Yes, I am still out there. I am happy to report that the semester is over and I am now a graduate of the Edgewood College School of Nursing! The ceremony was last Sunday, and I now have a beautiful black diploma cover. The diploma will be coming sometime in the spring after the registrar's office verifies all of our grades and graduation requirements, etc. Something to look forward to.
Officially we graduate on January 10th, and I will take my nursing boards sometime after that. In the mean time I will start working as a graduate nurse in the ICU at Meriter Hospital on January 12th. Something else to look forward to.
I will miss Edgewood, but will still have some contact there, at least for the short term. I hope to be able to go back and speak to next year's group of Guatemala students, and I am meeting with Chris Bell to talk about some ideas for projects for next summer's trip next week, plus a couple of other things may be brewing. Who knows what will come up next. Stay tuned.
I am going to try to keep up a little better with the posts than I have in the recent past. Maybe I can post some of the info I have gathered about global health, water, sanitation, hygiene, or I can fill in some of the things I did this past semester in clinicals. If anyone is still out there, let me know if any of these things might interest you. I still have Guatemala on my mind, but this can now really be a much broader blog. After all, the title does say Nathan in Nursing, and I am one big step closer to being a nurse now.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
My how time flies. I must apologize for the great delay in updating this blog, but I have been rather busy with classes and work.
I do have some exciting news. Hand washing has made it to the U.S. Yes, this semester I will have the opportunity to bring the hand washing clinic to Madison. A classmate of mine has a connection with Wingra School here in Madison, and she mentioned that the school is looking for some projects to do related to health etc. I, of course, volunteered the hand washing thing we did with schools in Guatemala, and the school is interested. CLEAN HANDS AROUND THE WORLD! That may become my new mantra, I don't know yet. Just trying it on for size.
Anyway, this is just one of many exciting things going on this semester. I absolutely love the public health semester. If only I had know about this years ago. I am doing a thing called Participatory Photo Mapping as part of my clinical with the Public Health Department of Madison Dane County. For more info on PPM, check out http://www.la.wisc.edu/ppm/. It is really a neat idea, and the kids we took around last week to take pictures of their neighborhood seemed to really get into it. This week we get to talk to them about the photos they took, why they took them, and what they think the photos say about their neighborhood. We'll see how it goes.
I do have some exciting news. Hand washing has made it to the U.S. Yes, this semester I will have the opportunity to bring the hand washing clinic to Madison. A classmate of mine has a connection with Wingra School here in Madison, and she mentioned that the school is looking for some projects to do related to health etc. I, of course, volunteered the hand washing thing we did with schools in Guatemala, and the school is interested. CLEAN HANDS AROUND THE WORLD! That may become my new mantra, I don't know yet. Just trying it on for size.
Anyway, this is just one of many exciting things going on this semester. I absolutely love the public health semester. If only I had know about this years ago. I am doing a thing called Participatory Photo Mapping as part of my clinical with the Public Health Department of Madison Dane County. For more info on PPM, check out http://www.la.wisc.edu/ppm/. It is really a neat idea, and the kids we took around last week to take pictures of their neighborhood seemed to really get into it. This week we get to talk to them about the photos they took, why they took them, and what they think the photos say about their neighborhood. We'll see how it goes.
Friday, September 26, 2008
I had to write a reflection on my experiences in Guatemala for class this past week, and I am including some of it here. The entire thing is a bit long to add at once, so I am going to do it in stages. Here goes, I hope you like it....
I am not even sure where to begin something like this. Looking back over my journal/blog, and looking through my photos and those of others, I can see just how much we accomplished and how many different situations we experienced over a relatively short period of time. I have been thinking off and on over the past two weeks about how to try to write down my reactions and reflections about the trip. There are so many, and one thought seems to tumble into two or three or four more. This could (should?) be an everlasting exercise. The question may not be what did I learn from my three weeks in Guatemala, rather, what am I continuing to learn from the experience.
That being said, I will begin with some general impressions. Having lived and spent time in Latin America, I had some expectations of what Guatemala would be like. I expected to see poverty. I expected to see extremes in living conditions. I expected a slower pace to life and work than in the United States. In many ways these were the conditions that I also experienced. I did see a slower pace. The occasional two hour lunch, some quiet relaxation in the central park in Antigua. This is not to say that people in Guatemala are not industrious. Our visit with Franklin and As Green As It Gets showed quite clearly that there is an entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well within Guatemala. If ever there was an inspirational success story, Angelica and her bag factory is that story. It showed to me how just a little money and expertise, used wisely, can make a huge difference in someone’s life. The time we spent with Franklin was of great value to me. It showed me that small changes can add up to meaningful differences in peoples’ lives. It makes me wonder if there is a model here that can be used for other endeavors or in other locations. Are there other people and organizations that have created similar systems in other parts of the world?
Dr. Oscar also made me wonder about systems and opportunities. One research project that I thought about doing (indeed am still thinking about) is how he and other like-minded doctors work together to take care of the health care needs of the poor in and around Sumpango. Dr. Oscar has a real passion for his work and a compassion for the people that he treats. The respect that others in the surrounding community have for him is fairly obvious to see. People come from miles around to be seen in his clinic. As he perceives new needs in his patient population he learns new techniques and gets further training. He saw a need for better prenatal care in Sumpango, so he went back and learned not only OB but also how to use an ultrasound machine. He saw an increase in diabetes and hypertension, so he went back and learned more about treating those patients. If there are cases which are out of his area of expertise, he is able to refer patients to other doctors who share his concern for the poor, and who he knows will treat these people regardless of their ability to pay. This informal network is an interesting concept for me. I was especially interested in it after talking with Carlos, my Spanish teacher at MAYA. We were having a conversation about health and health care in Guatemala. He works three jobs, and has a variety of options for his health care. One of the options is to use the national clinic system. It is free, but severely understaffed, overcrowded, and often lacks supplies and medications. He mentioned that often he will go to the clinic and be seen by a doctor, who may prescribe something for him, but the clinic pharmacy will not have any of the medication on hand. He them has to go to a pharmacy and purchase the medicine himself. He also pays a monthly fee for social security, which allows him access to a different set of clinics. These clinics, although not as understaffed and overcrowded as the public free clinics, are still not as well provisioned as a private clinic, and probably nothing close to most clinics here in the U.S. The costs at these social security clinics are paid for through his monthly social security payments, as is his medicine, but again, the pharmacy often does not have what he needs in stock. He can either try back later, as they tell him “maybe tomorrow, maybe not,” or he can go to a pharmacy and purchase the medication. Finally he can go to a private clinic, where he will have to pay out of his own pocket the costs of the visit and whatever medications are prescribed. Access to the doctor is better at the private clinic, but costs make this option prohibitive for all of his and his family’s health care needs. Dr. Oscar provides many of the services the public clinics do for the poor, and he is willing to work with whoever comes to his door at whatever level of payment they can afford. This is a very different image of Guatemaltecos than Freddie presented at Camino Seguro. I am sure there is truth in both images. Dr. Oscar is a compassionate man who has the opportunity to make meaningful changes in the health and well-being of the community, and I feel honored to have played even a small part in helping him make some of those changes.
I am not even sure where to begin something like this. Looking back over my journal/blog, and looking through my photos and those of others, I can see just how much we accomplished and how many different situations we experienced over a relatively short period of time. I have been thinking off and on over the past two weeks about how to try to write down my reactions and reflections about the trip. There are so many, and one thought seems to tumble into two or three or four more. This could (should?) be an everlasting exercise. The question may not be what did I learn from my three weeks in Guatemala, rather, what am I continuing to learn from the experience.
That being said, I will begin with some general impressions. Having lived and spent time in Latin America, I had some expectations of what Guatemala would be like. I expected to see poverty. I expected to see extremes in living conditions. I expected a slower pace to life and work than in the United States. In many ways these were the conditions that I also experienced. I did see a slower pace. The occasional two hour lunch, some quiet relaxation in the central park in Antigua. This is not to say that people in Guatemala are not industrious. Our visit with Franklin and As Green As It Gets showed quite clearly that there is an entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well within Guatemala. If ever there was an inspirational success story, Angelica and her bag factory is that story. It showed to me how just a little money and expertise, used wisely, can make a huge difference in someone’s life. The time we spent with Franklin was of great value to me. It showed me that small changes can add up to meaningful differences in peoples’ lives. It makes me wonder if there is a model here that can be used for other endeavors or in other locations. Are there other people and organizations that have created similar systems in other parts of the world?
