Thoughts from Beth Dalisky

As my annual Guatemala trip approached, I wondered if after all these years of coming back, if somehow I was “used to” all the experiences and gifts that we often find working with each other and with the people in the villages. I watched in awe as a 5 year-old little girl swallowed some medicine for her nausea caused by chronic parasites like a pro. I watched how fellow Guatemalans volunteered their time to help their fellow countrymen – something not as commonly done as in the US. I watched providers practice the true art of medicine in an environment lacking the latest technology where sometimes the only thing they could offer was a sympathetic ear. I watched translators hone their vocabulary to try to bridge communication gaps. I watched the photographer capture the emotions of the people. I watched the cooks work their magic with no running water. At the end of the trip, I realized that no, I would never get “used to” the common thread of compassion and desire to help our fellow humankind that brings us together regardless of our country of origin.

Thoughts from Wendy Robinson

What struck me again as a participant on a Village team is the value there is in simply paying careful attention to someone for a few minutes. The Guatemalans waited in line for a long time before we ever arrived. Then they would have 3 to 5 minutes with a triage person, followed by a visit to a doctor, dentist or nurse practitioner. That visit could last from as little as 5 minutes to somewhat longer. However short the visit, we tried to give our complete attention to the person seeking our help. Even if they were just suffering from arthritis or pain from doing hard physical labor and were simply going to get some aspirin and vitamins, they were validated by another person.

I really enjoy doing triage as it allows me to practice my Spanish intensively. I have to listen carefully within the noise of triage. Although there is some repetition, you hear and see new things too. The two patients that stick in my mind from triage are the following. In Guadalupe a beautifully-dressed women came up to me late in the day. After complimenting her on her huipil (blouse) and finding out she came from the Peten, I asked her why she was needing to be seen. She said that her child had died at 20 days of age the night before. I told her how sorry I was and put my arm on her shoulder. She also revealed that another child had died a year earlier at the age of one month and some days. She wanted a gynecology exam to be sure there was nothing wrong with her that was causing these babies to die. I asked her whether she would like to talk to our pastor. I took her over to Barb Anderson, who was working in the pharmacy, and then took her to the front of the gynecology line to be examined by John Neeld. He confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her, but advised her to have her future babies in a hospital. I wonder if that is even possible. He also told her husband that the deaths were not caused by anything she did or didn’t do. She never cried, although I guess she was in shock.

The second patient was a beautiful young woman with a baby girl. She said the girl didn’t urinate or poop very often. When I looked at the child, she seemed to have a very odd head. I called Leslie Pierce (a translator who is also a neonatologist) and Andrew Trout (the radiologist) over to look at the baby. She was microsephalic (small head), blind, had seizures and had flacid muscles. Despite all these problems, she was beautiful and well cared for. I sent her to the pediatricians who referred her to a center which will help train her in what kind of exercises and other things can be done to improve the girl’s life. These kinds of birth defects happen, I am sure, in the US too, but at least we could refer her to a place which would help her care for her baby girl.

Thoughts from Cindy Lou

As I reflect over our trip, my thoughts are pretty simple. The ambulance situation put Beth and I in a moment of decision, and I still find my reflected thoughts the same....I had about 15 seconds in which several things occurred simultaneously. I learned ones life really DOES flash before their eyes. It seemed like pictures clicking through a view master to me. I know sounds funny huh? All of those I love, their faces clicked through my brain, along with hearing Dr. Burton's voice from that morning saying waht a blessing it is to wake up and have another day in front of us. It is SO true! And we are so so blessed to live and breath where we do in the world and have the opportunity to go and put our hands to work doing what we love. It forced me to ask the question...am I really dedicated to the right things in my life? And the answer was yes. We put ourselves at risk because we believe for REAL in what we are called to do. There WAS no choice, but to make every effort we could think of to get what we needed to do what we were there to do! :-)

