Snapshots of Our Day

Today was a cold, windy, cloudy day with teams out in Mactzul I, Panajxit and our central office in Chichicastenango.  Here are a few snapshots of the day.
We had a good turnout at our new central clinic out in Mactzul with patients coming from several different communities.

Cesybel using our new blood pressure cuffs donated by Debra Blessner--they are anti-shock!

 One of the local church elders came by to see how things were going.  We enjoyed talking about his machete and local superstitions like people who wander around in the the night looking to chop of heads of unfortunate souls who stay out too late!

Brother Pedro Calel sporting his machete--"handy for whatever might present itself in the road like dogs or snakes or other menaces!"

We had Sheri with us doing great patient education today on everything from ear wax removal at home, prenatal care, and diabetic diet, to diarrhea prevention and nutrition and hygiene.  Our intern Mitch Ramsey is getting to be a pro at seeing our patients, taking special care to describe just how bad the metronidazole will taste and how to get it down!  Apparently being a patient himself helps a doctor be a little more empathetic! 
The junior high classes going on next to our clinic were full of about 15 kids.  Not bad for first year.  There appear to be about 7 girls enrolled, which makes us so happy to see.  They start a 1:00 and were on their recess when we headed out.

The junior high parking lot.  Notice they have no qualms parking in front of the clinic door.  I'm going to have to get a no parking sign!

Kemmel and Cesar (our ABC coordinator) have been working on ABC applications for new families/kids and getting everyone set up with school supplies for the new year.  It's a hectic job with lots of phone calls involved and coordination of 14 different churches, but they have pretty good system going on.

This handsome guy came by to get his picture taken for his ABC sponsorship application.

We found out as well, that our patient with breast cancer, Agustina passed away this morning.  She and her husband are Christians but the rest of their family is not, so we will pray for consolation for her husband and children and also for the rest of the family to come to know Christ, to have the same hope of resurrection one day. 

Gaspar got this shot of neighbors coming by to visit the family and leave grain sacks full of donated food for Agustina's family.

Invited Guests

Congratulations Tomasa Chan Mejia! 

We got to be the invited guests to a special lunch for one of our graduating scholarship students.  Tomasa Chan Mejia from Xepocol had us and Dra. Sandra and several extended family over for a nice lunch before church.  We enjoyed some good company and food and then worshiped together with the local church. Her family was so thankful for the scholarship and the support from Health Talents and her church and family.


More hot tamalitos, anyone?

 

Good eats!



I'm always impressed that they can cook for 20+ people on such a compact space! Tamalitos, rice, water for beverages, chile.

Open fire pit cooking for the chicken guisado.



The road we took to Xepocol--we should send this to Mitsubishi and Toyota for a 4x4 commercial idea! You kind of need to use 4-Low on this one.

 

Grocery Shopping

There are a lot of things that are difficult to find in our little neck of the woods, but fresh meat and produce are not some of them.  Grocery shopping has always been one of my (Lisa's--not Kemmel's!) favorite things to do and it is even more fun here in the market.  We have so many fruits, vegetables and interesting things here and at fantastic prices!  While back in the States, it was painful to buy broccoli at $2.99 a pound.  In Chichicastenango, a head of broccoli as big as your head costs $0.50 and a cabbage bigger than your head costs $0.60.   We are truly blessed around here and can't claim to be suffering on the mission field when it comes to food buying!

Our butcher and his wife.  You always get fresh meat with this guy.  None of that scary packaged stuff from the grocery store that turns on you after two days.

One of our many fruit vendors who also sells fruit cups for $0.60!  It's also the start of mango season--yummy!

Avocado sesason has started!  And looks like strawberries  are good right now--just be sure you clean all those pesky amoebas off first!

Mangos on the far left, oranges, cuchines, and zapotes. Here is a good website for Guatemalan botanical info if you are interested: Maya Ethnobotany

Blue corn tortillas.  Here they call them black tortillas--a real treat as they are softer.  Tortillas are sold by the Quetzal. So Q1 (about $0.12) will get you 4 tortillas.

Just one of the endless rows of vendors on Sunday market day.  Notice the knife salesman peddling to the produce lady.

Recycled School Building

Old Mactzul Area elementary school building,  with new doors, windows.

For a long time now we have had our eye on an old abandoned school building out in the Mactzul area here in Chichicastenango. It used to be the elementary school for the entire Paxot and Mactzul region and was constructed probably 75-80 years ago, with newer construction about 70 years ago.
Many of the towns' elders have told us they studied 1st or 2nd grade there until they had to start working.

First elementary school (the old, old school) building--in the process of demolition in preparation for new classrooms.

 It caught our attention because it's very centrally located to 7-8 communities and has great drive-up access and sturdy construction with windows on all sides of the building for good lighting.  We decided to approach some of the area church members to see if they could bring up the idea to the local town council about letting us use it for a weekly clinic in the area. After several months of deliberation, the school committee, made up of representatives of 7 different communities decided to let us use it.
 We also got enthusiastic support from the area churches in the form of money for remodeling and representation at the the committee meetings. In December we were informed that they had also given permission to a Catholic organization to use the space for a much needed junior high school.

These guys know how to decorate!

