Board Meeting in Toliman

This is a view of Lake Atitlan before breakfast.

I felt bad I did not have photo of Fran and I during the week that she stayed near me. Neither one of us are photo people so we really had to work at this.

Carlos and Sylvia during a break.

Charles, the director of the board, begins the meeting.

Rick, welcoming the two new board members as Carlos translates for him.

Alice, is one of the new board members.

Larry, one of the new board members.

Rosario and Darling talking about the achievements in Clinica Ezell as Julie translates for them.

Josefina talking about the clinics in the highlands as Lisa translates for her.

During a break, we took a quick photo of the dentists. Syliva (Guatemala), Robert (USA), Jessica (Nicaragua), and Marcos (Guatemala) were out on the deck.

Marcos is talking about the dental program in the highlands as Kemmel is translating for him.

This is Violeta and Julie as we are watching their presentation. Violeta manages the ABC Program in Guatemala.

It was an exciting day as we heard many people talk about the way they are trying to reach
out and help people physically and spiritually. I wish that I had more photos to share with you.

For a program and a ministry to work, everyone and all efforts need to focus on Christ. If we leave Christ out of the picture, we are only a humanitarian effort. We want to focus on the eternal hope that Christ gave.

Hotel Toliman at Late Atitlan

This morning Kemmel, Lisa, Rebekah, Fran and I headed to Toliman, near Lake Atitlan. Today, will be our staff meeting and tomorrow will be the board meeting.

Everyone taking a break and enjoying lunch together.

Julie and Sylvia.

Josefina, Marcos and David.

Lisa and Kemmel.

John and Nancy.

We had a good day and started off with a meeting about the ABC Program. We want to make some changes to assure that the children are receiving the most beneficial products. Tomorrow morning, the board will meet.

Only here.................................

This morning, Gaspar was still not feeling well enough to go with us to clinic. I, gracias a Dios, was feeling much, much better. The fever was gone and the only thing that remained was having to clear up some odd emails. So, if you received an email from me that was somewhat crazy, please let me know so I can correct it. It is amazing how medicine can make you feel so much better yet make you do odd things :)

Fran, Martina, Maury and I headed out to Xepol. We left Chichi about 0750. When we arrived close to Los Encuentros, we realized there was a problem.

This was the view we had while we sat for about 20 minutes. I tried to get around but was unable to. We were told that there was a manifestacion and the road would not clear til mid-morning. Sometimes there are demonstrations or blockages in the road for political reasons. Sometimes, you have no idea what the problem is and other times you think you may have an idea..............but you never know.

On the way home we saw a small procession due to the planing of the corn. The people marched with guitars and were singing. They also had incense and a small statue of Christ. This is a very special time of the year as the corn crops are so important. They hope for the right amount of rain and yet not too much. The right amount of sun and not too much to burn the crops up.

We went to the clinic in Lemoa and counted pills. When we were finished, I took the girls back to Chichi. Then Fran and I went to visit Magna in Quiche. We had a short visit but it was nice to see her.

Tomorrow, we are all headed to Toliman. We will have a staff meeting and then the board of HTI will be here for the Friday morning meeting.............................another adventure!!

Clinic in chutzutob

When I took this photo in the morning, I had not idea how the day would turn out :(

Fran, Juan and I went Chutzurob for the day. Gaspar met us and told me how sick he had been since Sunday. I asked him if he needed to stay home. He said that he did and this is the first time he has been too sick to go to clinic.

We ended up seeing 19 patients. On the third patient, I started not feeling quite right. I was not sure what was wrong........something was not right. Anyway, I was very glad when all 19 patients were seen and it was time to come home.

I started some medicine and was ready to go the next morning!

Happy Birthday Rick and Susan

Rick and Susan.............
may you have many more together!!

Celebation in the pool

Many children from the Mactzul, Paxot and Xepocol areas had a great time in the water today. Fran, Rebekah, Seth and I left Antigua looking for the pools. I knew that when I found it, I would know it. A bus gave me a different direction than I thought but I went anyway and when I saw it, I said, "This is NOT it!!"

Anyway, we found it quickly and the place was much larger than I thought it was. When we arrived, I wondered how we were doing to find anyone. Eventually, while we were walking around, I heard, "Sheri, there's Sheri!" Then I knew we were in the right place.

This is the group from the Paxot area.

These were some brothers from one of the congregations.

This is Tomas and his wife Juana with six of their children. They were having a great time!

This is Gaspar and his wife Juana. Gaspar asked me to take a photo and it took him a few minutes to get the right pose for the camera :) The lady and the gentleman to the right are new members of the church in that area. They have 4 children and seemed to be enjoying the day.

