Two separate teams of health science students are in Guatemala over Spring Break this year.  One team consists of nursing and pharmacy students.  The other includes OT and PT students.  Both  team are writing about their experiences.

Team OT/PT
from Grace Cronin & Talia Fayed

“God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called”

Today on March 11th, we spent the morning traveling to the community of Las Conchas on the outskirts of Guatemala City. The houses in this community are a single room with concrete floors, tin roofs and walls, and even blankets serving as dividers. Access to clean water is limited and food is sparse. Upon arrival we split up into 3 teams who each visited with a local family in each sector of the community. My group went to visit Nicole’s family. Nicole is a 3 year old little girl who has problems with her spinal alignment and is poorly nourished due to problems with feeding. As we came to learn more about her family we found out that Nicole has had a very hard life so far, but now is in the care of her aunt and grandmother. She is being raised by her aunt and grandmother because her mother abandoned her. These two women stepped up to the plate to do God’s work and take care of this sweet soul that Nicole is. These women were certainly not equipped to take on caring for a toddler with special needs, but God has certainly picked the right women! We loved getting to spend time with these women and Nicole. We enjoyed playing with Nicole, loving on her and her family, and teaching her stretches for her back and strategies to help her eat and communicate more. We can’t wait to hear of Nicole’s progress and the joy that she will bring to her family and her community.

In the Afternoon, we headed over to meet with Gricelda at Kaeramion. Keramion is a day program for children with special needs that Gricelda and her family have built, literally from the floor up. Gricelda has been led by God to provide care for these children after witnessing the miraculous recovery of her own son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at an early age. This one of a kind program provides a safe place for children to receive services throughout the week. Gricelda approached us with concerns about a young woman named Brenda who has been at the facility for a month and a half. The entire OT/ PT team collaborated to develop a plan that would address Brenda’s needs. Creating a plan that is practical for use in an area that lacks many modern medical resources is not easy but we feel confident with the plan that we put into place and the therapists at the facility are excited about our new ideas. Throughout the day, we were able to visit with and provide recommendations for many of the children at the facility. We ended our trip to Keramion as we have done with each of our trips so far, with our eyes closed and our heads bowed. We prayed for healing and continued strength for the children and their caretakers and then they provided us with a traditional Guatemalan desert, a fried tortilla topped with honey which the locals call ojuela. We plan to return to Keramion tomorrow to complete our missions before heading home at the end of the week.