 At first we were concerned that we would lose our space, but they assured us that we would be able to share, and that the School administration would be building additional classrooms to accommodate their needs.
So yesterday we had a joint inaugural prayer service led by the area churches of Christ, the Catholic church, Health Talents and the local council members in an effort to show unity in our desire to serve the Mactzul area.

School Council and new teachers.

Kemmel addressing the crowd and giving thanks for the the use of the building.

Area Priest thanking the council for the use of the building for education purposes.

Our beloved brother Pedro Calel testifying to the ministry/service of  Health Talents in the area.

Nice day for a inauguration

 It was well attended by several families of Mactzul I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and Rio Mactzul.  And this Friday we will attend our first clinic out there.
We were given the keys to one large class room space and another smaller room which will be perfect for private medical consults and dental attention, with a covered porch where patients can wait.
The junior high has also begun enrolling students, and already we have been informed of two young ladies who were going to drop out of school after 6th grade, as the nearest junior high was 1 1/2 hour's walk, but have decided to take advantage of the new opportunities here in their town!
We are honored to be a part of this re-purposing of a historic building and pray that God is honored by both the health care and educational efforts going on here.

Local church leaders who helped us get access to the building

Our push for cervical cancer screenings in the area has really taken off this month. The trucks are packed to the gills with our regular mobile clinic supplies as well as our rustic GYN setup.

Maury, Cesy, Angelica and Dra. Sara at the Chutzerob I Iglesia de Cristo

Me, Cesy, Sheri and Maria in Mactzul I--Nothing like pelvic exams on a cold rainy day! (I borrowed this pic from Sheri--thanks!)

 We have four mobile women's health clinics scheduled this month, and the ladies have been very receptive.  A big thanks to Sheri for going out and giving classes on the need for cancer screening.  She has lined up several communities for us who are ready with a list of ladies signed up already!   Yesterday Sheri and I went out with Cesy and Maria to Mactzul I.  It was a great day!  Sara and the girls tackled Chutzerob on Wednesday with great results as well.

Our massage table/mobile exam table, outfitted with the GYN package.

Vinegar, flashlight, cervical swabs and speculums--cheap and effective!

 It is still shocking sometimes to find women in their 40s and 50s who have never had a pap smear or any kind of pelvic exam.  It's frustrating is when they tell you they have had a pap before, but the doctor/nurse lost the sample, so they never found out the result.   And even more disappointing is seeing patients like the 47 year old woman we saw this week with advanced cervical cancer who can only be offered palliative care now.

High-level disinfection station.  A series of washes and bleach solutions for on-the-field disinfection of instruments.

Tight spaces in the Sunday school room, but it worked.  

The new rapid screening test we are offering (VIAA) has been well received, and the ladies are more than pleased when we give them the results on the spot with a written report to take home, not needing a follow-up appt. or a phone call in a month.  And the best part is, they were able to walk to clinic rather than pay for a ride into town!
It's been a good start to the year and we all happy to be a part of this work.  Thanks to all of our supporters who make this mobile service possible for our rural patients!

Moral support--Everyone sharing their past experiences with the ones who are new to this.

Back to School

It's back to school week and everyone is flying around getting ready, buying school supplies and getting into clinic to heal up those lingering respiratory infections, gastrointestinal ills and scabies outbreaks! This week Kemmel and Manuel offered to help move several of the scholarship and  kids to Guatemala City as they get settled into "la U"  (the University of San Carlos).  They filled two trucks full of college kid stuff and five anxious-to-get-there college kids and headed off to the big city.  Thankfully, they are all staying in the same guest house, so it wasn't too crazy.  These kids will be part of a student body of approximately 200,000.  The stats from 2013 reported by Emisoras Unidas were 170,000 students enrolled at USAC,  and they expect to surpass the 200,000 mark for 2015.  The downside of attending this free government-run university is there are reports of budget shortages as always and the threat of strike days from faculty and student body, interrupting the school year.  On the bright side, it is still the university you want to go to if you are studying medicine, dentistry or nursing, as it has the most rigorous pre-admission testing.  So, we pray for the best for them and hope there are few interruptions in their school year as they begin training to be future healthcare providers with us.

It's good to be back!  We had a great time in Arizona and Texas braving the cold weather together with family, killing our diets and getting rested up. Let's just say we probably shouldn't eat any more dessert for about 6 months!  But we jumped into January and are enjoying the surge of will power that accompanies this time of year. 
Our patients are also feeling the heat after a month of county fair/Christmas/New Year's frivolity.  Almost all of the diabetics came in with blood sugar in the 300s and having run out of pills more than two weeks ago, despite us reminding everyone to make sure they get seen in December to get enough pills to make it through the holidays. Live and learn...  We did have a couple of folks walk the straight and narrow who came in with great, almost normal sugar levels.  One lady told me about her desire to stay healthy and stick to her diet.  I asked her how old she is and she blurted out "27" and then caught herself and said "57" and laughed.  We decided that was her soul age!
We hope everyone has a great 2015 and wish you great success in your New Year's Resolutions.  Today's devotional message from our co-worker Enrique was a good goal to add to this year's list:
 I Peter 3:8-9 (The Living Bible version):
⁸ And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. ⁹ Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t snap back at those who say unkind things about you. Instead, pray for God’s help for them, for we are to be kind to others, and God will bless us for it.