Happy New Year

We made it back this afternoon from our trip home for the holidays. We had such a good time with our families in Arizona and Texas and even enjoyed a rare white Christmas in Texas (once everyone made it in off the roads safely). What a blessing to be with everyone!
Now we are crashed on the couch watching a little Law and Order, enjoying chocolate chip cookies and listening to firecrackers that couldn't wait for midnight. We probably won't make it til midnight either!
So Happy New Year, Everyone!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

We are hanging out at the Aurora Airport in Guatemala City waiting for our flight home for Christmas. Sheri and Neva and Glenn headed out Sunday and Monday and we tied up some loose ends yesterday at the Health Talents office and around town and of course enjoyed some eating out!

It's a good thing we came early to the city, rather than driving in this morning. The teacher's association is going on strike today and blocking 14 major intersections/highways in Guatemala to demand more teaching contracts and positions.

Our flight plan takes us to Phoenix, AZ first (via Miami, thanks to good rates on TACA), to enjoy some time with the Dunham family and then to Nocona, TX with the Paschalls. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Law and Order Segment

We were sitting around talking over lunch today at clinic, and Gaspar, our health promoter told us of some trouble brewing in his town.

Background info:

The town of Xepocol gets its water source from a spring in the town of Tzanixnam in the Department of Totonicopan about 22 Km away.

We live in a rural area, so country taxi's (old Toyota pickups driven by teenagers/young adults) service the surrounding towns, bringing people to market in Chichi. They have special parking sections in market according to the town they service (eg., Xepocol or Tzanixnam or Paxot II), and no one is supposed to park there but the taxis.

Here's the scoop:

Supposedly, a few days ago, the taxi drivers from Xepocol arrived at their parking spot in Chichi to find a truck parked there already. They got mad and jimmied the door, started the truck and pulled it into a nearby parking lot so they could fit their trucks in. The owner came back and couldn't find his (new) truck for quite sometime. Finally after some investigation he found it, and found out who moved it. This man lives in Tzanixnam and owns the land where the tubing for the Xepocol water project passes. He was so mad that yesterday he cut the tubing and demanded that the town of Xepocol pay him Q45, 000 (roughly $5500) in damages and stated that they would not be allowed onto his land to fix it for 6 months as punishment for the deed.

The town elders went to talk with him and didn't get anywhere other than if they didn't pay the fine by the end of today, he would double it. Well, the town of Xepocol rounded up the 4 taxi drivers and meted out corporal punishment consisting of kneeling on gravel with 100-pound grain sacks on their backs for one hour, followed by a sound flogging, and they are responsible for paying the fine themselves. Everyone is hot under the collar today trying to figure out how they are going to get water to their homes for the next 6 months. One man in town has a spring on his property and is not going to charge for the water, but it is down in a ravine and will probably need a 5 HP pump to get it up to town.
I'm sure this story will only get worse. We'll keep you informed. Can you imagine how mad all the women are in Xepocol?

Celebrate Good Times

Yesterday was the big end-of-the-year event for the ABC program here in Quiche. It was a real Kool and the Gang moment. Since our program country-wide has grown so much, we all decided to divide up into regions. There is now a big fiesta for the kids from the coastal to capital regions, one for the kids from Pacayalito, Zacapa out east and now for the highlands region.

Sheri has a great post with pictures you should see. http://www.sheriinguate.blogspot.com/

Our team up here has never put on a production quite this big so we were all a little nervous. Thankfully we had experienced friends from the churches helping to plan and organize. Neva and I were in clinic helping Josefina crank out patients so we could all get to the event. When I called Kemmel to see how things were going, he said, "Pretty good so far. Man, there are kids all over the place!." There are 274 children in the program here and they all had their families with them, so it was impressive. The day started with worship in song with Voces Acapella leading singing, and then sending the children to age-specific classes while the parents enjoyed a sermon without distractions. The childrens classes were all taught by volunteers from the churches--men and women and teenagers who put together excellent activities, lessons and interactive learning.

After the lesson time everyone gathered back together to see who won top points. The points are given according to grades, school attendance, church attendance, home behavior (yes, mom and dad assigned the grade), and medical/dental checkup attendance. It is possible for everyone to make "1st place" according to points, but of course the kids are always shocked that so few win. As the bikes, clothes and other goodies were awarded I'm sure many New Year's resolutions were secretly being made!

