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This is
when we find out if the planning over the past year by
the mission board and the fund raising activities
carried out by the Friends of the Mission were adequate.
We know that this mission will be different than all
others, as plans are being made to split our group and
send a small contingent to the beach town of Hawaii,
Guatemala. This group will join aid workers to bring
needed medical help to victims of Hurricane Stan.
Friday
October 21. After a long day of travel we all arrived at
the airport in Guatemala City and started looking for
others wearing the easily identifiable mission shirts
and the funky hat. When all 45 were rounded up we
loaded a retired school bus with luggage. Our mission
team would follow in a bus followed a truck filled with
our Army guards to the small hotel on the Pan Am Highway
(a narrow two lane road that passes through many Central
American Countries). Our drive from Guatemala City was
a good way to get reacquainted with the country. We saw
a great deal of damage from Hurricane Stan, which
ravaged the area three weeks ago. We’re reminded of the
poverty, hard living conditions, outdoor cooking, smells
of wood stoves, children in dirt yards, women walking
the roads with heavy bundles of wood on their heads and
backs, men walking along carrying their machetes to cut
crops in the fields.
After
finding our hotel rooms we leave for a short drive to
the village of Cuilapa where we will visit the only
hospital in the area. We were not looking forward to
this trip as our memories of last years similar visit
were still with us. Then we left the hospital crying
over the sad condition of the health facility. This year
most of us left with smiles. I guess this is relative,
since several on their first mission couldn’t understand
our happiness. Even though “Property of the Glens Falls
Hospital” was still stenciled on furniture and medical
equipment identifying the source of the discarded
articles, we were encouraged that improvements had taken
place. There was not the smell of sickness, dirty
diapers, and medical waste in the crowded rooms and
patient wards. We did not see the fear of mothers as
they held their very sick infant. There was not that
look from patients, who last year seemed to believe that
we would be the ones to bring them help. The stuffed
animals given to all the children were really
appreciated. All patients enjoyed the magic of seeing
their pictures in the playback mode of our digital
cameras. We believe this difference is in large part due
to a new hospital administration, and the commitment of
President Berger to improve health care in his country.
Our annual hospital visit still helps us realize why we
are here and what is ahead for us in our clinics. Back
on the school bus and off to our “home” and a good meal.
Into bed by 9:30, 5:45 breakfast comes soon!
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| Linda LaBlanc applying
fluoride to a young patient. |
Saturday October 22. After a good breakfast we load the
bus for our 45-minute trip through small villages,
winding mountainous roads, past steamy volcanoes to our
missions site in Nueva Santa Rosa. As our bus and the
ever-present army guards approaches the Cathedral in the
center of the town we see adults waving and children
running after the bus. Once inside the wall that circles
the cathedral and grounds we are met by 15 to 20
Guatemalan people who will help us set up and supply the
clinics, a very large pharmacy and other service areas.
All clinics are set up by 1:00 and all mission members
came to the pharmacy area to count and package
medications under the direction of Mary Sutphen our
pharmacist and Joyce who is in charge of an area where
meds will be counted and prepared for the next week.
Thanks to all the help the pharmacy was ready for
tomorrow and the days ahead. We left Nueva Santa Rosa
at 6:00. After a good dinner there was a meeting for
Joan Noble and Joy Willmen to discuss details for
filling out forms and Whit explained how translators
would be assigned.
Sunday
October 23. Today we arrived at the Cathedral for a
ceremonial Blessing of the mission members. Padre Jose
Solares also blessed each clinic. He is known for using
plenty of water in this ceremony. Some of us did have
wet shirts!
By 8:30
all seven clinics were ready for Glenda, our Guatemalan
employee and great asset to the mission, to open the
huge steel doors to bring in the first 20 patients.
With the help of several local people we had enough
translators for today! So we were off to a good start.
Registration began and patients were sent off to our
Triage Leader Nancy West and her team of Joan Scott,
Wendy Miller and Denise Fried where vitals and histories
were taken and off to the proper clinic for treatment.
