Mission to Guatemala
from Carolyn and Markus

A team of students, faculty and partners from Belmont University’s School of Occupational Therapy and School of Physical Therapy are ministering in Guatemala during Belmont’s spring break, the seventh year a team has traveled there.

Today we went to Magdalena Milpas Altas, Sacatepequez, to Karamion which is a center for children with disabilities. First we met with the directors, who are husband and wife, and learned all about the center. They started it on their own and gave up everything, including their home, in order to help children. They don’t have any support, but trust in God to provide.  It was great to see such an awesome demonstration of faith and obedience to God’s will. We split into groups to start therapy and worked with children with different types of disabilities: autism, torticollis, Down’s Syndrome, meningitis, and spina bifida. I worked with a little girl with spina bifida with the help of Jessica, PT and some more of the OT/PT team. We worked on prone lying, trunk extension and postural balance reactions on a therapy ball, and ball catching for stability and balance.

My group’s next patient was a boy with torticollis, so our main objective was to work on positioning to stretch the tight muscles on the left side of his neck and strengthen the weak ones on the right. We worked on prone and side-lying with reaching upwards, trunk extension on the therapy ball, and tall kneeling with reaching. It was such an blessing to get hands on experience with children who are so full of joy despite their disability. It really taught me to be grateful for what I have no matter what circumstances I face. After the therapy sessions, we went downstairs and watched as Gloria gave her guitar and case and all the accessories to Daniel, the son of the owners of the center. Then the children of the center gave each of us handmade gifts of bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. It melted my heart that these kids would take the time to make us something and give it to us and ask nothing in return. They have nothing but give everything they have to strangers. What an inspiration to the entire team! We went back upstairs and had lunch with the team and the directors of Karamion. They thanked us for coming and we had a group prayer for them. We thanked them for allowing us into their center and letting us see what all they do. As we left, they gave us sopapillas with honey as a treat. Awesome!

Our next destination was Rosa de Amor Orphanage in San Lucas, Sacatepequez. Some of the team stayed outside to play soccer with the children, while the rest of us went inside and met with the director of the orphanage. We went on a tour of the facility, which was really nice, complete with a library for the children, girls’ and boys’ rooms with bunk beds, a classroom, kitchen, eating area and computer room. The director told us all about the orphanage and introduced us to the children that have special needs, children with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, learning disabilities and a kid who was blind and deaf. We divided into teams and worked with the children. My group worked with a child that was born 4 months premature, has a hearing disability, and is almost completely blind. Amazing thing was that he absolutely adored music and would sing the whole time we were working with him. He loved to hold things up to his ear to hear the sounds they make and feel the vibrations, so we used a guitar and keyboard during his therapy session. His mother and the center are already doing the right things for him, so we just encouraged them to teach him braille and use different textures to identify things, such as keys on a piano. Tamara also gave his mother instruction and tips to help with his difficulty swallowing.  He was such an inspiration to us and a blessing to our hearts. After all the teams were done with therapy, we prayed for the director and the staff and had a group prayer. The whole day was an incredible experience and personally our hearts were filled with love. All in all, it was a fantastic day full of God’s blessings and opportunities to serve.   We are grateful for this opportunity!

Carolyn & Markus