My other thoughts, which are more personal in nature is that, by the end of the week, more of the team had had an opportunity to become at least somewhat aware of all I have been through this year. While I was just starting to be on the other side of a really awful year, the pain was still pretty evident in me. Two things occurred that had an impact on me. I became quite ill for the first time in my travels with FIP, and was forced to rely on others to care for ME! That is much harder for me than anyone might know. I needed to be put through that exercise. Secondly, and returning my thoughts to the ambulance situation, personally suddenly my year, moved from objects whizzing by on the side of the road of life, to *SNAP* 100% and clearly, into the rear view mirror...the past, history, good bye. The path ahead of me, and what is TRULY important suddenly became crystal clear :-) From there, it was so easy to do everything possible, to do all we could to help each individual patient, then return to share as much impact with family and loved ones as possible.

Cindy Lou

Time for the final stats!!!

I hope the new volunteers don’t get discouraged to come back next year because of the incident on Wednesday. That was out of our control. Still we took care of all the patients who decided to stay.

Thanks to everyone who really worked as a team; we accomplished our mission!
-Bob Vela









Day 1:
General: 131
Gynecological: 55
Pediatrics: 88
VIA/CRYO: 13
Surgery Referrals: 27
Other Referrals: 8
Total: 322

Dental Patients: 80
Dental Extractions: 147

Day 2:
General: 196
Gynecological: 55
Pediatrics: 99
VIA/CRYO: 30
Surgery Referrals: 22
Other Referrals: 5
Total: 407

Dental Patients: 95
Dental Extractions: 166

Day 3:
General: 142
Gynecological: 19
Pediatrics: 52
VIA/CRYO: 18
Surgery Referrals: 58
Other Referrals: 11
Total: 300

Dental Patients: 78
Dental Extractions: 126

Day 4:
General: 173
Gynecological: 70
Pediatrics: 72
VIA/CRYO: 56
Surgery Referrals: 77
Other Referrals: 17
Total: 465

Dental Patients: 114
Dental Extractions: 226

Totals (All 4 Days):
General: 642
Gynecological: 199
Pediatrics: 311
VIA/CRYO: 117
Surgery Referrals: 184
Other Referrals: 41
Total Medical: 1,494

Dental Patients: 367
Dental Extractions: 665

For a grand total of 1,861 medical and dental patients in 4 days!!!

Thoughts from Christine Chute

A few thoughts from the trip:

I worked in the kitchen with other volunteers, fixing lunch for the village team. This was about the most physically demanding job I have ever had -- the heat, the cement floors and the lifting. I loved every minute of it.

I particularly enjoyed working with our Guatemalan volunteers. I was very impressed with these young women. They gave up their days so that their neighbors and families could see the medical team. They showed up with no expectations, other than to work hard, and they did. They tried out their English; I tried out my Spanish. We laughed together and sweated together. It was an unforgettable experience.

Christine

Pictures

I have uploaded photos to the web at: http://picasaweb.google.com/111001146211258452545