The day was completed with lunch being served for over 800 people and free-play time in the park. Moms and dads enjoyed just sitting in the park chatting or playing basketball or soccer with the kids and watching to see who would dare to take a wade in the thriving ecosystem of a swimming pool. Luckily, the water wasn't deep there was minimal horseplay. I'm sure we'll have plenty of impetigo cases to get us started in January!

As the churches packed up and headed out in their rented buses and minivans they would stop and tell us all thanks. Even a few individual kids came by to thank us and tell us goodbye. We were worn out at the end of the day but finally got all the equipment back, people back and padlock back on the park gate. It was a good day and we thank God for his blessings on the families here through those of you who support children in ABC!

It's December

We are having a hard time remembering that it's December and almost Christmas. I played some Christmas music today to try to zap us into reality. Around here December means parties all over town, carnivals for Santo Tomas Day and endless marimba music into the wee hours. We are getting excited about our trip back to Arizona and Texas on the 15th, and it feels like the weeks are both dragging on and racing by.
Today we had clinic in Mactzul I, Sheri and Glenn and Neva and I, while Kemmel made some last minute buys for the ABC celebration on Monday. After clinic we all headed over to Martina's house (one of our teammates) for a great lunch. Her family goes to church with us in Chichi and are having a big fellowship/thanksgiving get together for the whole church on the 16th. She felt sorry for us, that we would be missing it, so they fixed us a special lunch. We drove out to her house riding along the top of a cliff until the road just ended in a corn field and next to their house. We were warmly greeted by her dad Miguel and escorted into the house where Martina, her mom Manuela and all her siblings were waiting for us. They must have been hungry because they quickly led us to a room set up with a table and 5 chairs. Martina's dad took a seat at a sewing table behind us and everyone else started serving the meal. We stuffed ourselves with delicious chicken soup (a rooster, we were informed) and tortillas. After lunch we sat and visited a while and took some group fotos. (Sheri will post some pictures! www.sheriinguate.blogspot.com ) They told us that they considered us family and that we were welcome anytime. They are such a blessing to us and thanked them for their hospitality.

Tomorrow Kemmel and Glenn and all the ABC coordinators head out early to the park to set up for Monday's extravaganza. Pray for everything to go well. We are expecting around 750 people!

ABC's

Many of you are familiar with the ABC program through Health Talents. This is a sponsorship program in our partner churches to help families keep their kids in school. In this country, school attendance is not obligatory and many families can't afford to educate their children, preferring to let them start working once they get to be 10-12 years old.

This program offers basic food supplies like beans, rice, milk, etc. and school supplies and clothing, in addition to their medical and dental check-ups each year. There is also an incentive program built in so that the kids receive points for church attendance, good grades/attendance at school, good behavior at home, and coming for their medical and dental check ups. At the end of the year we have a party for all the kids from the region and give prizes according to points gained. This year there will bikes and bedroom furniture for the top points winners.

Kids from the Mactzul V church.

In the first few years it is hard to see changes that you can put your finger on, but now we are beginning to see some differences. Today we did a medical check up on the kids from Mactzul V, and for the first time everyone gained weight and height, and only a few were sick. In addition, in talking with one of the coordinators from this church, all 65 kids in their program were promoted to the next grade! (Last year several failed, which puts the child on probation for a year. If he failed two years he is out of the program). What a pleasure to see kids outgrowing their parents and surpassing their level of education too. It is tempting to say let's try to get everyone through high school and on to college. But in reality children who finish 6th grade are a success in towns where nobody went past 2nd or 3rd grade the generation before (people our age!). Even more exciting is when a few more go on to junior high in a town where there wasn't even a junior high near by 15 years ago.

Young ladies from the Paxot II church.

If you have kids in this program, we thank you for your faithful support. Keep praying for them and their families. If you would like more information on how you can support a child let us know.

Tent Meeting

Well, church conference season being in full swing as it is, Glenn and Neva and we spent the day in Xepocol with probably over 700 people listening to good preaching and singing praises together. This was the first conference that the folks in Xepocol have hosted, and they did a great job. It was impressive to see how many people they could get under the tents and out of the sun. The food was delicious--a freshly butchered bull made into a spicy stew with rice and tamalitos. The only thing they forgot was forks! But the tamalitos served well for grabbing up food. And there were plenty of napkins to go around.

The sermons were on the story of the rich man and Lazarus and the reality of heaven and hell; and also encouragement to the "youth" to serve God with the abundance of strength, intelligence we have in the prime of our years.

