Monday in Zona Reyna

The morning was beautiful. We got up about 0530 and made a trip to another part of the river. The cloud coverage was beautiful and felt so fresh.

We have been told that this typical for this area. It is not dry as other parts of Guatemala are but is alwasys lush and green.

We climbed up the road and then hiked back down to the river bed. This was the first site we had of it.

Some people had never seen a river this big. It was interesting to hear their thoughts. Some of the guys took turns throwing stones, trying to reach the other side. I think that Erv was the closest.

People talking about their experiences this weekend. It has been a fantastic trip, so far.

This canoest made it up stream and then ferried across the river. When he reached the other side, he tied his canoe to a tree and climbed to the top of the road.

These were two of the translators that we used. The gentleman in the blue striped shirt lives 4 hours away.

Erv and some children wait outside as we are almost ready to finish clinic for the day.

One lady came today with a skin issue. I listened to her problem, waiting for her to tell me about the problem that her child had. When she never did, I finally said, "So, please tell me how long your child's foot haas been like this." The poor child's foot and ankle were infected and draining terribly. The mother seemed to have very little interest in her child. The translator could also see this and began talking to her about the seriousness of this illness. How very sad but no matter where you are, you see situations as this. It reminded me of the family at we saw a few days ago in Choacaman IV.

Erv and Sally with a family that they know from the previous clinic here. How good it is to see people return that are doing well.

Since this is the coastal area it is hot. Since there is no running water in the area, there are no showers. Through the day I kept remembering how good that river felt yesterday. It was so cool and refreshing.

We finished clinic about 4:30 pm. From the count of medicine that we used, Sally thinks we saw 200 adults and 150 children during the two days. I think that is great. I hope that what we have done has been a blessing to the community. There is so much need here.

When we finished, I could not wait to see if we were going to go to the river. Some of the guys were down the road playing soccer. Sure! Let's pass by there, say our hellos and then make our way to the river!!

Erv and Sally were ahead of me as we walked. Erv, as you can tell by his shirt, has been trying to fix the shock for our ride home tomorrow.

We met some friendly girls from the community who also had been to the river to collect water.

ahhhhhhhh, the river was as refreshing as I remembered it!! Simply amazing after a HOT day.

When we climbed back up to the road, the rainbow was waiting for us.

We walked back to the tents and spent time together until dinner. The community was very kind and prepared a soup dinner for us. It was chicken soup with tortillas.

We will leave in the morning and begin winding our way back to Quiche. We pray for safe travels without any problems.