Today, I met my new ABC Child and her name is Sandra. She lives in Xepocol and is 14 years old. I remember a couple of years ago that Gaspar told me of a terrible accident and that a lady was killed in it. This is the daughter of that lady. I have heard she is an excellant student and she seems really sharp. She was shy at first and I expected that.

Notice how after a few minutes she began smiling?

We made our way back to Chichi and it was good. Rebekah and Seth will spend the night at Santo Tomas Hotel. Fran will get settled into the small house behind me. We will keep you posted on our adventures!!

Many friends in Antigua...........

After our clinic today I went to Antigua to meet the group who just finished a surgical clinic at the coast. When I travel back to the highlands tomorrow, I will bring with me Fran, Rebekah and her husband Seth.

It was nice to see many people again in Antigua. I apologize because my photos are of poor quality and I am not sure why. They are blurred and the color is off.

This is Jerry. He wanted to show you his pie but the lighting is bad. Jerry, guess you will have to return for another photo and eat some more pie!

This is Elaine and Dennis with their daughter Lisa.

This is Rachael, Leslie, Brenda and Fran. Leslie is Fran's daughter and she is a physical therapist. I am trying to talk her into coming up to the highlands and helping us in some of our clinics. Leslie, are you ready??

This is Brenda and Doyle, whom I think you will remember from a previous trip in February. This trip they had two of their friends come down to visit them in Antigua. I apologize that I do not remember their names.

This is Benny and his granddaughter Rachael. Benny has been coming and helping HTI for many years and maybe this will be the first of many for Rachael.

I love it when people come to Guatemala and visit and you have heard me say that before. I think that knowing people from all over The States is just a taste of what heaven will be like. It will be a renewing of friendships and praising God together. I know how much I enjoy the devotionals that we have when people are here for a short time. Can you imagine what eternity will be like?????

Clinic in Zacualpa.......

We left Chichi about 0700 for Zacualpa. It is an area on the other side of Quiche that we will be going to once a month. We had a good clinic here last month with the students from Harding.

When we arrived, there were not many patients but they slowly came in. Marcos was with us so we offered dental, medical and cleaning services.

Tomas cleaning a patients teeth.

This little lady visited us last month. I emphasize little because I am on my knees!!

We saw 41 medical patients, 13 dental patients and Tomas had 6 for dental cleaning.

We will return again next month and maybe even have twice as many patients!!

Diabetic class in Lemoa

Today was our monthly class in Lemoa. We had 21 people in the class and it was a continuation on diabetes.

The class was able to answer the questions that reviewed the previous class. I was very encouraged by their responses.

Today we studied the different medicines used, the importance of exercise and then practiced with making a diet for the day. As usual, we broke up into groups when it came time to practice the diets.

Lisa offers some helpful advice to her her group.

Gaspar writing for his group.

Josefina trying to stay out of the sun.........we did move the group.

When it was time to explain the diets, they did great! As usual, improvements can be made but everyone participated.

Enrique, from Panajit, explained his groups diet. He hit is limit with having Corn Flakes and milk for his afternoon snack but he was willing to eliminate dinner. He was not going to give up his Corn Flakes!

Today was the first class for this lady and she did great!

The ladies really went all out explaining their diets!

When one group went over on their carbohydrate allowance, the others in the class quickly let them know and that is ok. It was a learning experience for everyone and people learned how to be a little creative with their diet. The true test will be when they try to teach the patients! I do think that after today they have a better understanding after today.

Sunday in Chichi

This morning about 0730, I was awakened when the bed rocked................I do not even think I opened my eyes or lifted my head off of the pillow. I knew what it was and later found out it registered 5.6 on the Richter Scale.

About 0830, Joe called me and told me he had hurt his foot last night and thought he had broken a toe. I told him that we could get some good medicine in the pharmacy and that I would come to their hotel.

I found Jane and Joe in good spirits even though they were missing their day in the market. We propped Joe up on pillows with his computer Jane and I made our way through the market. Jane told me about their morning. They had gone for breakfast and while they were eating, Joe said, "Jane, I think the building is moving." Jane replied, "Joe, I think that they call this an earthquake!" I knew that my mother would be jealous since they had experienced one before she has :)

Joe thought he would do better if he had a cane so Jane and I went to find one, with only having about 40 minutes before the shuttle arrived. We heard that we could fine one in the park. We made it to the park but did not find any but I did find a little man that was very willing to help us for a few quetzales.