Dr. Oscar also made me wonder about systems and opportunities. One research project that I thought about doing (indeed am still thinking about) is how he and other like-minded doctors work together to take care of the health care needs of the poor in and around Sumpango. Dr. Oscar has a real passion for his work and a compassion for the people that he treats. The respect that others in the surrounding community have for him is fairly obvious to see. People come from miles around to be seen in his clinic. As he perceives new needs in his patient population he learns new techniques and gets further training. He saw a need for better prenatal care in Sumpango, so he went back and learned not only OB but also how to use an ultrasound machine. He saw an increase in diabetes and hypertension, so he went back and learned more about treating those patients. If there are cases which are out of his area of expertise, he is able to refer patients to other doctors who share his concern for the poor, and who he knows will treat these people regardless of their ability to pay. This informal network is an interesting concept for me. I was especially interested in it after talking with Carlos, my Spanish teacher at MAYA. We were having a conversation about health and health care in Guatemala. He works three jobs, and has a variety of options for his health care. One of the options is to use the national clinic system. It is free, but severely understaffed, overcrowded, and often lacks supplies and medications. He mentioned that often he will go to the clinic and be seen by a doctor, who may prescribe something for him, but the clinic pharmacy will not have any of the medication on hand. He them has to go to a pharmacy and purchase the medicine himself. He also pays a monthly fee for social security, which allows him access to a different set of clinics. These clinics, although not as understaffed and overcrowded as the public free clinics, are still not as well provisioned as a private clinic, and probably nothing close to most clinics here in the U.S. The costs at these social security clinics are paid for through his monthly social security payments, as is his medicine, but again, the pharmacy often does not have what he needs in stock. He can either try back later, as they tell him “maybe tomorrow, maybe not,” or he can go to a pharmacy and purchase the medication. Finally he can go to a private clinic, where he will have to pay out of his own pocket the costs of the visit and whatever medications are prescribed. Access to the doctor is better at the private clinic, but costs make this option prohibitive for all of his and his family’s health care needs. Dr. Oscar provides many of the services the public clinics do for the poor, and he is willing to work with whoever comes to his door at whatever level of payment they can afford. This is a very different image of Guatemaltecos than Freddie presented at Camino Seguro. I am sure there is truth in both images. Dr. Oscar is a compassionate man who has the opportunity to make meaningful changes in the health and well-being of the community, and I feel honored to have played even a small part in helping him make some of those changes.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Good morning everyone. Just sitting around waiting for class to begin so I thought I would do a little updating. I got the chance last Thursday to do a little presentation to the Kiwanis club in Belleville, WI. Spoke about 20-25 minutes about our trip to Guatemala and (of course) the importance of hand washing. Somehow I just can't get away from it. It was a wonderful evening in Belleville, and the audience, although small, was very interested and receptive. If anybody else wants a presentation, let me know. We'll see what we can work out. I've got plenty of photos to choose from.
Hope all is well for everyone out there in cyberland. I have to go learn something.
Hope all is well for everyone out there in cyberland. I have to go learn something.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Today was the first Guatemala class since we came back. It was great to see everyone again, although we did miss Laura and Chris. So many plans to make, presentations to plan, papers to prepare. Three weeks in Guatemala seems a breeze compared to classroom work. It will be fun to see if we can inspire some "young" nursing students to try going to Guatemala next summer with our presentations. We will be talking to both the first and second semester students. First we have to figure out what to say. How do you distill three weeks of incredible experiences into a presentation of an hour or less? So much to say, so little time to say it. Anybody have any suggestions?
I leave you with a quote from Margaret Mead which I recently read and love. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world."
I leave you with a quote from Margaret Mead which I recently read and love. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world."
Thursday, September 4, 2008
As the weather turns cooler and fall approaches I look fondly back to the three warm weeks spent in Guatemala. OK, some of the days in Guatemala were downright hot, almost unbearably so, and a couple of days were quite cool, especially one I remember 2/3 of the way up a volcano in Sta. Maria de Jesus. But I really do look back on those days from time to time.
We have started school again at Edgewood, and I am both happy and sad to say it will be my last semester as an undergrad there. I am to graduate in December. But before I can graduate, there are a number of things I must do. Of course there are classes and clinicals to pass. But that pales in comparison to the most important tasks of the semester...Guatemala presentations!
Yes we must make some presentations about our trip and some of the research we did/are doing related to the trip. I know we will be presenting something that will be open to the college to attend on November 10th. I am on the syllabus for my community/public health clinical to speak on Nov. 21st. Fortunately I was warned ahead of time that I would be on there. Imagine my surprise if I hadn't been warned before the syllabus was handed out. I also may be presenting to the Kiwanis Club of Belleville later this month (I hope I find out soon) and some of us/all of us will be doing something for the first semester Nursing 210 class. Lots of work ahead of us in preparing our projects and presentations.
I am happy to report on that front that I do have a powerpoint just about complete on hand washing. Yes, I know many of you out there are surprised to hear that I have any interest in hand washing. But I do, and if I do say so myself, it is going to be a masterful presentation. I don't want to give anything away, because I think I may use it, or at least part of it, when I speak to my community/public health class. However, at some point I may figure out how to post it to this blog so that y'all can experience a little of what we did to promote hygiene in Guatemala, and maybe learn something about global health in the process.
On this wet, rainy, cool fall-like night I leave you with warm thoughts of black sand beaches and warm evenings in hammocks. Duerme bien.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Welcome back to class everyone. It was good to see my classmates, but I have to ask where the summer went. Seems like we just left Maz 103 (one of our favorite classrooms, ha!) and here we are right back in that room.
It was pointed out to me today that we only have 108 more days to graduation. I think it is a little too early to start the countdown, but....
Now to homework.
It was pointed out to me today that we only have 108 more days to graduation. I think it is a little too early to start the countdown, but....
Now to homework.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Yes, I am still alive and writing, just not writing much at this point. Summer is fast coming to a close and my last semester of nursing school is about to begin. During the coming semester the Guatemala students will be doing a variety of presentations to groups, andf I hope to keep everyone updated on what we are doing and where we will be. I am just hoping that I will have the chance to do a few handwashing revivals around Madison.
I wish all of my fellow students a fun and studious semester.
I wish all of my fellow students a fun and studious semester.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Hello everyone. I'm expanding outside of Guatemala a little today. Just got back from the annual Edgewood College School of Nursing Tee Up for Nursing golf outing/fundraiser. Had a wonderful time at Nakoma Golf Club on the west side of Madison. I was greeting people on the 17th tee and trying to get people to bid on a Kohl Center suite for a UW women's basketball game provided by US Bank. It was a beautiful day for golf, I only wished I could have played. A big thank you to all who participated, and a special thanks to my fellow nursing students who volunteered at the event. I hope and trust it did well for the school, and that everyone had a good time.
I promise to write more later. I will probably expand the blog into other topics (still school and nursing related) and not just Guatemala stuff, although I will still have some of that mixed in as we start to do presentations and other things around campus and the Madison area.
I promise to write more later. I will probably expand the blog into other topics (still school and nursing related) and not just Guatemala stuff, although I will still have some of that mixed in as we start to do presentations and other things around campus and the Madison area.
Friday, July 4, 2008
As you can see below, sometimes transtions can be difficult. After three weeks in Guatemala, coming back to the US was hard for some of us, myself included. Going back to work, settling into the routine of summer, not hearing Spanish, having to drive myself places. It can be rough coming home. Mary and Sam have helped ease the transition with their interest in my Guatemalan adventure. Even so, after almost a month back, I sometimes miss Guatemala. It's enough to drive a man crazy.
Fortunately, I don't look like this too often. I hope my "sisters" have had good transitions back home. I miss y'all.
Fortunately, I don't look like this too often. I hope my "sisters" have had good transitions back home. I miss y'all.Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
In an ongoing effort to take every available opportunity to embarrass and humiliate myself, especially on the web, I am including this video excerpt from our trip. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as we enjoyed making it.
It took us three weeks to nail down the choreography for this. I don't think we ever completely got the lyrics right. We do have a couple of different versions of this taped. We weren't sure the camera was working, so we did it a couple of times. We are, after all, truly, madly, deeply dedicated to our art. We are still waiting for a call from Savage Garden about touring dates.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Good evening everyone. Just wanted you all to know that once again we are making the news. Leigh Mills at NBC15 here in Madison will be interviewing Nancy and Dawn for the 5:00 news. It will air about 5:10 on Wednesday the 18th. Very exciting. I am including here some of the pics I sent her from our trip. They include:
A photo of the soccer balls we gave to the kids at the Orphanage in Patzun
A couple of photos of us teaching the comedronas how to take blood pressures.
A photo of the doctors and nurses in Chiquimulilla learning newborn resuscitation.
And I had to get a photo of me teaching kids about washing their hands.
I hope you like these, and watch for the interview on channel 15's 5:00 news!
A photo of the soccer balls we gave to the kids at the Orphanage in Patzun
A couple of photos of us teaching the comedronas how to take blood pressures.
A photo of the doctors and nurses in Chiquimulilla learning newborn resuscitation.
And I had to get a photo of me teaching kids about washing their hands.
I hope you like these, and watch for the interview on channel 15's 5:00 news!Monday, June 16, 2008
A few more pictures. This set is from a day in Dr. Oscar Paredes' clinic in Sumpango. While Erin, Karen, and I taught the volunteer bomberos (firemen) CPR for infants, children, and adults (a two day process), others were working with students and pregnant women teaching about handwashing (I didn't have to do it!), problems in pregnancy, and other issues, while still others worked in the clinic seeing patients.
