Guatemala, you stole my heart.
Oh sweet child, with your tattered, stained clothes covering your swollen belly and itching, patterned skin
Still your muddy feet run with playful strides
Still your giggles echo through dusty airs
Your eyes speak a million words, Oh sweet child
This morning I awoke in my own bed, wrapped in fresh, cozy blankets. My feet touched the tiled floor as I made my way to the kitchen. I easily turned on the coffee maker and brewed one single cup of coffee. The shower ran with warm, clean water just footsteps from my room. Every morning begins like this, and yet today felt different. Today the blankets were extra soft, the floor shinier, the coffee sweeter, and the water fresher as the beads ran down my head. After spending a short time in Guatemala working with impoverished and underserved communities it’s the simple things in life you realize aren’t so simple after all. My appreciation for all that I have has grown immensely.
The roaring rains took vengeance upon the tin roof waking me before my alarm clock. I was too excited to go back to sleep thinking of what the day would bring, as it was going to be our first clinic in Esperanza Tunica. The skies took pity on us and soon the rain cleared just in time for us to begin our drive. The team piled into a yellow school bus. I couldn’t help feeling like a child on the first day of school; excited, curious, and a bit nervous of what was ahead. We drove on bumpy unpaved roads and soon enough came upon fields of corn with thatched roofed huts scattered throughout, smoke bellowing from within. We had arrived in Esperanza Tunica, the villagers already lined up at the doors awaiting clinic to begin. Curious, barefoot children gathered closely and stared as we unpacked our supplies; one with a large gash in his foot.
As the day went on the common ailments revealed the challenges of village life. Headaches, back pain, and gastritis were a reflection of dehydration, hard physical labor, poor nutrition and sometimes parasites. One child after another was seen with complaints of an itching rash…scabies had plagued almost each village we visited. The child with the gash in his foot? Well, a cut from a machete used to help clear land for agriculture and building. Even at a young age children learn the physical labors of village life. The day-to-day takes all your efforts, leaving little to no time for leisure.
The Q’eqchi’ villagers have limited access to medical care, living often many hours from any type of medical clinic and even further from any hospital. Combine physical distance and difficult terrain with limited access to transportation and money, and treatment for life-threatening conditions often becomes impossible. Not to mention a great language barrier exists, as most of these villagers speak only Q’eqchi’, while the official language of Guatemala is Spanish.
The difficulties these villagers face is great. However, I witnessed the commitment among the health promoters and leaders, with whom we collaborated, to create change within their communities. Health promoters are villagers who receive special health training through GVH and speak both Q’eqchi’ and Spanish. The goal is to empower them with health knowledge and skills to administer simple cares to other villagers when appropriate, as well as to promote health prevention within the community. For example, on part of the trip I was able to participate in special trainings for the health promoters, which taught them how to give nebulizer treatments, prevent burns and treat minor burns when they do occur, recognize emergency situations and when to seek emergency medical treatment. Juanita, GVH’s Guatemalan nurse-in-training, did a fantastic job conducting these health trainings in collaboration with a local health center, Jennifer Hoock, and the rest of our team from the United States and Guatemala. It was exciting to see the health promoters completely engaged, participating fully with hands on learning, and practicing their new skills using the “teach-back” method to demonstrate their understanding.
The education we were able to engage villagers in was great and I think a vital element in the work we did. With the collaboration of Lesbia and Julio, native Q’eqchi’ speakers, who work with GVH, we were able to conduct group educational sessions on common ailments in the communities. It really puts an emphasis on understanding why these ailments are prevalent and what changes they can make with the resources they do have to lessen their effect or prevent them in the first place. I really liked this approach as it further empowers the villagers to play an active role in their own health. Women’s health education is also an extremely important tool we were able to teach and emphasize. We saw many women with large families, up to 14 children even. Not only is this dangerous to the mother, but it is also a real struggle for families economically. Juanita and our providers played an integral role in educating women on reproductive health and making several different options of contraception available to them. Many of the women’s husbands were also able to participate in the discussion of contraception with their partner and many were open to its use, which was great!
There were so may eye opening experiences on this trip that I could go on for much longer. I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated and hope to join the group again in the future. The vision of Guatemala Village Health is truly selfless. A unique organization, which aims to empower communities with the knowledge and skills they need to eventually maintain health programs with people from their own communities. The collaboration between so many different individuals from around the world, in three different languages was another incredible feat. Bringing together people who speak all different languages and come from all different cultural backgrounds, but have a common goal and work seamlessly with each other was amazing to experience. I will forever keep a special place in my heart for these teammates at GVH. A special thank you to Carol Weisbecker, Carolyn Bain, and Jennifer Hoock for bringing such an opportunity into my life. There is more work to be done and it is amazing to know a special group of people who are willing to go to a foreign land and try their very best to help those less fortunate.