He wound us though the streets asking as we went. I could tell that he was really on a hunt for his few quetzales and he was working hard for them! He led us to a store that had a couple to select from and I loved them!

Joe was just as excited as Jane and I were!


I connected them with Victor, who took them to Xela. They will be there for two weeks, living with a family and studying Spanish.

Evelyn's Baskets of Love and Life

The day was full of unexpected problems but everything turned out ok. I went to get the suk from Lisa and Kemmel's and when I was about 5 minutes down the road, it just stopped. I mean stopped! Lucky for me, the suk is light weight and I was able to push it off the road.

I thought it might be out of gas so I got a ride to the gas station and returned with a liter of gas but that was not the problem. Juan and Gaspar got a ride from a micro-van and came to my rescue. We went to the garage of a mechanic that Kemmel uses. He was not there but he sent someone to help us.

He told us that we needed a part but was not sure where they sold it. He was able to get the suk started again so we drove to Quiche looking for this part. Gaspar protected the suk while Juan and I walked to 5-6 different auto-part stores........but no one sold this part. They only sold Toyota and Mitsubishi parts.

We drove back to the clinic and had our class, as we had originally set out to do this morning. After all this had happened, I felt like the class should have been yesterday.

But all ended up ok......we covered the material Lisa had prepared for us, prepared material for our class on Tuesday and got the suk back to the house.

Tonight was a planned dinner with Jane and Joe from Winston Salem, NC. They started the Evelyn's Basket of Live and Life a few years ago when their first granddaughter was born with a cleft lip and palate. Jane provides us with baskets and specialty bottles for the babies so they can receive proper nourishment until they are old enough for their surgery.

Lisa and Kemmel would have had dinner with us tonight but had to make a quick trip to The City to get a computer cord from Rick. It sounds as if the surgical week at the coast is off to a difficult start. One group of people missed a connecting flight in Houston due to problems and those that had arrived to Guatemala had difficulty reaching the clinic due to flooding.

Jane and Joe are on the right and on the left is Cathy. Cathy works with ASELSI and is also very involved with helping parents arrange surgery for their babies.

After dinner, it felt good to be in for the night and to also know that everything is all right on this end. We pray for the safe arrival of those that are still in Houston and those traveling to Clinica Ezell.

Clinic in Chuchuca

We had a hard storm last night. According to my professional weather lady, Lisa, we had 1.5 inches of rain fall in 3 hours! It is nice to listen to the rain on the tin roof but sometimes it is very loud. I continued to lose power from time to time so finally just called it a night.

Due to the rain, we were not sure how the drive would be to Chuchuca. We left about 0700 with two trucks, filled to the brim. We were lucky and made it without any problems.

Here, the guys are walking down the road to scope out the area that could be the problem. There was a lot of mud at the bottom and making it back up would be the problem...........but God took care of us.

We had 24 medical patients, 8 dental patients and 2 patients for dental cleaning.

We had some time to play around with the children and of course, they wanted their photos taken.

Rebekah charmed this little baby and she was able to hold her after she was weighed.

I could not get enough photos of this little girl. She wanted another one and then another one.....eventually I was able to get her to smile for me :)

After all of the patients were seen, we collected the letters that the ABC children had written for their sponsors. There was 100% compliance from the children! Lisa and Kemmel work at collecting the letters and the names of the children.

As aways, it was a great day.......have you heard that before??? ha ha ha

Tomorrow is a study day and a day to prepare for class on Tuesday.

Thursday in Lemoa

Today, was the clinic in Lemoa and it was a good one. Have you noticed how I say that every clinic "is a good one"? That is because in one way or another it is a good. We may have a ton of patients or only a few but you never know how you may have impacted someone.

I have not introduced you to Rebekah yet. She is doing a 6 week rotation here with Lisa. She is a PA student and lives in Nashville. Currently, she is living in Paxot II with Manuel and his family. If anyone near the Nashville area will be looking for a sharp PA in the next few months, let me know and I can connect you with one!

Today, we had a 28 year-old man come to the clinic. His name is Jose and he has been in significant pain for 2 months. He has been to different physicians and has had lab work and xrays done. Yet, no one can tell him what is wrong. He has difficulty walking and therefore is unable to work. He has continued to take large doses of medicine to control his pain.

Lisa suggested that he get some exams done in Quiche so Gaspar and I drove him there. I hope to see him in Chichi at worship on Sunday. Please pray for him and that he will be able to find out what is wrong.

Tomorrow we will leave early in the morning for Chuchuca. I am sure that it will be a good clinic, since you know that they all are :)