I didn't get a good picture of the famous hill in this town where people still go to make offerings to the spirits and ancestors. But as we drove up a neighboring hill to the tent meeting it was great to think about the mass of people gathered to worship and praise God. 30 years ago, there were very few Christians in this area. Today, not only were there Christians from more than 10 nearby towns, but the church also invited the town leaders to the worship service.

Belinda and Jason--two little cousins from Paxot II enjoying the conference.

Me with Belinda's little sister Gabriella. Belinda is taking this picture of us. I didn't have time to put my serious Guatemala face on!

The view in Xepocol is breathtaking. They can see for miles in all directions.

They moved the letrines, and I couldn't resist getting a new outhouse shot!

Anastacio Alvarez giving a great lesson--what we understood of it. He spoke almost completely in K'iche'.

I only see one person alseep in this photo--and no she didn't just blink. I have two shots within seconds and she is the only one with her eyes closed in both.

Gaspar and his dad Pedro thanking everyone for coming out for the day.

Thanksgiving Feasting

While down at Clinica Ezell for our staff meeting, sweating in the hot coastal plane we were surprised with a great Thanksgiving meal of turkey, ham, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and bread. Neva and I helped with the dessert--apple crisp. It was a really nice evening sharing good food with our 40+ teammates from the coastal and highlands areas. We were able to get ahold of all of our family back home, which was great. Here's a few good shots.

Looking alert at the beginning of the meeting--before the heat worked it's sedative magic.

Unloading the bikes for the 1st place winners in the ABC child sponsorship program.

Turkey and trimmings served by Carlos, Ana and Danny.

Ruben and Alfredo digging in.

Hungry customers, Marta, Neva, Manuela, Nidia, Gaspar and Tomas. I think there was some concern about the lack of tortillas at the Thanksgiving feast. But everyone got plenty of other goodies to eat.

The HELPS International plant where the smokeless stoves are fabricated.

After the meeting finished on Friday, we headed back to God's Country, stopping at the smokeless stove factory to pick up some orders. We nearly perished from the heat, but finally got all of the stoves and water filters loaded up. As we got to the highway junction taking us to Quiche, we saw about 4 police pick-ups parked on the side of the road and the cops milling around. We didn't see anything going on but it looked suspicious. But we kept on going and about 10 Km later, there was a VERY LONG line of cars stopped on the road. There was a protest by the Ministry of Health workers who decided to close the outpatient consults because the government ran out of funds to pay their salaries/bonuses. (Nothing like Universal Health Care!). Anyway, an hour later, the the highway opened up and we were on our way again. It was good to be home. We made a pumpkin pie today to make the holiday official!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

We want to wish all of our family and friends a joyful Thanksgiving Day. We are so thankful to have family that supports us prayerfully, emotionally and financially. The hardest thing about missionary life isn't doing without things, it's doing without the company of our family during holidays. Here in Guatemala, we don't officially celebrate Thanksgiving Day. In fact, tomorrow we are having a staff meeting with our coworkers down at Clinica Ezell. But, our director, Carlos is preparing us a Turkey dinner in honor of our American tradition and we are thankful for having such thoughtful coworkers.

So, we hope everyone enjoys the evening, with all of the early preparations that go on and peaceful family time at home tomorrow. And of course good football (or afternoon nap)!

Goodwill Ambassadors

Being part of a small non-profit organization means getting to wear several "hats". For instance, this week we are wearing our Goodwill Ambassador hats making the rounds to the various tent meetings or conferencias that are being held in the local churches. The start of the dry season and vacation from school sets the perfect stage for large fellowship gatherings and parties. We usually get invited to lots of activities around this time (weddings, graduations, youth rallies and tent meetings) and can't make all of them, but try to when we can. Sunday and yesterday we were in Paxot II at the youth conference. We took advantage of the large crowd to show off some new energy efficient wood-burning stoves (saving up to 70% on wood burned) and water filters. Several people were interested as we demonstrated the models and a few went ahead and signed up for orders. Our goal is to sell them at cost, offering to bring them up from the manufacturing plant for free and helping the family install it. It's tempting to give them away for free, but they are a good price. One brother came up and thanked us for showing the technology because he often worries about how much firewood he is having to buy now that his families' forrest has been used up already. He said he doesn't think his children will be able to afford firewood when they have their families. It was interesting how many men were interested in the stoves (they are the ones who have to cut the wood or buy it!).

