Monday in Clinica Ezell

It will be another exciting day here in Clinica Ezell. Many patients are waiting for surgery.

Claudia and her son, Bryan, are ready to go home. Both have done well and we are thankful for that!

Bryan and his parents will go home and return later to see us in Lemoa.

It is time for Marvin's surgery. Carrie comes to get Marvin and his mom will wait for him. As you can tell from the previous post, Marvin has grown!

Marvin finished his surgery without any problem. Here, his aunt spends some time with him.

Julie Ann spending time with one of the patients and his mom. He previously had 6 toes so that was done last clinic and this time he had surgery on his arm.

Bartolo and his dad before surgery today.

Bartolo with his dad after his surgery.

Bartolo also did well and will go home on Thursday.

This is Antonio and his mom. Antonio will have surgery on his hand on Wednesday.

It was a busy day but it was a god day. We had a special devotional time together tonight and prayed for the patients. We are thankful for the surgeons and nurses who have come down and who are serving this week.

Let the surgeries begin!!

This morning we went to worship with the Montellano Church of Christ this morning. I walked over about 0950 with some of the babies and their parents. After lunch, the surgeries began.

This Claudia and her son, Bryan, waiting for their surgeries. Both need hernia repairs.

This is Bryan after he came out of surgery. He did very well. His mom and his dad sat with me during the surgery to help pass the time. They live in the area of Xepocol and know our Gaspar. Gaspar has been talking to them about the Bible and this gave us a chance to talk to a little. No matter which country you live it, if you wait until your child is older to teach them of Jesus and how they should live their life, you will meet more resistance.

Jodi, working with one of the patients after her surgery.

Kathleen and John Mark praying with patients before they go back for surgery.

Today, 13 surgeries were done. The patients did well and went through recovery without any problems. We are thankful for that and pray that the surgeries will go as well tomorrow.

Ready for the week in Montellano

This morning, I met Cathy, Carol, the babies and their parents at ASELSI. We chatted a few minutes as we waited for Victor to arrive with his van.

Everyone arrived except Amelia. Her father came to the clinic to tell us that they would not be going. Amelia's grandmother suffered from a bad stroke so the family did not feel comfortable going to Montellano. Hopefully, all will go well with the family and Amelia can go with us in February 2012.

This is Marvin, with his mom. His aunt is on the right side. He had his lip repaired last August and is returning today to have his palate repaired. His surgery is being sponsored by Frank and Evelyn in Morganton, NC.

This photo was taken in February 2010, when Marvin was too small for surgery.

Unbelievable how he has changed. This is him today as he goes to have his palate repaired.

This is Claudia and Bryan, mother and son who both need hernia repairs. Claudia's surgery will be sponsored by the Morganton Church of Christ. Bryan's surgery will be sponsored by Terry Kile.
This is Antonio. His finger and thumb on his right hand are fused together.

This is Anastacia and her parents. She had her lip repaired in February and has returned to have her palate repaired.

Her mom grabbed Cathey for a photo. Cathy works at ASELSI and helps us find children that need surgery. ASELSI has a great milk program and also pays to have the children transported in a van to Montellano.

Anastacia is a pretty little girl. Her surgery is being sponsored by Tom and Freda from Morganton, NC.
When everyone arrived, we jumped into the van and left for Montellano. It will be a great week with a lot of blessings in store for the families. We pray for safety in the roads, every one's well being during surgery and healing of Amelia's grandmother.

Karen and Jenny in Chuchipaca

I have been preparing to go to the coast next week. Yesterday, I prepared most of my things and then went to Panajachel in the afternoon. Karen is here again to talk with the ladies in Chuchipaca about the hand-crafts that they do and to see if they will be able to make some other things that will sell in the states.

Karen, Jenny and I left Pana this morning to meet with the ladies. Karen spoke to the ladies a few months ago so this is the second visit that she is making to the highlands. She has been working with Fair Trade here in Guatemala for many years and hopefully, will be able to help the ladies of Chuchipaca.

Many of the ladies do not speak Spanish, so Juan and Aura are helping with the translation. Karen is explaining to them how she would like the ladies to make this pattern. She leaves with them the materials to complete the projects, gives them the instructions, tells them how many she needs made and will return in a few months to collect the order.

Karen calculating the order as Juan and Aura look to see if they understand the instructions.

When Karen was here the first time, this lady had made a beautiful piece of material. Karen used her idea for another project. These ladies are very talented with the way they put colors together.

Karen asked them to return with some of the projects so she might buy them. She pays them according to the hours it takes to create the piece and also calculates the cost of the material. As you can see, the colors are beautiful.

It was a great meeting. The ladies were excited when six of their pieces were sold and they received the money right then. They did not have to barter back and forth on a price.

Karen and Jenny with the ladies.

It was a good morning. The ladies of Chuchipaca are very content with the price they are receiving. Karen has a great beginning with the ladies here and I hope that their relationship continues to grow.

Tomorrow morning, I will head to Montellano with seven babies for surgery. It will be a great week so please stay tuned.......................

What a day in La Hacienda and Las Cuevas

Manuel, Juan and Gaspar drove by the house at 0700 and we headed to La Hacienda and Las Cuevas. What a day it was!! I wish I could share all of the photos and events but that is not possible.

We had heard that the road might cause us some problems but we went on..........

When we reached the problem area, we met a truck that had just made the pass. He stopped and we talked for a few minutes. He said that he had only made it, "because God is good." We got out and looked at what would lie ahead.