The newly initiated colored stickers on forms seem to be
working!
Monday
October 24. Joyce spends her days in the pharmacy using
one pill counting machine and directing several helpers
who write labels and fill envelopes with the dispensed
pills. Whit runs the other machine when two are needed.
So far we are staying nicely ahead of demand! Whit also
directs the cadre of GFMMF translators and those from
Guatemala. While we seem to have many there are never
enough. Miguel Cortes is our senior translator and used
primarily by Dick Cipperly, our team leader and
president of the Mission’s Board, to help with official
business i.e. talking to Guatemala officials and other
local people who seem to constantly visit the clinic. I
am seeing how useful our Guatemalan Lion’s Club
volunteers are with crowd control or taking a volunteer
shopping for items we must buy locally. They also assist
Jim Clark and Linda LaBlanc, Glens Falls Lions, in the
eye clinic.
The
dental clinic is always an exciting place to visit.
Today a husband and wife dental team from Guatemala City
joins Drs. Ed Kampf and Alan Rosell and Mary Cloke their
assistant. It a fast moving group who do mainly
extractions, for some U. S. dentists we are told they do
more extractions in one week than they would normally do
in many years!
Tuesday
October 25. Today I saw Dr. John Dier, a native of
Glens Falls now practicing in Cooperstown, taking a
history from an elderly man dressed in colorful regional
clothing. I noticed he was wearing high dirty rubber
boots. Latter I asked John about that patient and was
told he was 83years old and had walked several hours to
our clinic much of the way through wet streambed. He
said that route was much shorter than following the
road. These stories of people coming from long
distances with large families to see the American
medical people constantly humble me. Quite often we are
able to pay for a “taxi ride” to get people home.
Usually the price is equitant to a dollar or so. Yes
money we donate really gets to the people who need it
most. It is not unusual for many of us to buy shoes at
a local store for young barefoot children. One of our
team leaders, Dave McCarthy, has been nicknamed Saint
Thom McCann for all the donations of shoes he makes to
children!!
Dr.
Nelson Miller, his wife Joanne and daughter Karaline
were working in the Women’s Clinic when I noticed
Karaline is doing much of the translating for her
parents while at the next station Ann White’s translator
is her daughter Wendi. The third member of this team is
Dr. Sitara Choudhury and Karen a nine month pregnant
Guatemalan who has translated for several missions. We
thought her assignment was proper. I also think she
might have hoped Nelson could deliver her baby!
Dr.
Miller spoke of diagnosing a serious condition of a
seventeen-year-old girl if left untreated would be
fatal. We were able to refer her to a surgical center
where her needs will be met.
Wednesday October 26. We are frustrated that our huge
container caring medical equipment to be given to
permanent area clinics and supplies we need shipped in
late August 2005 is still held up in port. We are told
it is there with hundreds of other containers because
dockworkers are dealing with situations caused by the
hurricane. Knowing of this possibility and the special
medicines needed at the coast Mary Sutphen purchased the
additional meds in the Glens Falls area that we carried
with us.
Our
satellite group consisting of Dr. Paul Bachman, his
daughter Sarah the interpreter, Dr. Marty Fried and his
wife Denise a nurse and all-purpose volunteer Nancy
Sutherland spent three days in the storm ravaged coastal
town of Hawaii. Some patients were brought to that
clinic with injuries, but most were suffering from
infections resulting from a compromised village water
and sewer system. The group traveled two hours each way
by four-wheel drive vehicle escorted by military
crossing washed out mountain roads, through river beds
and finally to a primitive car ferry for a 20 minute
trip through a canal. One day the ferry ran a ground
and fouled the outboard engine. After getting off the
mud shoal the ferry drifted while the “10 year old
captain” and the military cleaned the propeller and got
the vessel going. We had another satellite group,
consisting of Dr. Teresa Chang, a Guatemalan doctor and
all purpose volunteer Lee Nagel, sent for a day to a
remote mountainous area about 20 miles and one hour from
the main clinic. When the group arrived they saw about
400 Mayan people, twice as many as expected or could be
seen. This just reminds me how necessary our work is in
this part of Santa Rosa Department. While many patients
come to us from further away this particular group do
not ever leave their village so services must be brought
to them.