We start with Karen and Erin teaching the bomberos:
Dr. Oscar had a pinata for the afternoon's festivities. We filled it with candy and bottles of vitamins, an interesting combination to say the least. We also got to hang the pinata, although I'm not sure that Jenna is holding the pinata in exactly the right way. Turn your head and cough Mr. Pinata:
Well the pinata stayed aloft, and everyone, including the bomberos, gathered on Dr. Oscar's roof to take a whack:
And as you can see we all were quite successful:
Finally, here is Karen with our newest CPR graduates:
We start with Karen and Erin teaching the bomberos:
Dr. Oscar had a pinata for the afternoon's festivities. We filled it with candy and bottles of vitamins, an interesting combination to say the least. We also got to hang the pinata, although I'm not sure that Jenna is holding the pinata in exactly the right way. Turn your head and cough Mr. Pinata:
Well the pinata stayed aloft, and everyone, including the bomberos, gathered on Dr. Oscar's roof to take a whack:
And as you can see we all were quite successful:
Finally, here is Karen with our newest CPR graduates:
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I promised you all some pictures when I came back, so here is the start:
Here is the clinic in Chiquimulilla we volunteered in.
Here is the clinic in Chiquimulilla we volunteered in.
Here we are in Chiquimulilla, with Jeanette, our friend and translator, and her husband Juan Carlos in the middle; and Dennis and Elvira, our hosts in Chiquimulilla.
I will do the photos in small groups of two or three at a time. Hope you like them.
Good morning everyone. Yes we are all back in Madison, and most of the smart ones of our group are hopefully already in bed. Obviously I am not one of the smart ones. I am a blogger.
A very long day, but I did want to pass on something from the day before I go to sleep. We made it to the airport in Guatemala City without major incident, and were waiting patiently for our flight. The plane arrived, and off came a group of high school students from the California Bay Area. Their faces were full of awe, excitement, anxiety, nervousness. Probably much like our faces three weeks (or was it a lifetime) ago. And here we were, the grizzled veterans, imagining (with some envy) the adventures that are in store for them. Reluctantly we pass the torch of Guatemalan discovery to them and board the plane.
Good night Gentle Readers. Sleep well. I will write more to you later.
A very long day, but I did want to pass on something from the day before I go to sleep. We made it to the airport in Guatemala City without major incident, and were waiting patiently for our flight. The plane arrived, and off came a group of high school students from the California Bay Area. Their faces were full of awe, excitement, anxiety, nervousness. Probably much like our faces three weeks (or was it a lifetime) ago. And here we were, the grizzled veterans, imagining (with some envy) the adventures that are in store for them. Reluctantly we pass the torch of Guatemalan discovery to them and board the plane.
Good night Gentle Readers. Sleep well. I will write more to you later.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Well folks, this is probably the last post from Guatemala. We leave tomorrow at about noon, and are planning to be at the airport about 9:00 in order to give ourselves plenty of time for checking in.
Today we took a fascinating tour of Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) that I wrote about yesterday. If you didn´t get a chance to see their sight, take a look. I put the link in yesterday´s post. Our guide from Camino Seguro started us off in the city cemetery, which interestingly enough is a great place to view the city dump. It was very eerie looking at the dump from the cemetery. There are vultures EVERYWHERE! Hundreds of them circling the dump, in the trees, perched on the tombs. Very surreal. And anywhere there are birds, there is bird poop. It got all over the van, and in one student nurses hair (I am not mentioning any names here. Getting vulture droppings in your hair is not necessarily something to write home about, but it is something to blog about if it happens to somebody else). Another kind of spooky thing about the cemetery. Apparently the family actually rents the space. Everyone in the cemetery is burried above ground, and if the family doesn´t pay for 2 years, the grave is emptied of the coffin and it is simply dumped over the side of this very big hill into the dump. We honestly say an empty broken open coffin sitting on the side of the hill overlooking the dump.
We couldn´t stay long in the cemetery. It is also not a safe place to be. Lots of gang activity happens in Guatemala City, and the spot in the cemetery overlooking the dump is also the place where bodies are dumped after a gang hit or other killing. I know this is not a very cheerie blog posting, but I figure I might as well share the bad with the good. Just one more eye opening experience for us here.
After looking over the dump (visitors can´t actually go into the dump itself), we had some better experiences with Camino Seguro. We toured the day care center that Safe Passage started and runs for the children of the people who work in the dump. They have a capacity of 60 children ages about 6 months to 5 years, and currently have 54 kids in the school. It is a beautiful place in the middle of so much poverty. The school, and the neighborhoods that these people live in are built on the landfill of the dump, and there is a constant smell of trash and methane. The neighborhood names are also a bit surreal. Esperanza (Hope), Paz (Peace), Libertad (Liberty), and Regalo (Gift). The school has Guatemalan teachers and volunteers from around the world. The kids get breakfast, a midmorning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack. For some, this is the only food they get for the day.
We also toured the older kids school and clinic. One of the goals, according to our guide, is to simply provide an opportunity to these kids. For some it is the opportunity at a little education, for others it is the opportunity to get a couple good meals a day. For many, it is the opportunity to survive another day. Their entire operation runs on donations, as so many things like this do here in Guatemala and around the world. As we did in order to make this trip a reality. If I can preach for just a moment, consider giving to a cause. If you do already, thank you. If you don´t, please think about doing something, giving something. We couldn´t have done all that we did in three short weeks without donations and gifts, and we have seen firsthand the effects that donations and gifts can make. From Camino Seguro to As Green As It Gets, and so many in between, there are people in need of help, and every little bit helps.
OK, enough soapbox preaching for the time being. It was a fairly somber group after the dump. We had some lunch, and decided for our last afternoon in Guatemala we needed something different. Laura promised all of us a hug if we would take her to the City Zoo, and we took her up on her offer. Off to the zoo. So many highlights, but two things stand out. The Howler Monkey (Laura´s main reason for wanting to go to the zoo in the first place), and the crowd of elementary school kids that crowded around us asking questions. So many questions. They were so eager to ask us about anything, and so eager to learn. It was very cute to see them all. Much thanks goes to Dawn and her translating abilities, for fielding many of the questions and providing answers.
We had an opportunity to reflect and share about the trip this evening. Lots of emotions, lots of laughs, a few tears. All of us have changed in so many ways over these past, very fast, three weeks. We will return to the U.S. as very different people than when we left. Some changes may be obvious (no I haven´t lost 20 pounds, that wouldn´t be a change, that would be a miracle), some may be more subtle. But we have all been touched by this trip, and I am convinced that we will be forever affected by it. We now have a special connection, and I would be willing to go on another trip like this anywhere with anyone in this group. I only hope next time I can take Mary and Sam with me.
Well, I think I have written enough for one night. I´ll keep writing if you keep reading. See you all tomorrow (ok, maybe Thursday very early in the morning). Buenas noches.
Today we took a fascinating tour of Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) that I wrote about yesterday. If you didn´t get a chance to see their sight, take a look. I put the link in yesterday´s post. Our guide from Camino Seguro started us off in the city cemetery, which interestingly enough is a great place to view the city dump. It was very eerie looking at the dump from the cemetery. There are vultures EVERYWHERE! Hundreds of them circling the dump, in the trees, perched on the tombs. Very surreal. And anywhere there are birds, there is bird poop. It got all over the van, and in one student nurses hair (I am not mentioning any names here. Getting vulture droppings in your hair is not necessarily something to write home about, but it is something to blog about if it happens to somebody else). Another kind of spooky thing about the cemetery. Apparently the family actually rents the space. Everyone in the cemetery is burried above ground, and if the family doesn´t pay for 2 years, the grave is emptied of the coffin and it is simply dumped over the side of this very big hill into the dump. We honestly say an empty broken open coffin sitting on the side of the hill overlooking the dump.
We couldn´t stay long in the cemetery. It is also not a safe place to be. Lots of gang activity happens in Guatemala City, and the spot in the cemetery overlooking the dump is also the place where bodies are dumped after a gang hit or other killing. I know this is not a very cheerie blog posting, but I figure I might as well share the bad with the good. Just one more eye opening experience for us here.
After looking over the dump (visitors can´t actually go into the dump itself), we had some better experiences with Camino Seguro. We toured the day care center that Safe Passage started and runs for the children of the people who work in the dump. They have a capacity of 60 children ages about 6 months to 5 years, and currently have 54 kids in the school. It is a beautiful place in the middle of so much poverty. The school, and the neighborhoods that these people live in are built on the landfill of the dump, and there is a constant smell of trash and methane. The neighborhood names are also a bit surreal. Esperanza (Hope), Paz (Peace), Libertad (Liberty), and Regalo (Gift). The school has Guatemalan teachers and volunteers from around the world. The kids get breakfast, a midmorning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack. For some, this is the only food they get for the day.
We also toured the older kids school and clinic. One of the goals, according to our guide, is to simply provide an opportunity to these kids. For some it is the opportunity at a little education, for others it is the opportunity to get a couple good meals a day. For many, it is the opportunity to survive another day. Their entire operation runs on donations, as so many things like this do here in Guatemala and around the world. As we did in order to make this trip a reality. If I can preach for just a moment, consider giving to a cause. If you do already, thank you. If you don´t, please think about doing something, giving something. We couldn´t have done all that we did in three short weeks without donations and gifts, and we have seen firsthand the effects that donations and gifts can make. From Camino Seguro to As Green As It Gets, and so many in between, there are people in need of help, and every little bit helps.
