2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala
Yesterday,there was a woman at the soup kitchen complaining of pain in her arm, so I went and got Marsey. She asked the lady a lot of questions but we weren’t able to really pinpoint what the problem was, but we were able to give her an exercise to do at home that might help. She came in again and I asked her how she was doing. She said she had done the exercise we recommended at home and she had increased mobility and decreased pain already.
She was so grateful.
-Jack Turner

2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala
This afternoon the local PT school (La Universidad Mariano Galvez) invited us to come and give a few guest lectures. Gwen, Judy, and Susan gave a lecture on the Interdisciplinary Treatment Approach and how occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech pathology work together hand in hand. After the lecture a couple of the university students commented that in their clinical sites there is no corroboration between the teams. They both commented on how looking forward to being able to make a difference in their own clinics upon graduation. Great to see forward thinking!
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2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 – Today we split into 2 groups again for the morning. Half of us went to the Shalom school to talk to 9th graders about medical careers, goals and motivation, and exercise and hygiene. Many of the students were shy at first but with some encouragement we were able to get them to participate with the exercises we were teaching them as well as answer some of our questions (with the promise of candy of course). On our way out, a class of 4th graders was playing a game for their PE class of “Gato y Raton” and we were all openly welcomed to play. The other half of us went to the children’s hospital. Rachel Zoeller gave a presentation on Hemophilia and Asthma to the staff at the hospital. In the afternoon, we all went to the University. The 2nd year PT students presented on vertebral disorders and the 1st year PT students presented on Laser therapy. It was a great privilege to speak to the students and faculty, and to learn about the similarities and differences in our PT programs. After the University, we all went to the soup kitchen, The Lord’s Kitchen, and served over 500 people there. Donnie Dalton and Maria Jose (our hostess and translator) had the great privilege of leading 2 men to Christ. And a few of us prayed for a man struggling with drug addiction. It is amazing to see the utter poverty that the Guatemalan people live in every day, yet, they are so joyful and grateful for what they have. The final destination of the evening was an authentic Guatemalan restaurant called Kacao. Guatemalan cuisine “fue excellente!” Click images to view larger versions.

2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala
Monday March 9, 2009 – Our first full day…and it definitely was full! We were put into smaller groups, and were very busy! One group went to the Universidad Mariano Gavelz, which is the university for the physical therapy students. They were given a tour of the school led by its director, and were able to listen to a presentation led one of the students at the university. The school also has a clinic, and hopefully a group will be able to see patients sometime during the trip.
The other members of the team were at the Children’s Hospital. They were all given a tour of the facility led by the director of the rehabilitation area of the hospital. The Belmont OT and PT students observed treatment by the hospital staff and OT and PT students. The clinicians assisted with some treatments; one of the PTs on our team gave a presentation on NDT, a specific treatment technique. This year we have our first speech therapist on the team; she also observed the therapists and assisted with treating the children and parent education.
This year we had the awesome opportunity to volunteer at The Lord’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen that serves approximately 400 people in a two hour period each day. Some served food, others washed dishes, wiped tables, and cleaned the facility after dinner.
Even though our days will be packed, we know it will be worthwhile at the end of the week. Adios!
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2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala
We arrived safe and sound in Guatemala! The trip was long, but fun as we got to know each other a little better on the plane. We are staying at the Nazarene Center in Guatemala City. Our accommodations are very nice and clean. Even though we were tired, we made time to reflect on the trip and set our goals for the week as a group. We hope to be of service to the people of Guatemala and to do good works for the community. We want to thank everyone who has prayed for us and helped us to get here.
Thank you, and lots of love!

2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala
When we arrived in Guatemala and looked around we began to get a feel for the extreme poverty that many people lived in. It was hard to imagine how 11 people and 20 tubs of supplies in 5 days could really make a difference. However one day while we were treating, a little girl came in with butterfly AFO’s. The therapists told us that those AFOs had been brought down by last year’s team. Later in the week when treating a child with severe RA, we were discussing with the therapists the importance of working on his respiration and they brought out bubbles that were also brought by the team last year. I realized that we will never know the full impact of our trip and that it will have an effect long after we have gone home. The cultures of scarcity and plenty were brought home to us when the therapist showed us a piece of IV tubing that they were using as a therapy tool. She said “To you this is just trash. You just throw it away. But for us-we use it for therapy”. They are incredibly resourceful therapists with the little that they have and show great compassion for the children they care for.

