette Shannon Juergens Jill Frentz, Maggie Coughlan Nick Davis Helen Peterson We'll fly to Miami and then into Guatemala City about 1:40 p.m. From there we will have a van ride for about 3 and a half hours. It will be a long day of travel. But we are fired up and ready to serve. We had a packing and planning meeting Sunday night at the Peller home and feel pretty organized. Two of our team members are fresh off of helping in Haiti, so it will be interesting to hear about their experiences. Susan and Bob will have much to share. We do love our opportunity to also serve the beautiful people of Guatemala. On January 20 - 27th MDP sent it's first medical team to the Chiapas region of Mexico. Our team consisted of ; Dr. Rich Peller, MD Dr. Vincente Pangalos, MD Susan Peller, RN Lia Price, Interpreter and Group Leader Bridget Hermer, Interpreter Nick Hermer, Pharmacy Billie Pangalos, Pharmacy. We were sponsored by 2 Mexican based groups; Misioneras del Corazón Eucarístico de Jesucristo Rey and Caritas, and international Catholic organization. For the first few days we were based out of Coapilla, Mexico which is a few hours North of Tuxtla Guitterez. Here we were able to serve the people of Coapilla and the community of San Isidore. San Isidore is a very remote village which had recently been victim of a Sink Hole where 7 homes had been swallowed up. The Mexican government has rebuilt the town within the last 2 years and we were able to many people who had little access to doctors. I will always remember how they took care of one another. A set of sisters who came in , one of them blind for the past 15 years. A mother with a son with mental illness. They were looking for hope, for answers. We had little to offer but they were so kind and such and example of love and committment to each other. In Coapilla there were long lines of people waiting to be seen each day. Our small team worked hard and long hours. We took our meals with the Sisters and held the clinic right in thier home. They were wonderful hosts, so kind and gracious and good cooks too! The remainder of the week we spent based out of San Cristobal de Las Casas. This part of the trip was sponsored by Caritas. San Cristobal is a high mountain Spanish colonial town with a beautiful plaza and many modern amenities. Each day while we were in San Cristobal we travelled out to various remote villages. Travel time to the villages was from 1 and half to 2 and a half hours each way. These villages were extremely needy and this was the first time that they had had any medical groups in their villages. Most people over the age of 40 did not speak spanish and so the villages provided interpreters for the entire clinics. This meant interpreting from the Indian dialect into Spanish into English back to Spanish and back to the Indian dialect for over half of the patients. It was an amazing experience. The people were extemely poor. Most of them slept on the ground, cooked over wood fires and hauled their water to their homes. In one village we were able to make a splint for 2 people with broken arms. One was an 80+ year old man who had fallen off his roof trying to fix it! Many thanks to all who helped make this trip possible. Lia Price and hercousin Fr. Pablo Hector Gonzales, all of those who contirbute to MDP financially and in prayer and service. Thank You! Just returned from Guatemala on Monday, November 23rd. What a wonderful trip. Team members were; Dr. Jim Eiselt, D.O. Katy Eiselt, LPN Nancy Linder, NP Collette Meidinger, Lab Tech Dr. Anne Ptaszynski, MD. Meg Oberle, Pharmacy Luke Hermer, Pharmacy David Coughlan, Interpreter Teri Fink Peterson, Interpreter Carol Dithelm, Interpreter Bridget Coughlan Hermer, Team Leader We were able to serve over 250 people in 5 days of clinic in the villages of Pompojila, Xejuyu, Quixaya, Tierra Santa and Panamaquip, Guatemala. We stayed in the village of San Lucas, Toliman at the Casa Blanca. A favorite with MDP teams for the early morning roosters! Life at the Parish of San Lucas is good although money is tight because of the downturn in the world economy. They are busy with building a road to the new coffee project before the coffee harvest begins in January. Fr. Greg was in the States raising money and addressing some health issues so we didn't get a chance to see him. We were lucky to hear a rare talk by Chona. She spoke of the murder of her husband during the Civil War (1981) and other stories regarding the violence and life in Guatemala. I was saddened to discover that my good amigo and former orphan, Francisco, (the driver) passed away in September of stomach cancer. I was able to visit his gravesite. 'Vaya con Dios'. Our 5 days of clinic were well run by Vincente, the parish healthcare promoter. We were able to see many families and give them the health care they so desperately need. Our team was outstanding. Their hardwork, courage, compassion and joy were fantastic. I feel so blessed to be able to work for MDP. God is good! Bridget Coughlan Hermer |
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April 2010
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