Today we head to Chuchipaca for their inaguration service for their new building. We are really excited for them as they built it with their own funds, and some donations from local congregations--no U.S. subsidizing! We will spend the night and enjoy some preaching, eating and fellowship and children's programs tomorrow. These are exhausting days, but it is a great to see the large number of Christians worshiping together,and to take advantage of the education opportunites we are presented with.

Step right up! Everyone crowding into the small kitchen to see the stove.

Kemmel doing a stove demonstration. Look at all the men!

Folks lining up for chow time.

Our co-worker Mario Rosas setting up the industrial-sized tamale cooker--this was a hit with the ladies! Kind of small for the 3000 or so they needed to crank out, but it sure cooked fast. And without smoke!

Waiting for lunch to get started. Still smiling after starting their day at 3:00 am.

Look at those huge pots of tamales cooking! They keep about 8 fires going in the middle of the room at all times. Despite taking out several rows of roof tiles, the kitchen is always like a smokehouse. (I think our carbon monoxide levels are still pretty high today!) Their huge pots are too heavy for the smokeless stoves they have. We are thinking of bringing in an engineer to give ideas on how to keep the smoke levels to a minimum in there.

The meat-cutting group. They butcher a bull for these get-togethers and feast on it for 2-3 days. Day one is "inerds stew" as we call it. They were extra sweet to us and gave us a small piece of grilled steak instead! After that it's beef stew, steak, etc. for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Mario trying his hand with the new stove.

Real men wear flowery aprons! Juan "Canche" Gonzales showing off his kitchen garb.

Change of Seasons

Here in the Land of Eternal Spring we do actually have season changes. As many of you know there is a rainy season and a dry season. November is the beginning of the dry season which is also known as "summer" around here. The interesting thing is it is also the coldest time of the year--at least at nights. It has started getting cold at night and we are going to have to throw a second wool blanket on the bed to keep from freezing to death as the house temp plummets into the 50's. Come December we will get a few nights in the 30's. Thankfully we have a fireplace that keeps things a little toastier. We tend to get more sun during the dry season and the flowers will soon be exploding with color. It's kind of disorienting to see the usual pumpkins and chrysanthemums and vivid lighting of fall afternoons combined with spring-like flower gardens, roadside wildflowers and crackling fires on cold nights. But that's what makes Guatemala unique!

Weekend Update

We actually don't have anything to update which is a nice thing sometimes. We have been working hard for over 2 weeks, and it was nice to be back in town just beginning a restful weekend. We went to worship services with some American friends in the morning and again at the Chichicastenango Iglesia de Cristo in the afternoon. Sheri made it back to town in time for worship this afternoon, so we saw each other there. One of the brothers who is usually pretty no-nonsense came up and asked us when we were going to teach him some English. So we started with "good afternoon, brother" and then, "see you later, brother". He got a pretty good laugh out of that. Then, some of the little boys (ages 6-8) who run around together, came up to Kemmel and asked, "so how are things going for you at the clinic?" Kemmel had to try not to laugh as he gave them a quick ministry update. He also got a peek into one of the little boy's wallets (Roberto) and saw 8 Quetzales in it. Roberto said he has been helping out at his family's market stand and they pay him a little bit. Kemmel asked if he put a 1Quetzal in the offering, and he said, "No--2Quetzales!" Good job. 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Matthew 25:21
Today we catch up on housework and other work projects that have neglected.

Education Day

We had our last education day of the year yesterday. It was cloudy and cool and only a few of the volunteers could make it because of various end-of-the-year activities. But, we enjoyed the company of the ones who did make it.



Our lesson was on worry and anxiety--something as common here as it is everywhere else. The lesson plan led us through verses like Philipians 4: 4-9, 13, II Timothy 1:7, Psalm 56:3-4 and Matthew 6:25-31. The class divided into groups to present the biblical advice. It was definitely good counsel for all of us and to share with our patients.

Here is the homework assignment we left with.
1. Present you requests to God (actively list them) in prayer and petition with thanksgiving.

2. Make a list of things in your life that are TRUE, NOBLE, RIGHT, PURE, LOVELY, ADMIRABLE, EXCELLENT OR PRAISEWORTHY (think of an example of each one). Keep this list in your Bible or desk or anywhere handy, and review it often--"think on these things"--especially when worries or anxieties creep in.

3. Encourage others to put this into practice when they struggle with fear and anxiety or worry.

What great advice.

November Medical Team

Each year we host two moblile medical/dental teams here in Chichicastenango. Our November team is primarily made up of brothers and sisters from the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Edmond, OK. But we had additional team members from New York, Tennessee and Texas and Guatemala. It was a great 3 days of hard work in both medical and dental clinics.