OK, enough soapbox preaching for the time being. It was a fairly somber group after the dump. We had some lunch, and decided for our last afternoon in Guatemala we needed something different. Laura promised all of us a hug if we would take her to the City Zoo, and we took her up on her offer. Off to the zoo. So many highlights, but two things stand out. The Howler Monkey (Laura´s main reason for wanting to go to the zoo in the first place), and the crowd of elementary school kids that crowded around us asking questions. So many questions. They were so eager to ask us about anything, and so eager to learn. It was very cute to see them all. Much thanks goes to Dawn and her translating abilities, for fielding many of the questions and providing answers.
We had an opportunity to reflect and share about the trip this evening. Lots of emotions, lots of laughs, a few tears. All of us have changed in so many ways over these past, very fast, three weeks. We will return to the U.S. as very different people than when we left. Some changes may be obvious (no I haven´t lost 20 pounds, that wouldn´t be a change, that would be a miracle), some may be more subtle. But we have all been touched by this trip, and I am convinced that we will be forever affected by it. We now have a special connection, and I would be willing to go on another trip like this anywhere with anyone in this group. I only hope next time I can take Mary and Sam with me.
Well, I think I have written enough for one night. I´ll keep writing if you keep reading. See you all tomorrow (ok, maybe Thursday very early in the morning). Buenas noches.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Good evening everyone. We are approaching our last full day here in Guatemala with mixed emotions. We are all eager to see our loved ones, but we feel there is still so much we would like to do and see here. We want to come back home, but we hate the idea of leaving. Oh well.
We had an interesting day today. We had the opportunity to tour the two large public hospitals in Guatemala City today: Roosevelt Hospital and San Juan de Dios. Both of these hospitals serve the general public, which means that they both serve the people who cannot afford to pay for private hospital care. We met some fascinating people who are very much overworked and underpaid. We toured the neonatal intensive care units in each hospital, the intermediate care unit at Roosevelt, and the pediatric intensive care unit and the pediatric emergency room at San Juan de Dios. It was an eye opening experience for all of us. What they are able to do with limited resources and staff is amazing, and yet we can only imagine what it would be like if these two hospitals did not exist here. Rooms filled with babies on ventilators, and row after row of warmers and babies. Roosevelt only delivers high risk pregnancies, and San Juan de Dios has about 300 births a day. Once again I have to say check back after we return, so you can see the pictures from the hospitals.
Roosevelt Hospital has one, yes one, latation consultant for the entire hospital. She is a truly inspirational woman. Breastfeeding is not a popular thing in the city, most women in the city use formula. She is fighting an uphill battle to try to get more women to breastfeed, and to try to get support from the nursing staff to try to encourage their patients to try breastfeeding. We were lucky enough to eat dinner with her, and she stayed and talked with us about her experiences and the difficuties of her job.
Nancy and Karen are already planting seeds for next years´trip, talking to the neonatologist at Roosevelt about what we can do to help him in his hospital. I hope that next years group has as much fun and gets as much out of their experience as we have over the past three weeks.
This evening we were also lucky enough to learn from Karen´s extensive knowledge of the natural sciences. We read about the difficulties the rains in Wisconsin have caused, including the tragedies faced by Lake Delton. We have had rain and clouds for the past week and a half or so, remnants from a variety of hurricanes and tropical depressions, and Erin asked where all the rain in Wisconsin was coming from. Karen, with a perfectly straight face told us ¨clouds.¨Where would we be without her keen insight.
Tomorrow we are off to the Guatemala City dump and Safe Passage. You can see and read more about this program at http://www.safepassage.org/. After that, a free afternoon. Some are wanting to go to the city zoo. After spending three weeks with this wild bunch of women, I think the zoo might be a little tame for me.
I finish this post with a personal note. We have celebrated a couple of wedding anniversaries on this trip, and we celebrated one more today. I want to wish a very special happy anniversary to my wife, the true love of my life. Thank you, Mary, for 18 of the most wonderful years of my life, and thank you for letting me trot off to Guatemala. Without you, I would not be even half the person I am today. All my loves, my love. Nathan
We had an interesting day today. We had the opportunity to tour the two large public hospitals in Guatemala City today: Roosevelt Hospital and San Juan de Dios. Both of these hospitals serve the general public, which means that they both serve the people who cannot afford to pay for private hospital care. We met some fascinating people who are very much overworked and underpaid. We toured the neonatal intensive care units in each hospital, the intermediate care unit at Roosevelt, and the pediatric intensive care unit and the pediatric emergency room at San Juan de Dios. It was an eye opening experience for all of us. What they are able to do with limited resources and staff is amazing, and yet we can only imagine what it would be like if these two hospitals did not exist here. Rooms filled with babies on ventilators, and row after row of warmers and babies. Roosevelt only delivers high risk pregnancies, and San Juan de Dios has about 300 births a day. Once again I have to say check back after we return, so you can see the pictures from the hospitals.
Roosevelt Hospital has one, yes one, latation consultant for the entire hospital. She is a truly inspirational woman. Breastfeeding is not a popular thing in the city, most women in the city use formula. She is fighting an uphill battle to try to get more women to breastfeed, and to try to get support from the nursing staff to try to encourage their patients to try breastfeeding. We were lucky enough to eat dinner with her, and she stayed and talked with us about her experiences and the difficuties of her job.
Nancy and Karen are already planting seeds for next years´trip, talking to the neonatologist at Roosevelt about what we can do to help him in his hospital. I hope that next years group has as much fun and gets as much out of their experience as we have over the past three weeks.
This evening we were also lucky enough to learn from Karen´s extensive knowledge of the natural sciences. We read about the difficulties the rains in Wisconsin have caused, including the tragedies faced by Lake Delton. We have had rain and clouds for the past week and a half or so, remnants from a variety of hurricanes and tropical depressions, and Erin asked where all the rain in Wisconsin was coming from. Karen, with a perfectly straight face told us ¨clouds.¨Where would we be without her keen insight.
Tomorrow we are off to the Guatemala City dump and Safe Passage. You can see and read more about this program at http://www.safepassage.org/. After that, a free afternoon. Some are wanting to go to the city zoo. After spending three weeks with this wild bunch of women, I think the zoo might be a little tame for me.
I finish this post with a personal note. We have celebrated a couple of wedding anniversaries on this trip, and we celebrated one more today. I want to wish a very special happy anniversary to my wife, the true love of my life. Thank you, Mary, for 18 of the most wonderful years of my life, and thank you for letting me trot off to Guatemala. Without you, I would not be even half the person I am today. All my loves, my love. Nathan
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Good evening everyone. We have landed safe and sound in Guatemala City. We are staying at the Seminario Anabautista Latinamericano (SEMILLA). Basically we are in a kind of dorm area, but it is comfortable, and once again we have been very well fed. Spaghetti, fried chicken, fresh salad, watermelon, and fresh coffee. The ride to Guatemala City was a long one, with a very important stop along the way...for ice cream! Oh, and to stretch our legs...with ice cream! We took a great group photo, with about half of us hanging out the windows of the van, and the other half on the top of the van. The poor man from the ice cream place volunteered to take our photo. I don´t think he realized just how many cameras were going to come out of the van for photos. The people in the ice cream shop were quite entertained by watching us scramble to the top of the van, get our picture taken, and then scramble down.
We still have so many suitcases that we had left the larger ones in Antigua at the CLM and we only took ¨overnight¨ bags with us to Santiago Atitlan. Eric got us to Guatemala City and then turned around and drove back to Antigua with Karen to get the suitcases. Eric has been an incredible companion on this trip, part driver, part guide, part interpreter, and an entirely good friend to all of us. I think he has been entertained by us, and has certainly learned a few things, like CPR and midwife issues. He has been a real asset to our trip and we will certainly miss him when we leave.
I can´t say that I have very many pithy things to say this evening. Too full from dinner and to tired from the trip. I will say that some of my sisters layed out some of their purchases from the market this evening, and it honestly looked like we could have had our own little market right here. ¨¿Que estas buscando?¨ ¨¿Una bolsa?¨ Lots of beautiful things are coming back to the states with us. Make sure you get your orders in early for the Quetzal bird key chains. They´re going fast. (sometimes I have to add things in that may not make a lot of sense to you, my gentle readers, but for the folks on the trip they are hillarious, at least I hope so). BTW, I am using a keyboard that has some ¨mystery keys¨on it. I don´t always know where everything is. I only just discovered the upsidedown question mark (the equals, plus sign key, I have no idea where those signs are on the keyboard, I hope I don´t need them) and the ñ and Ñ (which is the colon and semicolon key, but I did accidentally find both of those symbols, shift comma and shift period) Everything is a learning experience in Guatemala.
There is a big spoons game going on in the courtyard down below. I promise we will try to keep it down to a dull roar so we don´t wake any of you up tonight. If we do disturb your sleep lo siento mucho.
Hasta mañana.
We still have so many suitcases that we had left the larger ones in Antigua at the CLM and we only took ¨overnight¨ bags with us to Santiago Atitlan. Eric got us to Guatemala City and then turned around and drove back to Antigua with Karen to get the suitcases. Eric has been an incredible companion on this trip, part driver, part guide, part interpreter, and an entirely good friend to all of us. I think he has been entertained by us, and has certainly learned a few things, like CPR and midwife issues. He has been a real asset to our trip and we will certainly miss him when we leave.
