Week in Montellano

As I mentioned in my last post, I would be going to Montellano.........................and that I did!  The driver picked me up on Sunday morning, at 0700 and we made our way.  I am always thankful for safe travels and again, I am thankful.

When I arrived, the worship service had started.  I could not find a seat in back, so I was encouraged to go to the front.  I sat next to Jeremy, who was in the MET Program last year and I sat behind Susan and Rick.

Carlos talked about Peter in his sermon and he talked about Peter walking on the water and then sinking. I told Carlos about my favorite part of the sermon and that I was going to share it here.  Carlos said, "We know that Peter was a fisherman.  We think of Peter probably being comfortable around the water but when he started sinking, he cried like a baby!"  It was just the way that Carlos expressed it that made it come alive.

The week at the coast was a very busy week.......very busy.  I did not have time to take many photos or even post any. I will do a week synopsis now.

This is Tomasa and Manuel.  Tomasa is a patient from Quejil, one of our newest clinics. She had a hernia repair.

I loved this look, between a father and daughter!

This was another content patient.

One of the little children and her mother.

 This is Dave and he came to pray with this patient.

This patient could not thank everyone enough before going home....................included are McKenzie, Aimee, Kay and Kasey.

As the week began to wind down......there was a little humor.........I told them I was going to call this, "The Beauty and the Beast."  Susan, on the left is Dave's wife.  Leslie, on the right, had the difficult task of working with me every day.

These are the Singing Susan's.............as they were cleaning beds.

A few minutes relaxing between cases.

When all of the surgeries were done, we reported off to the Guatemalan nurses.  Then, it was time to count the Demerol that we used..............Anora and Gretchen were as happy as I was, when Rosario smiled!!

On Friday morning, we headed to Antigua to enjoy the market.  I went to buy my usual 5 pairs of sunglasses from my usual booth.  When people saw my glasses, they wanted to go looking.  Margaret giving us a good laugh.  I really enjoyed listening to Margaret's stories this week :)

This is Jeanine and her friend, Kathy.  Jeanine has been down several times and we are hoping that Kathy will also return!

What a week it was.  I did not get a final count on the patients that we helped this week.  If I hear something, I will let you know.  I just know that it was a great week.  I was very tired when I returned to Chichi but MUCH richer than when I left......................because of everyone I met this week and the effort  put into taking care of the patients!  Thank you!

Clinic in Panajxit

Several of us headed out to Panajxit today for clinic.  Enrique met us out there and he was sweeping the community building, as we arrived.

I worked with the students again before the consults.  This is Britteny, taking a blood pressure of one of the first patients.

When we were caught up, both Britteny and Carli were able to sit with Sara during the consult.

It was a good clinic, with a variety of patients.  One young lady had severe emotional problems and we hope that she will return again to clinic.

This is Weston, Carli, Sara and Britteny after clinic.

We were invited to eat at Enrique's house.  We had a wonderful lunch and then we headed back to Chichicastenango.

Sunday, I will head to Montellano to help out during a surgical week there.  We pray that the team arrives safely from The States and that the patients do well during this week.  We always appreciate your prayers!  Thank you!

Menopause class in Chichi

This afternoon, we had a scheduled class in Chichi with the ladies at the Church of Christ.  There were between 20-25 ladies and the participation was wonderful.

Many ladies, have no idea what menopause is and this is why they asked for this class.  Many ladies think that there is something wrong or that they are very sick, when they reach this time in there life.  Hopefully, after this class, they have a better understanding.

I wanted them to know that this is a natural process.  That menopause is not a disease or an illness. 

 

That if every lady in the class lived a full life, that they would have this experience.  

As we age, there are changes that we all go through.  I let them know that they would not all be enjoyable,   :)    but it is normal and that everyone can get through it.

The class lasted for 2.5 hours and we enjoyed our time together.

Clinic in San Jorge

This morning, things went a little smoother than they did yesterday.  Our group headed to San Jorge and Lisa went with the other group to Mactzul VI.

These are the student that went with us.........Maggy, Weston and Britteny.  Weston, offered to work with dental, so he got to wear the colorful cap.  Maggy, Britteny and I did vital signs before the patients went for their consult with Sara.

It was a good day.  We had 15 medical patients.

Most of them were diabetics, which is not unusual for this clinic.  I was extremely pleased with one lady that originally came to us with a blood sugar of over 500.  For three clinics now, she has been very controlled.  She is feeling much better and her family is also very pleased.

When we finished, we enjoyed a lunch of chicken soup and tortillas.

We headed back to Chichi to meet the others.

Tomorrow, I will have class with the ladies in Chichi.  I hope that we have a good attendance.

Clinic in Chutzurob

Well, as some days go.........we had some challenges.  We started by trying to get the trucks going in different directions. One group was headed out to Pacaja Xesic and our group was headed to Chutzurob.  One of the trucks would not start, due to battery trouble.  We connected another truck, hoping to charge it, but it just would not crank.

So, we took the battery out and replaced it.............voooooorrrrrrrrrroooooooooommmmmmmmmm!  We were ready to go!  We had called everyone so they knew that we would be a little late........then we were back on the road, again!!

Our group headed to Churtuzob and we were excited that Mercedes wanted to go with us.  Her husband, Edgar, had a great day with the seminar yesterday in Paxot III.  We were excited to hear that.  Today, they will have another day of study and then close in the afternoon.

This is Mercedes, with some of the children in the clinic today. We had about 13 medical patients and I think there were about 8 for dental. 

Kemmel and Lisa will arrive this afternoon with the MET students today.  I have heard that they enjoyed their time at the coast.  Now, it is time for the students to put into practice some of what they have  learned.  Half of them will stay at the coast and the other half will travel here to the highlands.  In a couple of weeks, they will exchange places for another couple of weeks, before they return back to The States.

Tomorrow, a group of us will head to San Jorge.

Clinic in Lemoa

Well, the rains are here.  The temperatures are much cooler and the rains are here almost every afternoon now.

This lady, Maria, came for her glasses today.  She is family of Dr. Jose, who we met on Saturday.  She tried on a few pairs and then she was content with these!  Sara with Maria.......

Since there were not many patients, we went out to Paxot III to trade out trucks.  We were trying to think of ways to take advantage of our time.  Mercedes was with us at clinic today so this gave her an opportunity to see more of the area.

We traded trucks, headed back to Carris and swapped out the equipment.  We are now ready for the week!!

Tomorrow, I will head to Chutzurob with Marcos, Martina, Ceci and Mercedes.

Sunday in Chichicastenango

I wanted to post this photo yesterday but forgot.  This is the Chuchipaca Church of Christ.  They have been continuing to add to the building and get more of it completed.  The newest addition is the bright blue lights around the stage.

This morning, Sara and I met Mercedes and Edgar at the hotel.  We went through the market and found things that Mercedes and Edgar wanted to take back home. We found them coffee, chocolate and some special cookies that they wanted.  We enjoyed our time walking.  Then we stopped for lunch before they needed to head to Paxot III.  Edgar is here for a few days to do a Bible Seminar for the men.

In the afternoon, Sara and I went to worship with the Chichi congregation. The main part of the sermon was taken from II Peter 1:5-9.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you posses these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Peter is wanting to emphasize the importance of us having Christ-like characteristics.  He is wanting us to mature in our Christian faith.  No, we can not be perfect but we need to strive to be like Christ.  We need to look within ourselves and see if we are growing. Self-reflection can be very good and help us with our maturing as Christians.

Tomorrow, we will head to Carris and have clinic there.

Tomorrow, we will