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!
Update: Click image to view larger size.

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!

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.

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

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.
The most influential part of the trip for me was when Renee and I were treating a child named Cesar. The therapists in Guatemala explained that Cesar had little head control and he never rolled over or sat up. We decided to see what he could do so we grabbed toys with buttons to push, with music and lights to provide motivation for Cesar to complete such tasks. With some patience, time, and interesting toys, Cesar did many things he could never do before (sitting up, reaching for toys, rolling over, on hands and knees)! I learned that patience is a wonderful yet challenging skill that as a therapist, I must continue to develop. As we asked the Guatemalan therapists to try the treatment we had showed them, the looks on their faces were priceless when Cesar did the exact tasks he had done for Renee and me.
At the beginning of the week, I had made the analogy that the week was like Thanksgiving Dinner – many hours of preparation but only twenty minutes for the meal to be gone. Every one of us put so much time into preparing for this trip yet the week was over in a flash! I had no idea I would learn the lessons that I did in such a short time. This was my first Guatemalan mission trip and it will not be my last. This entire experience left me humbled yet hungry to return. The Guatemalans pressed a lasting image on my heart and when I left the country, I knew I would be back. I look forward to planning next year’s trip with the Belmont team and I hope and pray that our relationship with the people of Guatemala and The Shalom Foundation will grow stronger and will become “mucho bountiful.”
I want to thank all of you who supported me and for all of those who prayed for our mission team while we embarked on a journey to do God’s work for those in need. And to the team: I want to thank each of you for inspiring me to be the best therapist, student, and friend I can be. Each of you brought your own little something to this trip and I thank you for all the laughs, tears, and hard work that were shared between us.
~ Erin

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!

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.