Despite the 3 days and nights of rain from hurricane/tropical storm Ida, we had patients in all sites. The rain made for very slow going down the muddy adobe roads. Our rented minivan barely made it to Xepocol, so Kemmel took his half of the team back the long way hoping for and easier descent. They made it back 3 hours later, after getting behind a stuck semi-truck (already on the paved highway!). Thankfully we found better roads to travel the next few days and the rain finally let up on Sunday--as the team was heading home!

Quiche-to-Spanish-to-English-to-Spanish-to-Quiche........Mary and Gaspar helping Dra. Barb Slee in the all-important tranlator role! Amber with her back to the camera getting a blood sugar on this patient.


My friend from medical school/residency Dra. Lesca Hadley

Drug pushers Juan and Gaymarie. Looks like Dr. Brandon Burger is supervising the situation.

Mike Herndon, Jon Nickerson, and Sandy Ferguson readying the dental area.

The sick and afflicted patiently waiting their turn

Dr. David Batres and Ashley Anderson attending their dental patient.

The thing we really enjoy is the fellowship with friends we have made from year's past and new friends as well. This is definitely one of the fringe benefits of this job--getting to know so many Christians here on this earth. It makes us think about what it will be like in heaven as we all reunite together with God. We also enjoy the little gifts everyone brings us. This time canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce! Thanks to Sandy and Donna and Robert for the goodies! And to Barbara for the magazines! You guys know how to spoil us!

We saw over 500 patients in 3 days, but more importantly we worked together with brethren from the local churches to treat physical illness, listen to and pray for peoples' family problems and worries, and invite them to know God's will for them. It was a great trip!

End of a Saga

We finally finished registering my medical license here in Guatemala--nothing short of a miracle! We went to the RENAP office to show my certified birth certificate and lo and behold they accepted it! It was so easy, we were shocked! So we went ahead and took the diploma to the Narcotics office for one last registry. They were very nice and helpful and showed me to a legal book of declarations where I had to hand write my statement listing all of the seals and signatures and their dates that are decorating the back of my diploma. It was like a little walk down memory lane as I listed the Rector's office, the Controller's office, the Ministry of Education Office, the Ministry of Health Office, the diploma number, the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the RENAP office and signed and sealed it myself. As I got started, another physician walked up and was asked to wait as I finished my seat work. (No pressure!) By the time I finished there were six people waiting to get their turn at the big book. Great timing. We are thankful to God for this little victory--what a relief. And also thankful to all of you who have prayed for us--GRACIAS.

We celebrated at our favorite sushi place--YUMMY.

Seminar Circuit

We've been away from the blog board for a while, attending to a marriage seminar and youth conference that have been in our area. Health Talents sponsored a guest speaker, Leonardo Rojas from Venezuela to lead the seminar and participate with the youth. His classes were excellent, and despite the conservative audience, he was able to get people to open up considerably. He was sought out by several people for individual counseling during his down time. At the youth conference he was equally straightforward about being prepared for courtship and dangers of and ways to avoid premarital sex. At the marriage seminar, 17 churches sent representative couples and the youth conference was attended by over 1500 people. What a great week for spiritual edification.

One of the couples at the marriage seminar who was asked to read from Song of Soloman to each other. It was pretty brave of them to read the steamy passage in front for the audience. The class was focused on using loving and affectionate words as couples. There were quite a few giggles in the background!

Another giggling crowd--the 13-17 year-old set at Leonardo's sex education workshop.

Of course our physical strength was totally sapped by the time we made it to the Capital to drop off Leo for his flight back. But we are enjoying a nice couple of nights in a hotel with top notch bedding and 5-star shower!

Today we are going to try to get some errands done including haggling over my license registration at the local RENAP (National Registry of Persons) office. They don't want to accept the diploma for registration because my middle name (Rene') has an accent mark on the diploma, but doesn't on my passport. The passport is written in all caps which technically shouldn't have punctuation. I even presented my birth certificate which has the accent, but the lady wasn't satisfied, saying it looked doctored up! So, after obtaining new certified copies of the birth certificate, we are going over today to see how accommodating they are. Pray for us please. It is easy to get impatient and irritated in these situations (with reason!), but it doesn't help the process along.

Tomorrow we pick up our visiting medical team to go back to Quiche. It will be a great week working in God's kingdom!