Please let me know if you cannot see the albums.
~Martina

Some early statistics

Day 1:
322 patients
? referrals
74 dentals

Day 2:
407 patients
? referrals
94 dentals

Day 3:
231 (incomplete due to the riots) patients
70 referrals
? dental

Day 4:
369 patients
80+ referrals
? dentals

The normal day (day 4) for our team to Samayac means we had devotions at 5:30 am, breakfast at 6 am and on the bus by 6:30. We made this happen on day 4 and made the short 30-minute trip to the village. It is still amazing to see the people lined up when we drive up in the bus and the fact that they tell us all thank you and welcome upon seeing us. We get to the village and set up again but the second days’ set up is easier as the trucks stayed in the village with a guard or two all night. We open the trunks and set up the triage and waiting areas and set up some crowd control barriers for the day. The patients were let in slowly and we had a few patients that came back from the previous day to pick up their medications. Triage was done a bit after noon and the rest of the teams made it through the day just fine. Lunch was ready at 12:30 pm on the dot and as most of us were just about done with lunch (we eat in shifts as to keep the lines moving through.) a massive rainstorm came. It was pouring rain and this made the run back from the kitchen area to the main courtyard of the school where we were set up quite interesting. It forced the patients under cover to get away from the rain making the crowd control a bit hard again. Things really did go off with a hitch for the entire day and when we were all packed and ready to go the military police and some of the team helped load all of the trunks on top of the bus as the trunks were going home with us since our mission was over. We made it back to the hotel by 5:30 pm and in an hour, we went off to the celebration dinner for the end of the trip.

After doing the math we took care of 1329 + patients, significantly over 150 referrals for surgeries elsewhere, and had more than 168 dental procedures. Without the help from the donors, and the wonderful volunteers these people would not have gotten the help that they needed, so thank you to everyone involved. You made such a difference!

Our third day was our first in the village of Samayac. We got up at our normal 5 or 6ish in the morning to eat and have devotions and then we got the news… The streets were blocked by a protest about farmland promised and fertilizer. Our way to Samayac was clear but the road between the village and the Army base where our trunks were was blocked. Seeing as they would be a target if they tried to drive through the protest we were a bit stuck. After many phone calls from Bob Vela and conversations with him and Wendy about what we were going to do and how we might accomplish what mattered so much to all of us. We came to the conclusion that at the very least we could provided general medical and pediatrics without the trunks and since the ultrasound machine came with the team daily as well as the EKG we knew that at the very least we could do what needed to be done.

We left the hotel to head to Samayac and get photocopies of the triage forms, as we had none of those either. We pulled over in a gas station to meet with Gabriel the village coordinator to talk out some more logistics and we found out that the protestors were letting emergency vehicles through so that brought about an idea. We worked on a plan where we would use an ambulance to get a few crucial trunks through the protest. We needed the supplies for gynecology and the lab to provide the best for the people who traveled so far for our help. We knew that we could keep the triage forms for those needing medicine and provide the patients with numbers so that they could come back when we had access to the pharmacy trunks.

Beth Dalisky and Cindy Lindsay went off with Gabriel in an ambulance that they convinced to help us out. They worked on a story as they headed towards the protestors. Gabriel would be a patient as Beth and Cindy were already in scrubs, and they would be travelling doctors there to help. As they neared the road block Gabriel became more and more nervous since he lived right near the protest and he was quite concerned that he would be recognized. The ladies covered him with a sheet and a face mask just in case. It was a really good thing that they did since the protestors stopped the ambulance and actually opened the doors to see if it really was what it appeared to be. Our quick thinking teammates got to work on the “patient” Gabriel. Cindy pulled out an IV bag and Beth started digging through the supplies that the ambulance had available. After not being able to find what it was that she was looking for *wink, wink* Beth started the typical flicking of the syringe as though she was getting ready to do some injection. Cindy proceeded to make sure to hang the IV bag in the middle of the door so that it was blatantly obvious what was happening. The Guerillas believed the amazing show they put on that they let them through.

Beth and Cindy had been selected to go since they were the most familiar with our trunks and when they reached the Army base, they went to work re arranging trunks to get the necessary items to the village. It was there that Gabriel came up with the new story for the trip back through. He would hop out of the ambulance before they reached the protest and walk on through because he knew he could and the ladies would ride shotgun with the Bombadero driving. That way they looked like they were on their way back to get another patient to take to the hospital. It appears that Gabriel had a part in the protest ending along with the growing presence of military police in full riot gear.

The ambulance made it to the other side, picked Gabriel up, and headed to the village. At their arrival, they were celebrated as the heroes that they were but the team immediately got to work setting up gynecology, and dental and lab areas. We got to work and then found out that since the protest had broken up the Army could get the rest of our trunks through so they followed about an hour or so behind the ambulance. After those trunks arrived, the pharmacy was set up and they went to work very quickly getting the patients’ prescriptions filled. As others finished up in their areas, they came to help as well and we got it all done. People cannot say that Faith in Practice does not care about the people they help and that they will not do whatever necessary to get them the help they so desperately need!