I can´t say that I have very many pithy things to say this evening. Too full from dinner and to tired from the trip. I will say that some of my sisters layed out some of their purchases from the market this evening, and it honestly looked like we could have had our own little market right here. ¨¿Que estas buscando?¨ ¨¿Una bolsa?¨ Lots of beautiful things are coming back to the states with us. Make sure you get your orders in early for the Quetzal bird key chains. They´re going fast. (sometimes I have to add things in that may not make a lot of sense to you, my gentle readers, but for the folks on the trip they are hillarious, at least I hope so). BTW, I am using a keyboard that has some ¨mystery keys¨on it. I don´t always know where everything is. I only just discovered the upsidedown question mark (the equals, plus sign key, I have no idea where those signs are on the keyboard, I hope I don´t need them) and the ñ and Ñ (which is the colon and semicolon key, but I did accidentally find both of those symbols, shift comma and shift period) Everything is a learning experience in Guatemala.
There is a big spoons game going on in the courtyard down below. I promise we will try to keep it down to a dull roar so we don´t wake any of you up tonight. If we do disturb your sleep lo siento mucho.
Hasta mañana.
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The sun is (kind of) out, the air is brisk and refreshing, and we are off to Guatemala City. It will be hard to leave the Posada Santiago. It is a beautiful place, and they have taken great care of us here. The food is great, the views unbeleavable, and the rest and relaxation very necessary. I think we all have been refreshed and ready for the next adventure, which is...
Guatemala City. Yes, we are off to the capital for a couple of days. The big city. It will be a big change for us, we are getting used to a more layed back lifestyle, especially after this past weekend.
One quick note to all the boyfriends and husbands out there. Dawn's husband sent her flowers here to the Posada today. He has set the bar pretty high on the romance scale.
Gotta go eat breakfast. I hope to be able to get on in Guatemala City, but if I can't, see you all soon, and check back when we return because I will be adding photos.
Guatemala City. Yes, we are off to the capital for a couple of days. The big city. It will be a big change for us, we are getting used to a more layed back lifestyle, especially after this past weekend.
One quick note to all the boyfriends and husbands out there. Dawn's husband sent her flowers here to the Posada today. He has set the bar pretty high on the romance scale.
Gotta go eat breakfast. I hope to be able to get on in Guatemala City, but if I can't, see you all soon, and check back when we return because I will be adding photos.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Good evening everyone. We are here at the lake still, enjoying a little R&R. Today we went to visit some of Karen's friends who run a foster home/adoption service here in Guatemala. They are originally from Green Bay, and have been working and living in Guatemala for a number of years. Currently the government in Guatemala is revising the adoption laws and there is a moratorium on adoptions, so they are only fostering kids. They have had as many as 34 kids at one time in their house to care for, many are orphans or come from abusive homes through the court system. They do not charge anything for placing kids in adoptive homes, a rarity here where adoption had been a money making program and the system was corrupt and abused by some, hence the changes being made in the laws. They have a beautiful home and the surrounding countryside is amazing.
It seems I have been saying (or at least thinking) that the countryside is amazing here. All of Guatemala is amazing. They say that Guatemala is the land of permanent spring. I have no reason to doubt it. The countryside is amazing, and the people we have met have been very friendly.
Most of us spent the afternoon at the market. I know this comes as a shock, but it is the last chance for a market for us, so we had to take advantage of it. A little shopping, a little bartering, a lot of looking, and back for a little afternoon siesta. Don't tell Nancy, but my sisters have worked up a little dance routine. Very professional looking. It's a good thing we are studying to be nurses, though.
Gotta go. Dinner awaits. Off to Guatemala City tomorrow, and home in just a few days.
It seems I have been saying (or at least thinking) that the countryside is amazing here. All of Guatemala is amazing. They say that Guatemala is the land of permanent spring. I have no reason to doubt it. The countryside is amazing, and the people we have met have been very friendly.
Most of us spent the afternoon at the market. I know this comes as a shock, but it is the last chance for a market for us, so we had to take advantage of it. A little shopping, a little bartering, a lot of looking, and back for a little afternoon siesta. Don't tell Nancy, but my sisters have worked up a little dance routine. Very professional looking. It's a good thing we are studying to be nurses, though.
Gotta go. Dinner awaits. Off to Guatemala City tomorrow, and home in just a few days.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Quick update. Very exciting ride through the clouds and the mountains to our new resting spot at Lake Atitlan. All I can say is WOW! What an amazing spot this is. Even in the dark and cloudy night this place is beautiful. I can't wait to see it in the daytime. Anyway, we are all her safe and sound, and the hot tub is reserved for 9:00. Sleep well my friends. Hopefully I will get on and write more tomorrow.
Hello everyone. I am amazed at the attention this blog is getting. Thanks to all of you who are visiting.
We are all having a great time. We have been furiously studying Spanish at the Cntro Linguistico Maya. It is a wonderful school, and I highly recommend this place if you want to learn Spanish and have some free time to visit Guatemala. Our Spanish is improving in leaps and bounds.
We have been split between the Hermano Pedro Hospital here in Antigua and Dr. Oscar´s clinic in Sumpango. The past two days I hae been working with Karen and Erin teaching the local firemen CPR. Others have been teaching about problems in pregnancy and, of course, handwashing. I can´t say that I have missed the handwashing part that much. I prefer to share the weath and have others experience the joys of teaching people to wash their hands.
Today is the last day in Antigua. We will miss the city, but I think we are all looking forward to some R&R at Lake Atitlan. Apparently there is a hot tub at the hotel we are staying at. I hope it is a big hot tub, because there are a number of nursing students (and instructors) who are planning to spend the weekend in it. I wonder if I can blog from the hot tub. Maybe the next post will be a wet one.
I have to go aprender un poco mas de Español. I will fill you in as I can. Dios te bendiga.
We are all having a great time. We have been furiously studying Spanish at the Cntro Linguistico Maya. It is a wonderful school, and I highly recommend this place if you want to learn Spanish and have some free time to visit Guatemala. Our Spanish is improving in leaps and bounds.
We have been split between the Hermano Pedro Hospital here in Antigua and Dr. Oscar´s clinic in Sumpango. The past two days I hae been working with Karen and Erin teaching the local firemen CPR. Others have been teaching about problems in pregnancy and, of course, handwashing. I can´t say that I have missed the handwashing part that much. I prefer to share the weath and have others experience the joys of teaching people to wash their hands.
Today is the last day in Antigua. We will miss the city, but I think we are all looking forward to some R&R at Lake Atitlan. Apparently there is a hot tub at the hotel we are staying at. I hope it is a big hot tub, because there are a number of nursing students (and instructors) who are planning to spend the weekend in it. I wonder if I can blog from the hot tub. Maybe the next post will be a wet one.
I have to go aprender un poco mas de Español. I will fill you in as I can. Dios te bendiga.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Good afternoon everyone. Sorry about the delay in posting, but for some reason I couldn´t get onto the site yesterday. I will try to gived you all a quick update of the last couple of days.
We have been attending the Centro Linguistico Maya for our Spanish lessons. Eacxh of us has one on one tutoring in Spanish for four hours in the morning. We have just passed the half way point in the lessons for us. I think all of us have learned more in just the past three days than we ever could in one or two semesters back home. But four hours of intense Spanish work, coupled with four or five hours in the clinic in Sumpango or the Hermano Pedro Hospital makes for some very tired nursing students and instructors. We are all moving a bit slower and looking a bit more tired today. All of us are looking forward to the visit to Lake Atitlan at the end of the week. I think we all could use the break.
An interesting sidelight, a couple of days ago the group that was at Hermano Pedro was walking back to their homes and came across a stranded car in the middle of an intersection. Traffic and pedestrians were moiving past, but no one was offering to help the poor woman move her car, so they jumped in and pushed the car out of the way. Another good deed done in Guatemala. I only wish I had been there to take pictures.
I was at Hermano Pedro yesterday. Karen, Katie and I worked in the infant nutrition center, mostly holding crying babies and giving them bottles. There were probably 15 to 20 infants in the unit, all in metal cribs, most of them with cleft lips and pallets awaiting surgery. The only surgeons they have at Hermano Pedro are those that come down as volunteers, so the wait can be quite long. I think they said the next time they would have surgeons coming for these kids was in another couple of weeks, so they are kind of stuck there, and it´s not clear how many of them will be able to have their surgery at that time. Some may have to wait for another group to come down, since there are more kids needing surgery that there is time for the surgeons to operate. It is sad, but it is better than having no hope.
Got to sign off now. I want to wish a belated happy anniversary to Karen and Rick.
See you all soon.
We have been attending the Centro Linguistico Maya for our Spanish lessons. Eacxh of us has one on one tutoring in Spanish for four hours in the morning. We have just passed the half way point in the lessons for us. I think all of us have learned more in just the past three days than we ever could in one or two semesters back home. But four hours of intense Spanish work, coupled with four or five hours in the clinic in Sumpango or the Hermano Pedro Hospital makes for some very tired nursing students and instructors. We are all moving a bit slower and looking a bit more tired today. All of us are looking forward to the visit to Lake Atitlan at the end of the week. I think we all could use the break.
An interesting sidelight, a couple of days ago the group that was at Hermano Pedro was walking back to their homes and came across a stranded car in the middle of an intersection. Traffic and pedestrians were moiving past, but no one was offering to help the poor woman move her car, so they jumped in and pushed the car out of the way. Another good deed done in Guatemala. I only wish I had been there to take pictures.