We are in the midst of fiesta season around here which seems to start at the end of August and winds up on New Years' Eve. As we entered Xepocol today we saw the tell-tale signs of a party about to start at the Catholic church. It was for their youth group but a good time was being had by all. But, we did see a few patients including one little 9 month old with periorbital cellulitis, whose parents agreed to a shot of Rocephin and a change in antibiotics since he wasn't getting better with the amoxicillin he started 3 days ago.

We also saw Josue, the 12 year old son of our health promoter Gaspar. He has had nausea and dizziness for 2 days. He denied any earache or headache or other symptoms, but when I checked out his ears, I found a bug's rear end staring back at me. He doesn't remember anything flying in. After a quick lavage we watched two halves of a bee wash out. Ouch!

Kemmel and Josefina and Tomas had an even worse day. They headed out early this morning to the Capital to get some errands done but only got 30 minutes down the road before running into a road block/ manifestation by one of the polical parties. It was one of many affecting major crossroads in the country. This was a real downer as they were going to pick up Leo Rojas from Venezuela who is teaching the marriage seminar we are hosting tomorrow and Thursday. So, they turned around and came back home, asking Alex in Guatemala City to pick up Leo and find him someplace to stay the night. Kemmel will head out tomorrow morning early to pick him up. Since there are only a few major highways in this country, they are easily pirated by those who have a beef with the government. Nothing gets attention like stopping traffic all over the Republic!

Well, we're back home safe, enjoying some apple crisp and coffee right now (thanks for the recipe Mama!). Wish you were here!

Weekend Roaming

We also headed to Antigua this Sunday to help Glenn and Neva move up here. The weather was great and we enjoyed strolling around town taking in the sights. Since it is almost All Saints' Day, which is a big holiday around here, there were kites for sale everywhere and signs out for ordering your holiday Fiambre. We like describe this dish as a chef salad on steroids. It is a mixed array of cold cuts, cheeses, sausages, picked vegetables, etc. to be shared on this special day. Like Americans and our prized turkey dressings, every family has their own fiambre recipe which is guaranteed to be the best. And if you don't like fiambre it's because you haven't tried "good fiambre". Anyway, it was a nice weekend, and we got everything moved without a hitch.

"Fiambre for All Saints' Day"

This is an example. I pulled the picture off of google images. It's a pretty accurate depiction.

These are kites from a few years ago--they won't bring out the big ones like these until November 1st.

Measure Three Times,Cut Twice and File to Size

This weekend we caught up on household chores. Kemmel was kind enough to change out the glass in our bathroom window to a smoked glass. Our new neighbors (They of the Bear-wolf) have a two level house which looks right down into our shower area! So, Kemmel measured the space and went to buy/cut the glass. When he got back, of course one of the panels didn't fit. So he headed back to the glass guy to re-cut. He comes back, tries again and, guess what-----doesn't fit. So after filing down the offending edge for about 30 minutes it popped in! Nothing like privacy--what a sweet guy!

God's country

We are up with the chickens (maybe before the chickens) this morning--of course this always happens when we plan to sleep in until 6:00. But we are enjoying some coffee and FoxNews and Internet surfing. We have plans to get some housecleaning done before going to church and then on to Antigua to help Glenn and Neva move up here to God's country. It's always amusing what people from the cities (the Captial, Antigua and Quetzaltenango) have to say when you tell them you live in Chichicastenango or are moving to Chichicastenango. They can't imagine that anyone in their right mind would want to come here. "It's so remote" "Wow, its so MAYAN out there" or "there is so much idolatry out there". Well, it's a great place to live. The people are hospitable, the chruches are growning, and we don't have the crime rates that you see in the urban areas. Sure we don't have supermarkets or malls or movies or Pizza Hut, but we have people who call to check on us, churches that raise up and train their own preachers and leaders, unlimited fresh produce in the markets and great weather!
So, welcome Glenn and Neva--you're going to love it here!

Un Buen Caldo

When someone wants to make you a nice meal they make you a "buen caldo" --a good soup. When they really like you they make a chicken soup with one of their own chickens. Today we were invited to lunch at Tomas Canil's house. He is a member of the church in Paxot III about 10 minutes from Paxot II where we had clinic today. After we finished clinic around 1:00 we went over and he greeted us at the door with a big smile. After taking a seat in the kitchen his wife offered us a drink--they had two diet cokes! It's the first time anyone has ever done that! We had a spectacular caldo de gallina criolla--soup with home raised chicken and seasonal vegetables. The tortillas were also out of this world.

