Today was our last day working in Guatemala. We will be flying out at 12:30 tomorrow. Let me start by asking for a special prayer for my baby girl, Jamie. She has a 103 temperature and a very upset stomach. I hope she will be better before our long flight tomorrow or she will be miserable.
We were stationed for our medical in a church in Jocatenango, Guatemala. It was a beautiful church with a school on the second floor. We worked here part of the day and then part went back to San Antonio. In the clinic, I met a 24 year old man who had a sore throat. What was different about this patient was he could not speak and didn't know how to sign. As they have no special classes here in Guatemala to help a person like this, he never was able to develop. From my interview, I determined he was basically a 5 year old in a 24 year old body. Amy Rosine and Scott McCormick from Graveston worked in the room seeing patients as well. Laura, Becky, and Leah worked in the pharmacy. I also became a Guatemalan dietician as I counseled a woman who wanted to lose weight. That is the amazing thing about Guatemala. You never know what your role will be.
At about 2 pm, half of the med team, including myself left to go back to San Antonio where the children in the mission feeding program were given new dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys. They were all given goody bags also. I finally got to paint some fingernails for the girls and we played soccer with the boys.
The finished up by doing some of the Bible school songs which I got some great video of (hope to post later).
When they were finished, the teacher we had been working with and her husband spoke to the group. At this point the emotions were overwhelming. They were so appreciative of our efforts. The teacher told us she had been married 15 years, and this was the first time she had seen her husband cry. The kids were wanting to hug and us and most were crying because we were leaving. I told the teacher that as much as they thought we were their blessing, they were actually ours. They made each of us keepsakes with our names on them which they presented. It was a foot cut out of wood. The name of the mission school is Paso a Paso, which means step by step, and their symbol is a foot.
When we left San Antonio, we headed to Antigua to the market to get some last minute shopping done.
Our excitement for the day was when our bus driver hit a curb and the rim bent.
When we got to Antigua, as I was walking through the market, my friend from last year, Alexander, saw me and pulled me to the side. I just figured he wanted to sell me something. He said, "I have a gift for you Jim (He actually remembered my name). He gave me a cross carved out of resin, and told me God bless you and to have a safe trip home. Amy met a person who worked in the market that we had treated in the clinic, and he gave her and Scott a pair of shoes as a thank you.
When we left Antigua and were coming back to the mission house, we noticed an array of trucks lined up on the side of the road. When we asked why this was, we were told that trucks can only drive in the city from 9pm to 5 am to cut down on traffic. What an awesome idea! I wish we implemented this in the U.S. Well, I have everything packed and I am ready to go in the morning. I want to thank you all for your prayers this week, no matter how big or small. We could feel the prayers, and this week has truly been a blessing to us all.
No comments:
Post a Comment