I was at Hermano Pedro yesterday. Karen, Katie and I worked in the infant nutrition center, mostly holding crying babies and giving them bottles. There were probably 15 to 20 infants in the unit, all in metal cribs, most of them with cleft lips and pallets awaiting surgery. The only surgeons they have at Hermano Pedro are those that come down as volunteers, so the wait can be quite long. I think they said the next time they would have surgeons coming for these kids was in another couple of weeks, so they are kind of stuck there, and it´s not clear how many of them will be able to have their surgery at that time. Some may have to wait for another group to come down, since there are more kids needing surgery that there is time for the surgeons to operate. It is sad, but it is better than having no hope.
Got to sign off now. I want to wish a belated happy anniversary to Karen and Rick.
See you all soon.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Hello everyone. Sorry about the delay in posting again, but we are no longer at the Hotel El Carmen, and I did not have a place to get on or the time to get on the last couple of days. We are now starting the Spanish language classes, and the director of the school is letting us use his computers, so maybe I will be able to jump on every so often this next week.
There is so much to share but I will only hit the highlights. Last Saturday we were back in Sumpango with Dr. Oscar, doing a clinic open house. We took blood pressures and checked glucose levels on over 50 people. I did not do any handwashing, although we tried to find a spot that we could set it up. Just too much sunshine that day. I´ll get over it.
The highlight of the clinic had to be the session Laura and Erin led on exercise and nutrition with diabetes. I only wish I could put the video up that I took. It will have to wait until I get back. They led the whole group in walking in place, touching their toes, and lots of other fun activities. It is especially fun to watch it in fast forward. But then again what isn´t fun to watch that way.
We have started our home stays this week. We are split up in ones and twos. I am in a house that has three other Spanish language students, all from the Netherlands. It is an interesting time at the dinner table. One of the others came to Antigua last Tuesday, the other two on Thursday. I know more Spanish than they do so far, so I was translating for them at dinner my first night. Spanish classes are from 8-12, and I already have to write a composition in Spanish tonight. That will be interesting. I have a hard enough time writting an essay in English, now I have to do it in Spanish. Late night for me I guess.
I have to let others on, so until next time I remain your humble scribe, Nathan.
There is so much to share but I will only hit the highlights. Last Saturday we were back in Sumpango with Dr. Oscar, doing a clinic open house. We took blood pressures and checked glucose levels on over 50 people. I did not do any handwashing, although we tried to find a spot that we could set it up. Just too much sunshine that day. I´ll get over it.
The highlight of the clinic had to be the session Laura and Erin led on exercise and nutrition with diabetes. I only wish I could put the video up that I took. It will have to wait until I get back. They led the whole group in walking in place, touching their toes, and lots of other fun activities. It is especially fun to watch it in fast forward. But then again what isn´t fun to watch that way.
We have started our home stays this week. We are split up in ones and twos. I am in a house that has three other Spanish language students, all from the Netherlands. It is an interesting time at the dinner table. One of the others came to Antigua last Tuesday, the other two on Thursday. I know more Spanish than they do so far, so I was translating for them at dinner my first night. Spanish classes are from 8-12, and I already have to write a composition in Spanish tonight. That will be interesting. I have a hard enough time writting an essay in English, now I have to do it in Spanish. Late night for me I guess.
I have to let others on, so until next time I remain your humble scribe, Nathan.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Hello everyone. Yes, twice in one day. We were back a little early today, so I can update the blog and get to bed at a reasonable hour.
A fairly light day today. Only one stop, the little village of Santa Maria de Jesus outside of Antigua. Sta. Maria is a poor village on the side of the volcano I was talking about in the previous post. We were at the Nueva Vida school in town, an impressive place. It was started by a nurse, Judy, in 2000 to serve kids with disabilities. These kids were not able to be served in the public schools, and the closest private schools are in Antigua, making it very difficult both economically and physically for parents to get schooling for their children with physical or learning disabilities. Judy saw a need, and with no background in education or administration, put together the things necessary to start a school for these kids. The school started with 8 students and 1 teacher and has now grown to over 80 students and a new building. It is beautiful and has the only elevator in the town. Much of the school has been built with local labor and volunteer mission groups from the US. Judy and her principal and teachers do such a good job that the local schools now refer not only kids with physical disabiities but also learning disabilities there. A special thanks goes out to Amy, the occupational therapist who works at the school. She took great care of us, showed us the school and introduced us around, was my translator for two more handwashing sessions, and took a group of us students into the home of one of the students to talk to and get to know the families being served more. Thank you Amy for your the care you took in making our visit so meaningful, and for the special love and care that you have for those students.
We have met quite a number of Americans who have moved to Guatemala and dedicated their time, energy, and lives to making a difference for the people here. All of us have been overwhelmed by their ambitious plans and the energy and enthusiasm they have for the work they are doing here. Not only have they touched the lives of the people here in Guatemala, they have touched our lives too. After just one short week, we have been changed forever by what we have seen.
I do have one short story to add to the post. I have started to introduce myself in Spanish before I do the handwashing lessons. I say my name and that I don't speak Spanish, but that my friend (insert name of translator here) speaks Spanish, so I will speak in English and they will translate for me. I did two sessions today, and the first session's intro went without a hitch. However, in the second session I told the class Me llamo es Nathan y yo no hablo ingles. Oops. I guess I'm beginning to get a little mixed up down here. Apparently I have reached the point where I don't know what language I speak anymore.
I end tonights update with a special note to Jose. He was brave enough to send his wife to Guatemala and stay home with their 5 kids, and he wrote a comment on my pray for me note about going to the market with 10 women. You have a wonderful and caring wife who makes this trip so much fun. Thank you for sharing her with us.
A fairly light day today. Only one stop, the little village of Santa Maria de Jesus outside of Antigua. Sta. Maria is a poor village on the side of the volcano I was talking about in the previous post. We were at the Nueva Vida school in town, an impressive place. It was started by a nurse, Judy, in 2000 to serve kids with disabilities. These kids were not able to be served in the public schools, and the closest private schools are in Antigua, making it very difficult both economically and physically for parents to get schooling for their children with physical or learning disabilities. Judy saw a need, and with no background in education or administration, put together the things necessary to start a school for these kids. The school started with 8 students and 1 teacher and has now grown to over 80 students and a new building. It is beautiful and has the only elevator in the town. Much of the school has been built with local labor and volunteer mission groups from the US. Judy and her principal and teachers do such a good job that the local schools now refer not only kids with physical disabiities but also learning disabilities there. A special thanks goes out to Amy, the occupational therapist who works at the school. She took great care of us, showed us the school and introduced us around, was my translator for two more handwashing sessions, and took a group of us students into the home of one of the students to talk to and get to know the families being served more. Thank you Amy for your the care you took in making our visit so meaningful, and for the special love and care that you have for those students.
We have met quite a number of Americans who have moved to Guatemala and dedicated their time, energy, and lives to making a difference for the people here. All of us have been overwhelmed by their ambitious plans and the energy and enthusiasm they have for the work they are doing here. Not only have they touched the lives of the people here in Guatemala, they have touched our lives too. After just one short week, we have been changed forever by what we have seen.
I do have one short story to add to the post. I have started to introduce myself in Spanish before I do the handwashing lessons. I say my name and that I don't speak Spanish, but that my friend (insert name of translator here) speaks Spanish, so I will speak in English and they will translate for me. I did two sessions today, and the first session's intro went without a hitch. However, in the second session I told the class Me llamo es Nathan y yo no hablo ingles. Oops. I guess I'm beginning to get a little mixed up down here. Apparently I have reached the point where I don't know what language I speak anymore.
I end tonights update with a special note to Jose. He was brave enough to send his wife to Guatemala and stay home with their 5 kids, and he wrote a comment on my pray for me note about going to the market with 10 women. You have a wonderful and caring wife who makes this trip so much fun. Thank you for sharing her with us.
Good morning,
I don't usually have time in the morning to check in, but I wanted topass this along. For the past two nights I have been able to see the volcano here outside of Antigua "lighting up." I can see an orange glow and sometimes it flares up and shoots out a stream of lava and gas. It is SO COOL. I know I'm not imagining it, because last night Eric, Emilie, Jenna, and Alisha were up there with me and saw it too.
Have a great day.
I don't usually have time in the morning to check in, but I wanted topass this along. For the past two nights I have been able to see the volcano here outside of Antigua "lighting up." I can see an orange glow and sometimes it flares up and shoots out a stream of lava and gas. It is SO COOL. I know I'm not imagining it, because last night Eric, Emilie, Jenna, and Alisha were up there with me and saw it too.
Have a great day.
Buenas noches. Once again I take keyboard in hand and post another day's worth of adventures here in Guatemala. As you may recall from yesterday's blog, we had the orphanage and market on the agenda. It meant a lot of time in the car and by the end of the day we were getting a bit loopy, but more on that later.
First to the orphanage. A long trip, about an hour more or less by van to Patzun, through the mountains of Guatemala. The countryside here in Guatemala is beautiful. Mountains, volcanos, lush green valleys checkerboarded by feilds that cling to the mountainsides by some means that defy the laws of physics. We had a very short time allotted to us at the orphanage, only a couple of hours. The children had a amss after lunch to attend, so we had to make the best use of the time we were given. Of course to me that could only mean one thing...get them in and get them washing their hands. An you all thought I could go at least one post without some handwashing reference. HA.