After lunch we chatted about things going on in Paxot III, his work as a health promoter in that town, and how he can go about updating his license to see patients. He is one of the original health promoters trained by Dr. Rhienbolt more than 20 years ago. He still has quite the following of patients out there. We wrapped up our visit with chocobananos (chocolate covered frozen bananas) and gift bags of apples to go. He also asked us to send a letter to Dr. Rhienbolt if we could.

Clinic was busier than expected, but good and Juan still had time to do registration, vitals and lab as well as make kites for the kids. This week seems to be the opening of kite season. Everyone makes them out of little colored plastic sacs and sticks and string. You have to keep your eye out for little boys standing in the road staring up at the sky. Gaspar had an education class to give at the water committe meeting about contamination of water and maintaining clean drinking water.

On our way back we picked up some men from the church who were carrying huge baskets of apples up the hill to their house (about half a mile). We felt good that we helped "carry their burdens"--I bet they did too! They gifted us some more apples. Guess we will have to make another pie--bummer.

Who Let the Dog Out?

We try not to complain (in public) very often, but we have to vent about this one. There is a new house going in next door and our new (not very considerate) neighbors seem to be getting close to moving in. Well, last night they drove up about 8:00 and dropped off some things and left. Later after we went to bed we heard an unknown dog barking his head off about something.

Turns out, they left their pure bred bear-wolf out on the roof to keep guard. He barked aaaaall night long. We got up a couple of times to tell him to shut up (in English and Spanish) and he would, until we would turn off the lights and get back into bed. We put in our ear plugs around 0300, Kemmel could take no more around 0400 and when the lights came on when Kemmel got up, he finally piped down and went to sleep. We thought (or hoped) someone had poisoned him, but there he was this morning trying to look friendly. I think "we'll keep the light on" for him tonight and see if he can keep things under control. Maybe he is scared of the dark!

Hopefully this won't be an earplug night.

Clinic in Chutzerob went smoothly today. We met some new Christians as well, which is always a plus. We also saw a little boy (Moises Abraam--pretty hefty name to live up to!) who came in last month with a severe cellulitis in his foot who looked 100% better today. He and his parents were very pleased and thankful for Sheri's good care.

We are in the process of getting our health promoter Juan up to speed (no pun intended) on his driving skills. He has had his license for a while but not too much experience. So today I let him drive back, which included a tight driveway turn-around and a steep hill up to the main road. He did it with only a few stall-outs. Once on the road he did great and I let him keep going on the highway. It was a little scary at first as he sped down the hill toward the hairpin turns, but I quickly advised him to put it into second gear to control his speed better. We made it home without a scratch. He told me it was only his second time to drive on the pavement......Now I know how my parents felt teaching me to drive!

Kemmel made a quick trip to Antigua to drop off Glenn and Neva and then to the capital to pick up clinic supplies and meds. He even went grocery shopping for me and brought us home a pizza for dinner. What a guy! Still no canned pumpkin hitting the shelves. I guess we will have to try some of the local pumpkins for our holiday baking. Should be interesting--we have yellow as well as green-fleshed varieties.

Old Stomping Grounds

What a treat for us today to take Sheri to Xela to our old Spanish school to refine her language skills for a couple of weeks. Glenn and Neva went with us, and we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we headed west, climbing to 10,000 ft altitude at Alaska, Guatemala and then descended to 8000 ft where Quetzaltenango (Xela) sits in a high valley. It was fun to look at all of the old colonial buildings of downtown, the beautiful central park and the downtown plaza with its historic Catholic church built in the 1500's. Best of all we got to see all of our friends from church in Zone 1 which has almost doubled since we were there. After church we went to the ever-growing mall and had lunch at Pizza Hut (I know, I know, but it's really much better pizza than the stuff in the States)! Finally we headed over to our old school, Centro Bilingue Amerindia www.languageschool.com.gt. We chatted with Hugo and Elvia, the owners, and caught up on news, introducing them to Sheri. Tourism is extremely low right now, especially in the language schools, so Sheri will have them all to herself until next week. After our visit we continued over to Sheri's host family's house-the same family we stayed with. Dona Elubia was warm and welcoming as ever, and we spent a few minutes catching up with her. Finally, we headed out, leaving Sheri to enjoy her couple of weeks of language classes, feeling a little envious that we couldn't stay too! But it was a beautiful trip through the mountains covered with fields of corn, wheat, cutting flowers and pine trees back to Chichicastenago. Tonight we rest a little and tomorrow morning we go to a thanksgiving service at Mactzul VI.