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala
In preparation for our medical mission trip to Guatemala, there was so much organizing and planning involved. Our group started months in advance meeting to figure out how to go about putting the trip together. Since this was only the 2nd year that a group went, there were a lot of holes that needed to be filled from the previous year. Thank goodness for so many caring people who wanted to support this medical mission trip. The prayers and support made everything go so smoothly. One week before the departure date, we began to pack all of the donations (toys, clothes, medical supplies, scrubs, candy, and orthotic equipment). Little by little our tubs were filling and before we knew it….. all the tubs were full. And the funny thing is after we filled our tubs we still received a sewing machine and had more supplies on the way. I would have never thought we had more supplies than we could have brought down.
Going to Guatemala was such an enriching experience. Everyone at the hospital was extremely welcoming and warm to our arrival. When we arrived to the hospital on the first day, I was amazed at the limited resources that the hospital was working with. Being in Guatemala day after day, made me appreciate my own culture and blessing we take advantage of in the U.S. Throughout the week, we would ask what supplies would be appreciated for next year and the only response was for us to return. That meant more to them than any supplies they could have received.
Many memorable experiences were made throughout the week. There was a brother and sister who had a rare disease that was unknown of how to treat. And another set of twins with an unknown condition that affected both of the girls the same. I was lucky enough to perform an evaluation of these two young girls. And at the end of the eval, they taught us how to do the “moto” dance. We all danced the cool new dance to Guatemalan music. Both of these experiences were a once in a lifetime chance that I was lucky enough to witness and will always remember.
The most valuable lesson I learned was to appreciate what you have as little as it may be because that, in and of itself, is a blessing. On Wednesday, our group went to church and the service was on perspective. The pastor and his wife shared that no matter how big your problem may seem at that time, someone else would love to switch spots with you and change problems. The church service summed up the whole experience in Guatemala. I felt so lucky to get the chance to take this trip and even though I had a million things (problems) on my mind at the time, someone would have loved to switch places with me. It is all about perspective. What an appropriate church service.
To tie our experiences together, we had nightly devotionals to reflect our own perspective and experience. Every person in the group brought their own personal reflection and enlightenment to share with everyone. I hope this medical mission team grows every year and I hope that our follower’s experiences are as enriching as mine were. I hope to return next year and visit the friends that I made and hope to keep in touch with.
~Emily

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala
This trip to Guatemala was my first mission trip (or any trip) outside of the States. To say the least, it was one of the most wonderful times of my life. Considering I am still a student (a 2nd year at that), I came into the week believing that I didn’t have much to offer to the therapists and children in the hospital; however, after the first day I realized that just being side by side with them was enough. Touching each child’s hands was in itself a simple act, but it was much more than that to me…it was seeing that these children needed love and by touching their hands, I was showing them that we loved them – love is a universal need each of us search for in our daily lives.

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala
The devotional book was a blessing for us all and we hope to apply not only in our mission as physical and occupational therapists, but in every moment of our daily lives. Yesterday morning we realized our time here was unfortunately coming to an end, and we wanted to make the most of it on our last day with both the children and the therapists. There was a surprise celebration for Emily’s birthday in which the therapists shared their own tradition of what a birthday celebration was like in Guatemala (minus the pinata). Our final moments spent with the children and therapists reminded us to be grateful for the things that God has already and will bless us with. We will always remember the memories and the relationships developed throughout the week with the therapists, children, and our team.
We had the opportunity to spend our last afternoon in the historical city of Antigua. We visited the ruins of the beautiful monastery and roamed the streets of the Artisans market. Many of us realized we are not too savvy with our bargaining skills; however it was a good learning experience.
The whole trip was a success and all of us are hoping to come back and continue to strengthen our relationship with the people of Guatemala. Thanks for all of your support and prayers. We will see you soon! Hasta Luego!