Anyway, the experience at the orphanage was much more than handwashing. There was also toothbrushing, taught by Laura, who did a wonderful job. Everyone, including us student nurses, pretended to brush our teeth for 30 seconds. It was really quite funny to watch. Lots of little kids moving their hands up and down in front of their mouths and laughing. We presented the school with a bunch of soccer balls and other toys, and then we were able to play with them. By that I mean the kids and the balls, not just the balls because that would be mean. The kids were so much fun. They would chase us around, play catch, or soccer, or basketball. They come to us and invited us to play. It was very touching and VERY hard to leave.
Just a quick word about the kids and the orphanage. It is run by Frnaciscan nuns, and houses babies through school age children. Many of the children who are there were born to mothers who are alcoholics or have some other problems and are unable to care for their children, or the children were born with physical problems and were unable to be cared for at home. Some of the parents do come to visit once a month or so but the children live at the orphanage. Other children are "traditional" orphans. Dawn got to hold a beautiful little girl (can't wait to share the photo, I think it shows just how much a trip like this can mean to both us and those we meet here). Dawn also got to learn the story f how that child ended up in the orphanage, and I will share that story when I can. Too much else to put in this post.
After we left the orphanage it was on to the market in Chichicastenango. What an adventure that turned out to be. We had decided yesterday to buy some groceries and make our lunch as we were on the road, in order to save some time and allow for more marketing. You haven't really had fun until you've tried to mke a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a dirt road in Guatemala. After getting peanut butter on everything but the bread I decided a jelly sandwich ws just what I wanted for lunch, and the meal went much more smoothly. If you have ever been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride while simutaneously being on a roller coaster and rocket to the moon, you have at least a little idea of our wild ride to the market. Our THREE HOUR ride to the market.
The reviews are in: "Harrowing!" Gut-wrenching." "It gave me palpitations." "No tengo miedo (I'm not afraid)" No it's not the latest Indiana Jones movie, it's the ride to Chichicastenango. The roads in Guatemala are a treat. Narrow lanes snake their way up and down the mountains with no guardrails along the incredibly steep embankments. At one point Alisha asked "are we like defying gravity now." Now along these narrow roads travel everything, cars, vans, trucks, and the famous chicken buses. Chicken buses are the popular public transportation, school buses painted in incredibly bright and metalic colors that apparently are governed by completely separate laws of the road from every other vehicle. They always have a driver (well duh) and some sort of assistant who can usually be found either hanging out of the open door at the front of the bus, or climbing onto the top of the bus WHILE THE BUS IS MOVING. At one point in our trip today Alisha was reclining in her seat with her feet propped up on the sliding side door of the van and asked "On a scale of one to ten how safe do you think this is?" To which I replied "In the US or in Guatemala, 'cuz in the US it's not very safe, but here the door is still closed so you're fine."
We were well into our trip when we suddenly came to a stop. Road construction. We stood in line for quite some time. Absolutely nothing moved. Nothing, that is, except the chicken bus that decided enough is enough and passed us all in the oncoming lane, honking its horn. I think they use the horn as an alternative to breaking, less wear and tear on the break pads, cuts down on service costs and parts.
You haven't really lived until you have survived a three hour trip through the mountains of Guatemala smashed into the back corner of a van carrying 7 female nursing students. I love thm all and think of them as my sisters, and hope that they think of me as their (slightly? ok maybe not s;ightly) older brother who may be just a little on the funny side (most likely funny strange and not funny ha ha). They are a wonderful group, and will make great nurses, each and every one of them. But they are CRAZY.
They are also fast becoming good wheelers and dealers. Lots of bargaining was done in the marketplace, and I do believe a good time was had by all. This market is very different than the one in Antigua we visited yesterday. More indigenous people, and people walking the aisles folloing you trying to get you to buy their goods. We couldn't go five feet without someone, usually a woman or child, coming up to us showing us something, a blanket or table runner or jewelry or machette, something to sell. Again I won't tell you what anyone bought, you'll have to wait until we return to find that out, but I will say that nothing caught my eye (sorry Mary).
The ride back was nearly as harrowing and death defying as the ride out, with the exception that we somehow started a real song and dance fest, in large part led by the famed choreographer the white seizure. I know most of you won't know who that is, and she will remain anonymous.
A great dinner and now here I am up much too late writing this. I need to go to bed, and if you, gentle reader are not already there, so do you.
First to the orphanage. A long trip, about an hour more or less by van to Patzun, through the mountains of Guatemala. The countryside here in Guatemala is beautiful. Mountains, volcanos, lush green valleys checkerboarded by feilds that cling to the mountainsides by some means that defy the laws of physics. We had a very short time allotted to us at the orphanage, only a couple of hours. The children had a amss after lunch to attend, so we had to make the best use of the time we were given. Of course to me that could only mean one thing...get them in and get them washing their hands. An you all thought I could go at least one post without some handwashing reference. HA.
Anyway, the experience at the orphanage was much more than handwashing. There was also toothbrushing, taught by Laura, who did a wonderful job. Everyone, including us student nurses, pretended to brush our teeth for 30 seconds. It was really quite funny to watch. Lots of little kids moving their hands up and down in front of their mouths and laughing. We presented the school with a bunch of soccer balls and other toys, and then we were able to play with them. By that I mean the kids and the balls, not just the balls because that would be mean. The kids were so much fun. They would chase us around, play catch, or soccer, or basketball. They come to us and invited us to play. It was very touching and VERY hard to leave.
Just a quick word about the kids and the orphanage. It is run by Frnaciscan nuns, and houses babies through school age children. Many of the children who are there were born to mothers who are alcoholics or have some other problems and are unable to care for their children, or the children were born with physical problems and were unable to be cared for at home. Some of the parents do come to visit once a month or so but the children live at the orphanage. Other children are "traditional" orphans. Dawn got to hold a beautiful little girl (can't wait to share the photo, I think it shows just how much a trip like this can mean to both us and those we meet here). Dawn also got to learn the story f how that child ended up in the orphanage, and I will share that story when I can. Too much else to put in this post.
After we left the orphanage it was on to the market in Chichicastenango. What an adventure that turned out to be. We had decided yesterday to buy some groceries and make our lunch as we were on the road, in order to save some time and allow for more marketing. You haven't really had fun until you've tried to mke a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a dirt road in Guatemala. After getting peanut butter on everything but the bread I decided a jelly sandwich ws just what I wanted for lunch, and the meal went much more smoothly. If you have ever been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride while simutaneously being on a roller coaster and rocket to the moon, you have at least a little idea of our wild ride to the market. Our THREE HOUR ride to the market.
The reviews are in: "Harrowing!" Gut-wrenching." "It gave me palpitations." "No tengo miedo (I'm not afraid)" No it's not the latest Indiana Jones movie, it's the ride to Chichicastenango. The roads in Guatemala are a treat. Narrow lanes snake their way up and down the mountains with no guardrails along the incredibly steep embankments. At one point Alisha asked "are we like defying gravity now." Now along these narrow roads travel everything, cars, vans, trucks, and the famous chicken buses. Chicken buses are the popular public transportation, school buses painted in incredibly bright and metalic colors that apparently are governed by completely separate laws of the road from every other vehicle. They always have a driver (well duh) and some sort of assistant who can usually be found either hanging out of the open door at the front of the bus, or climbing onto the top of the bus WHILE THE BUS IS MOVING. At one point in our trip today Alisha was reclining in her seat with her feet propped up on the sliding side door of the van and asked "On a scale of one to ten how safe do you think this is?" To which I replied "In the US or in Guatemala, 'cuz in the US it's not very safe, but here the door is still closed so you're fine."
We were well into our trip when we suddenly came to a stop. Road construction. We stood in line for quite some time. Absolutely nothing moved. Nothing, that is, except the chicken bus that decided enough is enough and passed us all in the oncoming lane, honking its horn. I think they use the horn as an alternative to breaking, less wear and tear on the break pads, cuts down on service costs and parts.
You haven't really lived until you have survived a three hour trip through the mountains of Guatemala smashed into the back corner of a van carrying 7 female nursing students. I love thm all and think of them as my sisters, and hope that they think of me as their (slightly? ok maybe not s;ightly) older brother who may be just a little on the funny side (most likely funny strange and not funny ha ha). They are a wonderful group, and will make great nurses, each and every one of them. But they are CRAZY.
They are also fast becoming good wheelers and dealers. Lots of bargaining was done in the marketplace, and I do believe a good time was had by all. This market is very different than the one in Antigua we visited yesterday. More indigenous people, and people walking the aisles folloing you trying to get you to buy their goods. We couldn't go five feet without someone, usually a woman or child, coming up to us showing us something, a blanket or table runner or jewelry or machette, something to sell. Again I won't tell you what anyone bought, you'll have to wait until we return to find that out, but I will say that nothing caught my eye (sorry Mary).
The ride back was nearly as harrowing and death defying as the ride out, with the exception that we somehow started a real song and dance fest, in large part led by the famed choreographer the white seizure. I know most of you won't know who that is, and she will remain anonymous.
A great dinner and now here I am up much too late writing this. I need to go to bed, and if you, gentle reader are not already there, so do you.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
First off, all of us here on the trip want to wish Chris and Paul a very happy anniversary.