It's been a good week so far. Tuesday was an education day for our staff and volunteer promoters. They presented posters on childhood vaccines and we did a handwashing demonstration. Sheri posted some more good pictures (and gifted me these!)

www.sheriinguate.blogspot.com

Wednesday, Sheri went out to clinic in Chuguexa, tending to our diabetic population out there with a bonus nutrition class. She thinks it went well, and was a good opportunity, as there were seveal diabetic patients present at the same time. Kind of a group therapy setting.

Kemmel and I stayed back at the "office" (our living room) with Mauri organizing Sunday School education materials and goodies and I worked on our staff education curriculum. We got quite a bit done and I took advantage to read up on some topics I hadn't studied in a while. That's the benefit of teaching--it makes you stay up to date some what.

Yesterday Sheri and I saw patients together at Caris and finished early enough for everyone to go have coffee and dessert with our new missionary couple Glenn and Neva Berkey who are in town looking at housing options. We don't get very many chances to sit and visit with both teams like this very often, so it was a special treat.

Today we headed out to Choacaman IV and saw some of our regulars and several new patients as well. One of my favorite patients has congestive heart failure and we recently started him on digoxin. Well, he also suffers from a hernia and a bum leg from a previous accident. So he decided that he should take some of the new medicine to help the pain, but wasn't getting much relief! I very firmly but gently advised him that the new medicine is a form of poison and is only meant to help his heart but at small doses. He was surprised to learn that it's not effective for all pain, but agreed to stick to the prescribed amount. We upped his dose of Tylenol, and hopefully we will see some pain relief. We wrapped up his visit with a thorough review of all the medicines in his bag. His wife looked relieved!

Tonight we will enjoy dinner out with Glenn and Neva and Sheri at Los Cofrades--Yum!

It's been a nice quiet Sunday today. We did our usual trek up to town "to see what there is to see" (not much) and got back just as Sheri was getting back into town from her week at Clinica Ezell. We had some quick lunch and headed back up for worship services.

Now, we love listening to people sing here, because they all put a lot of spirit into it. But we sat in front a brother today that seemed to have a different metronome setting than everyone else. He could not (or would not) stay with the pack, but rather stayed ahead by about half a beat throughout the entire song. It was a pretty amusing and the family of girls in front of us seemed to be equally entertained. Kemmel even tried tapping out the beat with his hand on his leg to see if the guy would catch on, but no.

After services we chit-chatted with some folks including one little 8 year old boy who has been seeing some specialists in the Capital for a hypoplastic lung. Kemmel asked him how he was doing and what the doctor had said. He stated very matter of fact, that " I am doing some breathing treatments because the doctor says that my lung on this side is too little" showing us with his fingers about 2 inches apart. But he seems to be doing well and will keep praying for God to strengthen him.

Now we are back home enjoying some coffee and pie and catching up on internet world. Everyone have a good week.

Rigt after this post we experience a power outage, so ended the day with going to bed at 7:30pm. :)

Despite having our clinic trumped by a visit from Guatemalan President Colom in Chichicastenango today, we had 7 patients. That's quite the feat considering all of the truckloads of people we saw heading to town (away from our clinic!).

Juan showing the curious on-lookers what he lavaged out of a patient's ear. Always a crowd pleaser!

The ladies who fixed us lunch today--see the smoke in the air????? But is was an excellent and colorful soup with beef, potatoes, guisquil, and pumkin. Yummy! Tomasa on the left is a midwife and was very thankful to receive the gloves we brought her.

These kids pestered me all day for a picture, so I told them they had to count to three in English first, and they did.

Goofing off in the kitchen.

Everyone looks up to Erica(in the middle)--whatever she says, goes! She wanted their picture taken outside.

After clinic, we had a visit from some men from the Mactzul III church to help them petition for some funding to build a church building. This is a church that has been meeting in homes for several years now and has saved enough money to buy land and start buying materials. They still have a significant financial need so they are beginning their petitions to the area churches as well as to the local mayor. They have a special request to send to church in the United States, so they brought all the paperwork today so we can send it by email. We had a good visit together and reviewed their budget. Interestingly, they have to buy 15 trees to supply the lumber they need--somthing you wouldn't think about in the States! They are very organized and have their budget lined out to the penny. After we met, they asked to pray before leaving and prayed for our safety and protection and for all of us to have our faith stregthened.

Ernesto, Sebastian and Tomas--with their serious faces on.