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala
Last night we were able to attend a church service that really tugged at all of our group members´ heart strings. Considering there were Spanish and English speaking people attending the service, the pastor and his wife provided a bilingual message for us. We were also blessed to worship in song in Spanish and English. The take home message was that our “perspectiva” must magnify God so that our struggles will be “light and momentary.” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
This morning the OT group had the opportunity to visit with the children at the school. After enjoying the scenery on the bus ride there, we were quickly bombarded by young children anxious to receive the candy and gifts that we brought. We observed the end of a devotional service at the school´s chapel which also serves as the church´s sanctuary. We met Mark Smith, headmaster of the school and pastor of the church, who introduced us to our translator, a senior student named Oral. Oral led us to the classroom full of students waiting to hear about Occupational Therapy. We explained what OT is and had them participate in different activities that would simulate a possible OT session. The students enjoyed the competition that we set up with them and had to race to put on a shirt with one arm tied behind their back. Afterwards, we took a tour of the school and church and encountered many other classrooms full of kids who we gladly gave more treats and candy. In the afternoon, we created a tripod finger splint for a child´s thumb. The child was born with an extra digit and after its removal, his thumb was prone to excessive bending; the splint´s purpose was to prevent excessive bending and keep the thumb in proper alignment for functional use.
The PT group had the opportunity to meet with the new hospital director and she stated she was very grateful for the services our team was providing and hoped our relationship would become stronger. The interaction we had today was mucho bountiful with both the children and therapists we were working with. There was a multitude of demonstrations of creative treatment techniques we shared that sparked the therapists´ motivation to practice and incorporate into their own treatments. The children showed a positive and significant response to the treatments we were providing; some children demonstrated movements that they had never shown before in rehab. This afternoon, we provided a presentation about the pathology of Guillan-Barre and its symptoms, progression, and treatment to both the OT and PT therapists.
Evening devotionals involving the book “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” have inspired us to think about how the human body is anatomically presented and how it´s associated with the spiritual Body of Christ. Tonight we will be discussing Motion and how it relates to spiritual strength and endurance.

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala

	To say the least, today was the busiest day so far. We really got our hands dirty and jumped in helping out treating the kids. We saw a lot of children with many of the common diagnoses we see in the states, but we also saw a significant number of children with rare diagnoses. The PTs and OTs split up and helped out in the two different therapy gyms. The OTs collaborated with the Guatemalan OTs and OT students in treating patients and coming up with solutions for seating. The Belmont OT students were able to practice their musical talents and Spanish with the Guatemalan children with the donated musical instruments. The children loved the instruments as well as the attempt to communicate using our version of Spanish. In PT we were able to assist in treating many patients. In addition we were asked to evaluate two sets of siblings with rare genetic disorders. It was a great experience for the student to brush up on their manual muscle testing. In addition we had one set of twins teach us all a Guatemalan dance. We used the dance to be able to observe their functional abilities and muscle strength, in addition to testing our own coordination skills and rhythm. We continue to be humbled by the knowledge, beauty and caring of this culture. We are heading to church tonight to share in worship within a different culture. Thanks so much for your donations. They are all greatly appreciated by the people here. In addition we appreciate your continued prayers. Click pictures on the left to view larger size.

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala

	Last night we had a traditional Guatemalan meal inside a ginormous hut. After a good nights sleep we headed out for our first full day of work. Half the group began work at the rehab hospital and observed and participated in the treatment of 9 kids. They worked with sensory stimulation and developmental activities. The other half of the team went to the Shalom School. We attended chapel time for the school and participated in the singing and devotional. We did a presentation to about 40 students who will be graduating soon regarding the profession of physical therapy. We had the students interact with our demonstrations. We were able to deliver nap mats, books, school supplies, and toys to the school. We returned to the hospital for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon presenting and discussing clinical cases with the staff of the hospital. We delivered the donated sewing machine and they were very excited about doubling their potential to make braces and splints for the kids. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Feel free to send us comments (use the comments link below). Click photos to view larger size.

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala

	We made it!….Everything went smooth and we had no troubles getting through customs. Even though many of us didn´t get much sleep from anticipation we are all definitely feeling the exhaustion from the effects of travel. When we arrived we loaded up the bus and made our way straight to the hospital, distributed the donations and determined which facility they would go to. Our team was given a tour of the hospital which is for children up to age 12. We got to meet with a few of the therapist we will be working with and directors of the hospital. Everybody was very welcoming and appreciative for the work we will be doing in the upcoming week. We then took an exciting bus ride and got to feel the rush of Guatemala traffic on the way to the hotel. We are now resting up and preparing for our first Guatemalan dinner. We will keep you updated daily throughout the week. Click images to view larger size.

2008 Mission Trip to Guatemala
An eleven member team of Belmont University students and faculty are serving rehabilitation hospitals in Guatemala over Spring break. The group plans to provide physical and occupational therapy to the needs of the local hospital as well as train the hospital staff in up-to-date knowledge and treatment techniques. The students will also have the opportunity to visit a local school and inspire students to pursue health professional goals.
At the end of their mission service work, the group plans to visit the historic city of Antigua, Guatemala.
There are many Thank You’s to pass along: The Shalom Foundation played a major role in organizing the logistics and on-sight coordination of this medical mission trip. In addition the team would like to recognize the College of Health Sciences and Nursing, Gabhart scholarship fund as well as individual family, friends, and churches.
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