It was decided that the truck could do it. Juan was in the middle of the road cheering Manuel on. "Come on, come on Manuel, more to the left, that's it!!!" When Manuel finally got a good run, Juan decided that the truck was coming too fast and made a quick dive into the corn field! We all laughed at Juan. When we got back in the truck, we realized we had forgot to put up the windows. There was mud all over...........

Then the next hurdle to jump were the "bridges." We stopped in front of the first one and just moaned. The drop was only about 5 feet but there would be no way to get the truck out.

They were all in a bend of the road or the path we were on. They were not straight so that made the passage more technical. We looked at the tires at each one to be sure........and then prayed. Manuel did a great job on all four of them!

When we arrived at the school, we quickly in-serviced Santos, Sebastian and Felipe. They are the leaders in the community that connected us with the schools. Sebastian offered to dirty-up a little and help with the class. I changed the class some to fit the community. All of the guys pitched in and the students and teachers seemed to enjoy it.

Students practicing to cover their nose and mouth when they cough.

We only had three classes at this school. On the second class, I asked Juan if he wanted to do it. "Sure!" was his response. Juan introducing, "Dirty Sebastian."

The MET students made us some posters for our classes and we enjoy using them. Gasper and Manuel are teaching that bacteria is not our friend.

Juan teaching as Gaspar and Felipe hold a poster that teaches to wash your hands many times a day with soap.

When we finished with the schools, we drove to La Hacienda which is only over a few mountains. I visited here for the first time in 2005, with a group from Health Talents. Looking back, this trip may be one of the reasons I am here today.

This area is extremely poor, economically. In 2005, there was a drought and the crops suffered. A neighboring community, in which we were planning a clinic, asked us not to visit their area but to help La Hacienda because they were dying. I will never forget some things from that day.

This is the new "house of prayer" for La Hacienda. They have been building it for five months. The congregation has about 45 people attending. There are 12 boys who have all been baptized. Gaspar talked to them for a few minutes about them preparing to be ministers, song leaders and leaders in the congregation.

This is the view and it is in the mountains of no-where. It is very peaceful. I wish I could show you all of the view. It would be very easy for me to live here. The guys were loving it too. A small house on the side of a mountain, with a small stream, little store near by.........it only lacked electricity and Diet Dr. Pepper :)

The congregation prepared a delicious meal for us. It was fried chicken, rice, beans, tortillas and horchata. After lunch we bought an ear of corn that had been steamed and ate it before class started.

This was the ABC Class that we did for the families of the ABC Program. As I mentioned, there is no electricity, so we used the computer. Manuel started with a few songs and prayer while Juan translated the class into K'iche'.

We had one water filter to give to this family. Now, I think that all of the families have a water filter. They said that the water is so dirty that they have to clean the filter every two days.

We made our drive home ok. I told Kemmel that we never really got stuck but there were places were had to make several attempts before we made it through. At one time, I told the guys we needed more weight in the back so we hopped out and jumped up in the bed of the truck and it worked!!

That was our day! We spent about 4.5 hours in the truck, had classes in two schools, enjoyed time with the church..............all for the glory of God! I look forward to another day as this.

Diabetic Class in Lemoa

Today, the guys and I had Diabetic Class III in Lemoa. We had a good response with 16 patients.
We set up the tarps before class began. Without the tarps, they are unable to see the photos due to the light. It was a dark, gloomy morning with the threat of rain but the tarps help a lot.

One of our regular patients jumped up on the ladder and helped the guys.

Manuel completes the final touches.

Since this was the third class, we discussed medications and exercise. We encourage a lot of questions. Repetition is very important for different reasons. Most people can not read and many do not speak Spanish, only K'iche'. Some have gone to different clinics, received information on the streets or from their neighbors. They have a lot of questions and want clarification. In most of the classes, there is a lot of participation. Ruben is good at asking questions and keeping the conversation going. I want the class to be able to answer Ruben's questions.

Many were not able to attend the second class, so they wanted to review the diet sheet. When we finished today's material, we reviewed parts of the information from last month.

Manuel translated today. The guys are really enjoying the classes and the information. As you have heard me say, they will one day be presenting the classes. They will know the information and be able to share it within their community.

After we cleaned up everything, we went inside to count and prepare bags of vitamins. We each found our spot in the pharmacy and got to work. No one was talking, we were focused and finished as much as we could. It is interesting how work can be enjoyable when you are accomplishing what needs to be done and enjoying your time together.

Tomorrow, the guys and I will head to Las Cuevas and La Hacienda.

Happy August!!

Today, I went to Lemoa to visit with a family that lives near Solola. They came today with Hector, a guy who helps chauffeur for Solomon's Porch in Panajachel.

Hector brought Amarilis Alison and her family for a consult. Amarilis is 5 months old and was born with a cleft lip and palate. Hector had told me that it was a difficult situation and it is.

Amarilis is not a common name and I had a lot of difficulty pronouncing it. After a few times of really blowing it, I told the mother I was going to call her Amar. They laughed at me and told me that it was fine and now I will not have to struggle with her name.

So, when Amar was born, the great-grandmother wanted the parents to let Amar die. She said they would spend too much money on powdered milk and it was not worth it. She told them that they could use that money for a bag of corn instead of milk. The grandmother has 11 children. She is emotionally supportive but not able to help financially. So, Amar was only able to have sugar water for her first two months since the family could not buy milk. Now, they have a specialty bottle for Amar and have received help to buy milk. The bottle is donated by Evelyn's Baskets of Love and Life.

This is Juana and Amar.

This is Amar with her family.....her grandmother, Juana and Wendy, her sister.

Amar was very alert and content. She smiled and allowed me to exam her without any problem. She is sweet.

They will return to the clinic in November for another consult. If Amar continues to grow and do well, we will look at surgery in February 2012.