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.

 
 
 
Triage is where the patients come after their parasite medication and then site with a team member to tell them what hurts and why they are here. This way the team member can direct them to the area that will be able to help them the most.