The team was as follows:

Wendy Robinson and Bob Vela, the bosses.













Martina Robinson, Photo Journalist (hence the lack of photographs.)

Joe Heffner handed out the forms to the patients and directed them to the area manned by local volunteers for their worm medicine.












Then triage had people from everywhere: Leslie Pierce, Wendy Robinson, Andrew Trout, Amy Johnson, Jose Gomez, Christy Reichgelt, & Bob Burton. All of whom split off at different points in time to their respective areas.







Ultrasound technician: Andrew Trout

































General medicine had the following doctors: Gayle Ayers, Kien Heynh, Bob Burton, Amy Johnson and Andrew Trout when he was not doing the ultrasounds.

Our lab was the spectacular Cindy Lindsay (Fleming) “Pokito”




















































The gynecology team consisted of John Neeld, Nancy Manley, Christiana Morales, Kathy Conley and for the first day Nancy Vanashe.






































Pediatrics had some great doctors; and those were: Al Goldner, Jenny Olsen and for the last three days Nancy Vanasche.



































Our pharmacists were Beth Dalisky and Linda Samuels with help from our pastor Barb Anderson and Hector Ortiz.
























We had some great Guatemalan dentists. They were Dr Vincente Gil, Hugo Lima and Raydi Gomez, and the person responsible for cleaning the instruments was Andrew Keller.


The super necessary and helpful people of the team were our translators. Marla Hill (working with Dr. Olsen), Gaby Rubio (Dr. Goldner) , Claudia Rubio (Dr. Neeld), Samantha Spencer (Nancy Vanasche RN), Leslie Pierce (Dr.Huynh ), Shirley Vela (Dr. Ayers), and Dora Tamez (Nancy Manley RN). Pablo Baiza our bus driver helped translate as well.


























































































Our cooks who made the best food and oh the guacamole… Leroy Taylor and Christine Chute. (The towels were amazing as well.)







Jose Gomez and Christy Reichgelt ran the referral section since they knew the language and the slots available for the necessary surgeries.

Day 1

 
 
 

We all arrived just fine with only one piece of luggage missing; having arrived in Antigua, we traveled to our first hotel for the trips to the villages. Getting to the first hotel was a bit of a challenge as we had a blown tire on the way. After the change of tire, we made it and prepared ourselves for our first day in the village. We started out in Lupita about a two-hour drive escorted by our soldiers and the police, from our hotel, at a small school that became our home base for two days out there. After checking out the school, we proceeded to set up the areas and get ourselves ready for the lines of people waiting to be seen by the doctors. There are several areas to get set up, first was where the people get their parasite medicine and then local volunteers get the patients full names. Followed by the triage area; where they are seen by translators and some of our doctors to give the doctors a general idea of why they were there. After that was a waiting area to keep the patients a place to wait out of the sun for their turns. Then there were the areas for the doctors to see patients: general medicine & the ultrasound, pediatrics, gynecology, the lab, and the pharmacy where most ended their days. Some of the patients did get sent to the referral area for surgery that FIP also offers. Each team had the set up of their areas done so quickly by the teams for that area that the trunks protected and brought to us by the soldiers, were long gone within an hour.

The patients were let through the gates in a slow manner to avoid the general mob mentality and each got a form that was crucial to make sure that we were seeing one of the 400 that were given the tickets to provide the care. They got the parasite medicine and then hit triage and the waiting area to be slowly sent to the area or expertise that they needed. As each patient was seen they slowly started to trickle back out to head back home, which for most, was a long drive away. It was so hot that the whole team was grateful for the cool towels that the cooking team provided for us all.