I have
enjoyed my work with the translators. Each day we have
at least two Mormon Elders who are on their 24-month
church mission. They live in small communities around
the clinic area, teaching children and doing community
service. They were wonderful to work with and how they
stood out wearing bright white shirts and neckties. Two
or three women from the British Embassy joined us as
translators for several days. The several bilingual
people from Guatemala City rounded out this very
important group who joined Anna Miller, Evelyn Padilla,
Anastasias Siplin and Wendi White, our mission
translators.
Thursday October 27. Today Joyce was, for the moment,
caught up in the pharmacy and able to spend some time
working in the Woman’s clinic. She did some routine lab
tests and record filling. Maybe more time there another
year.
Whit,
Sally Hoy, Dick Cipperly, Dave the cobbler, and Miguel
got away for a short visit to the Padre’s school.
Dick’s purpose was to see improvements made from last
year and present a very generous check for use in the
on-going building of the school from Glens Falls’ Christ
Church Methodist. As retired area educators Sally and I
really enjoyed our visit, we can’t believe how much is
done with so little in such crowded space. Does anyone
want to purchase and deliver a used school bus to the
school? This seems to be a real need and will be used
to bring children beyond walking distance to school.
The
work of all the volunteers is fast paced and demanding.
Dr. Angela Condy, Doreen Shoemaker and Janine Cantalupo
in the pediatric clinic all handle mothers and children
so well, very few tears even when shots are given. Andy
Sutphen a student from Ballston Spa is so eager to
please in the pharmacy, where Betty Gilly-Nassivera
directs us all and gets the work done. Nurse
Practitioners Sandy Rexhouse and Laura Barelski are
veterans to the mission, and plan to return to the next
fall trip.
Tonight
we were the guests of the governor of Santa Rosa at a
“typical Guatemalan barbeque”. This was a wonderful
opportunity to thank our hosts, and many of the local
people who help us so much. The fellowship, food,
singing, and dancing were a great way to say good-by, as
tomorrow we pack up the clinics and head to Guatemala
City.
Friday
October 28. As we pack up we all know that our time and
resources were appreciated by hundreds of kind and
loving people who need the services we bring. We also
know that this is the last time we will all be together
as a group. Tomorrow several people will be flying back
to the states and their homes. Some of us will say a
few more days to visit other parts of this truly
beautiful developing country.
Saturday October 29. We are joining others for a day
trip to Antigua, the ancient capitol that was quite
recently uncovered beneath the rubble from a volcano.
The city’s architecture is unique its native people in
bright colored dress are selling their crafts on the
streets. There are fine restaurants and plenty of
entertainment. Maybe this is why people from all over
the world come as visitors or to find a retirement
paradise!
Saturday, our final night was spent at a formal ball
presented by the British and Commonwealth Association of
Guatemala. What an experience after coming out of the
environment we lived in all week. Many Consulates were
represented as well as prominent international
businessmen. Thirty-five Glens Falls Mission members,
the largest group present, had a great time. The
British Ambassador introduced us. Dick Cipperly made us
proud as he addressed the group and thanked the British
Embassy for the help they continue to give our cause.
We left
on Sunday with about thirty of our group. Most of who
arrived home Sunday night. We were among nine who
missed our last flight and spent a night in Atlanta.
Actually we made the gate on time after being held up in
the re-entering the country process only to find that
our Delta flight had left the airport fifteen minutes
early!
Now
that we are home and reflecting on our mission we are
left with a wonderful feeling for our fellow mission
participations. So many of them gave up so much to be a
part of this effort. So many area individuals and
businesses have given so much to our mission and
continue to do so year after year. We will always
remember the care and understanding our medical
providers give to such helpless people. What a
privilege to be part of the Glens Falls Medical Mission.
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