Today we had clinic in Lemoa with about 12 medical patients and about 8-10 dental patients. Most of the dental patients were ABC children from Mactzul V and then we had some others from the local community, so the word of this service is starting to spread. One of the families from Mactzul V is the daughter of the lady that we bought the land from so for them it was kind of reunion. This brought some extra kids to the clinic today. With the extra kids, Sheri handed one of the boys a tennis ball and then started to play catch with him. This was a hit! It is pretty amazing how much joy something small can bring to a number of little boys.
Other recent happenings is that the bridge that connects all of the northern part of the Department of Quiche to the rest of the world was closed yesterday for repair and will be closed for 1-2 weeks. This is a time which is considered the busiest commercial and travel time of the year for the Department of Quiche and most of Guatemala. The good news is the bridge will be fixed as it has been shifting. The bad news is they have picked the worst time of the year to do it. We have pretty much the same woes in Chichi where the few weeks of fair are starting so streets are being closed to allow for fair vendors while at the same time the open streets are also under construction. What would take 5-10 minutes to drive through town can now take up to 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how many trucks and buses are passing through town.
The minibuses here which provide local transportation from Chichi to Santa Cruz are providing transportation from Chichi to the broken down bridge and then people can cross over to another minibus on the other side. This involves trudging down to river and the climbing up the other side. Does not sound too bad until you see ladies doing this in high heels. Today Sheri, Manuel and Marcos had the experience of doing this. Thankfully, this has happened during our last 3 days of clinic so although pretty inconvenient, it could have been much worse if they did it 2 weeks ago which is what we had thought. So tomorrow we have to take the long way around which will add about another 30 minutes to the drive.
If you are reading this and wondering what we could use here in Guatemala, please see the list on the right side of the blog site. If you are wondering what we would like personally, just some mail. Lisa has a mail box and she needs someone to send her some mail. Although snail mail is slow it does put a smile on her face. So, shoot us a postcard some time. Our address is:
Kemmel and Lisa Dunham
APDO #11
Chichicastenango, Departamento El Quiche,
Guatemala, C.A.
Thanks for reading and God bless!
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