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.
Throughout the trip I realized that there are many things that transcend language and cultural differences such as a smile, the joy of holding a child, basketball, candy, a desire to help, dancing (both on and off the table), laughter, and most importantly God’s love.