Clinic in Xepol

Today the guys and I headed to Xepol. We knew that there were a lot of activities going on but we really expected to have more patients than we did. We saw four patients.

One of my favorite patients came today, Victor. He has been coming to clinic now for about 7 months. His mother brought him because he has seizures and a behavioral problem. He just likes to hit people.

Because of his problems, he is unable to attend school but would like to. I am not sure if we will ever get him into school because he does not have the support he needs. His father drinks heavy and is not a good role model.

His mother brought him again today and told us that Victor only had 2 seizures this month. Before, he had as least one seizure a day. She also told us that he is getting along better with people and is not in as many fights. He is a little more social at clinic but is still very quiet.

Today, I gave Victor a NC ball cap. I am hoping it will help remind him to take his medicine.
I also talked to his mom about helping him remember his medicine. Apparently, if he forgets to take it, she also forgets.

Small steps.........but steps in the right direction.

Highland ABC Celebration!!

Today was the Highland ABC Celebration! What a day it was!! Kemmel had everything prepared and we just put everything into motion. We met at 0600 and started getting ready for everyone to arrive. The activity was near the lake in Lemoa. It was a very nice day to be outside.

I have so many photos, I can not show them all here. People gathered early and brought their breakfast from home. My family from Paxot II shared their breakfast with me, another community bought me a coke and another brought me some oranges. It was a day of food, festivities and fun!

When it approached 0900, people moved closer to the lake for the program. Voces Acappella performed and we had a short message from Luis, who is one of the ministers in Chichicastenango.

People gathered below as the prizes were awarded the students. There were three groups of awards based on the accomplishments of the students through the year.

This group of students won third prize.

These are two students who won the first division prize.........and yes, they are my ABC Children, Emilo and Esteban! Go boys!!

This is Sandra with the group of students that won the first prize. Can you guess who is her sponsor?????

The group from Xejox wanted to present Violeta a huipil and corte from Xejox. This lady helped Violeta get it wrapped and tied.

This is Noe, my parent's ABC Child. Here he is showing off the bracelet he made.

The older boys made kites............................

and yes, they flew!!

The younger girls made bracelets. Two little girls helping each other out with getting them secured.
After lunch, it was time for the games to begin. The girls played basketball as the boys played soccer.

Yes, that is Sandra! She can handle that ball even if she is wearing a skirt. Go Sandra!! Yes, I stood at the sideline as any proud parent would :)

It was a fun day but even more important, it showed the students we support them in the ABC Program. We hope that the students who did well this year will continue to do the same next year and for those who need some improvement.........well, that they will be motivated to improve.

This is the second year we have had the celebration here in the highlands. It was a good day and we look forward to next year!

Lunch at Kemmel and Lisa's

Today, all of the HTI workers in the highlands were invited to have lunch at Lisa and Kemmel's house. Everyone was allowed to bring their immediate families.........but then you have to define immediate families.........but everything was great and it was obvious that everyone enjoyed the day.

Josefina gets a card memory game started and her mom helps out. Tomas' wife is in the gold blouse to the left and their oldest son is next to her. He just finished a two-year evangelism program in the city.

Kemmel, Lisa and Josefina's dad, Diego, are flippin' the burgers. Manuel's wife, Juana, is in the background.

Tomas and Juana waiting for lunch to be served.

Maury and Aura enjoy lunch under the tree. Aura has competed her first year of dental school in the city.

After lunch, the hammocks went up for people to rest in. We needed a rest after hamburgers, corn dogs, chips, salad, pineapple and ice cream!

Marcos and one of Manuel's daughters take advantage of a hammock.

Then the hammocks came down and the games began!

After the guys, the girls got their turn. The five gallon plastic buckets that you see in the photos are placed in the yard to protect small plants from getting kicked and ran over during the games. There is one that I am not sure if it survived or not :(

There were 35 people present and a day full of activities. Kemmel thanked everyone for being there and the support that they are to Health Talents. We had a good year together and look forward to even a better year in 2011!

First Clinic in Xeabaj

The drive to Xeabaj this morning was a very pretty one. I do no think I have been this far up the road before and believe me, it was up. Today, we are having clinic in an area called Xeabaj, which means, "under the rock."

This clinic is a result of one of the babies who had their cleft lip repaired in August. His name is Sergio and his father, Tomas, asked us to come and visit their community.

When we arrived, we were still not at the top of the mountain so we finished walking it! This is the stairs that we carried all of the equipment up! Some of the men from the community are at the bottom starting up with some of our things.

It was beautiful and you could see all over!

Since there is not a Church of Christ in the community, we used a school. It was a very nice place and we had a great clinic but it was very cold..........very cold.

Here Gaspar and Juan get things organized. Then they explained the process, the services that were available, introduced us to everyone and then we prayed. The morning flew by fast.

When some of the children saw me with my camera, they wanted in on some of the action!

We had a clinic of 28 medical patients and 30 dental patients.

Sergio's sisters brought him to clinic to say hi. Lisa gave them stickers and that was a great hit with them! Sergio hid behind his sister until he saw the photo.........

Then he was ready for his action shot.

I hope that we will be able to return to this area. There is definitely a need and it seems to be a large community.