And now, on with the show...
Thank you to all who are visiting. I have heard throught the grapevine here that there are a number of people checking up on us through this blog. I hope I am doing the trip and our group justice in my descriptions. If anyone wants to comment or communicate with me, you can either leave a comment by clicking on the comment button at the end of each post or you can email me at nathannurseguat08@gmail.com. I hope that is the right email address. I set up that email just for this trip and I never email myself. By the way, the blog is now listed on the home page of Edgewood College's web site. A very big thank you to whomever was responsible for doing that.
Today was a very different day for us. Yes, I know you are all waiting with baited breath for the descriptions of the shopping trip to the Antigua market, but you will have to wait, just like we did.
Fortunately for us we had a wonderful time waiting. We visited with Franklin from As Green as it Gets. That is the organization that we got our coffee from for our fundraising. He also is a fascinating individual. A transplanted American now living in Guatemala, Franklin and a small staff run this non-profit that helps Guatemalans with loans, business incubation, exporting, management, whatever they need. Another grassroots organization making a difference for the people here. Franklin took us on a tour of the town and we met some of the coffee growers and other businesses and people that he works with. We all now know so much more about how coffee is grown, harvested, and prepared for us to buy. Coffee is a very labor intensive commodity. We learned how to sort out the good and the bad beans (by hand, bean by bean) had some fresh roasted over an open fire coffee, learned about all of the uses for the coffee byproducts (fruit is used for fertilizer, they are making their own biodiesel, and many other things), and even had the opportunity to plant a coffee seedling. We also met a young Guatemalan woman who started her own business thanks to a loan from As Green as it Gets (which from now on will be abbreviated agait, because my fingers are getting tired). She takes the misprints from the company that makes burlap sacks for the coffee and makes them into beautiful bags of a variety of shapes and sizes. I am sure many of you will have the opportunity to see some of them when we get home, because a few people (and by that I mean pretty much everyone) bought something from her. Anyway, she is 21, and she has gone from making these bags by herself on one old sewing machine to 7 sewing machines ad employing a number of women in the commuity. Her bags sell not only in Guatemala but in some stores in the United States. She is her own little international business, thanks in large part to her desire and a small start-up loan from agait. AGAIT is also involved in reforestation projects, biodiesel (for their own use), and is looking to expand into cosmetics using locally grown an harvested products, and son (we hope really soon) chocolate. We were so amazed and impressed by what agait has been able to accomplish with the people in this area. Make sure to visit them at www.asgreenasitgets.org.
OK now for the shopping. We broke up into groups and headed off. Amazingly enough we were much faster than a herd of turtles today. (If you don't get the reference, check a couple of posts previous) The descriptions I give of the shopping will not do justice either to the market, which is very cool, or our group, which is also very cool but in very different ways. I will make no mention of who bought what, in case some of the items are to be gifts for others, except to say that I did buy something for my wife, and I sure hope she enjoys it, because I don't think I can return it for store credit.
Anyway off we went into this maze of little shops. Imagine if you will a small closet. Now imagine that closet packed with textiles, woven blankets, shirts, wooden carvings, ceramics, or any number of other items. Now imagine a couple hundred of those closets running together, aisle after aisle. That is as close as I can get to describing this place without showing pictures. It was amazing. People and products packed together. Vendors caling you into their stalls, asking you what you are looking for, haggling over prices, a little Spanish here, a little English there, and suddenly a sale. Then off to the next stall and it starts all over again. Not a place for the faint of heart.
Like all of the rest of Guatemala, Karen seemed to know almost everyone in the market. We have come to the conclusion that Karen knows all but 17 people in Guatemala, and that's only because 10 of them were born today. Anyway, she led a group of us around introducing us to people, making deals, showing us great things, and being very entertaining. It certainly helped having a guide to get us started. By the time we were done, however, all of us seemed to be getting pretty good at shopping for deals. Our driver/guide/translator/all around great guy Eric went along and helped another group in the market. I will write more about Eric in a future post, because he deserves his own note. We finally finished our tromp through shopping paradise, otherwise known as purgatory for husbands, and met at the van to go back to the hotel. I walked over to a tired looking Eric and said "Es como tenemos diez esposas" (It's like we have 10 wives). He could only laugh and nod his head in agreement. As much as I may want to be considered "one of the girls" on this trip, I cannot make that last step into the world of shopping.
There were so many other little things that happened in the market. I hesitate to add any others here. The repercussions that may follow such a lapse in judgement are just to horrible to take that risk.
We are off to the orphanage tomorrow. More handwashing sessions. I am sure you will all be tuning in tomorrow to find out how that goes. I am thinking that I should videotape the sessions and put it on the blog. That way you too could share in the wisdom of the 15 seconds. After the orphanage we are off to Chichicastenengo and what is said to be the largest open air indigenous market in Latin America. Yes, that's right, another market. Well, by that time we won't have been to a market for at least 18 hours. Besides, we're going so we can get a taste of the flavor of the people and the country, right?
And now, on with the show...
Thank you to all who are visiting. I have heard throught the grapevine here that there are a number of people checking up on us through this blog. I hope I am doing the trip and our group justice in my descriptions. If anyone wants to comment or communicate with me, you can either leave a comment by clicking on the comment button at the end of each post or you can email me at nathannurseguat08@gmail.com. I hope that is the right email address. I set up that email just for this trip and I never email myself. By the way, the blog is now listed on the home page of Edgewood College's web site. A very big thank you to whomever was responsible for doing that.
Today was a very different day for us. Yes, I know you are all waiting with baited breath for the descriptions of the shopping trip to the Antigua market, but you will have to wait, just like we did.
Fortunately for us we had a wonderful time waiting. We visited with Franklin from As Green as it Gets. That is the organization that we got our coffee from for our fundraising. He also is a fascinating individual. A transplanted American now living in Guatemala, Franklin and a small staff run this non-profit that helps Guatemalans with loans, business incubation, exporting, management, whatever they need. Another grassroots organization making a difference for the people here. Franklin took us on a tour of the town and we met some of the coffee growers and other businesses and people that he works with. We all now know so much more about how coffee is grown, harvested, and prepared for us to buy. Coffee is a very labor intensive commodity. We learned how to sort out the good and the bad beans (by hand, bean by bean) had some fresh roasted over an open fire coffee, learned about all of the uses for the coffee byproducts (fruit is used for fertilizer, they are making their own biodiesel, and many other things), and even had the opportunity to plant a coffee seedling. We also met a young Guatemalan woman who started her own business thanks to a loan from As Green as it Gets (which from now on will be abbreviated agait, because my fingers are getting tired). She takes the misprints from the company that makes burlap sacks for the coffee and makes them into beautiful bags of a variety of shapes and sizes. I am sure many of you will have the opportunity to see some of them when we get home, because a few people (and by that I mean pretty much everyone) bought something from her. Anyway, she is 21, and she has gone from making these bags by herself on one old sewing machine to 7 sewing machines ad employing a number of women in the commuity. Her bags sell not only in Guatemala but in some stores in the United States. She is her own little international business, thanks in large part to her desire and a small start-up loan from agait. AGAIT is also involved in reforestation projects, biodiesel (for their own use), and is looking to expand into cosmetics using locally grown an harvested products, and son (we hope really soon) chocolate. We were so amazed and impressed by what agait has been able to accomplish with the people in this area. Make sure to visit them at www.asgreenasitgets.org.
OK now for the shopping. We broke up into groups and headed off. Amazingly enough we were much faster than a herd of turtles today. (If you don't get the reference, check a couple of posts previous) The descriptions I give of the shopping will not do justice either to the market, which is very cool, or our group, which is also very cool but in very different ways. I will make no mention of who bought what, in case some of the items are to be gifts for others, except to say that I did buy something for my wife, and I sure hope she enjoys it, because I don't think I can return it for store credit.
Anyway off we went into this maze of little shops. Imagine if you will a small closet. Now imagine that closet packed with textiles, woven blankets, shirts, wooden carvings, ceramics, or any number of other items. Now imagine a couple hundred of those closets running together, aisle after aisle. That is as close as I can get to describing this place without showing pictures. It was amazing. People and products packed together. Vendors caling you into their stalls, asking you what you are looking for, haggling over prices, a little Spanish here, a little English there, and suddenly a sale. Then off to the next stall and it starts all over again. Not a place for the faint of heart.
Like all of the rest of Guatemala, Karen seemed to know almost everyone in the market. We have come to the conclusion that Karen knows all but 17 people in Guatemala, and that's only because 10 of them were born today. Anyway, she led a group of us around introducing us to people, making deals, showing us great things, and being very entertaining. It certainly helped having a guide to get us started. By the time we were done, however, all of us seemed to be getting pretty good at shopping for deals. Our driver/guide/translator/all around great guy Eric went along and helped another group in the market. I will write more about Eric in a future post, because he deserves his own note. We finally finished our tromp through shopping paradise, otherwise known as purgatory for husbands, and met at the van to go back to the hotel. I walked over to a tired looking Eric and said "Es como tenemos diez esposas" (It's like we have 10 wives). He could only laugh and nod his head in agreement. As much as I may want to be considered "one of the girls" on this trip, I cannot make that last step into the world of shopping.
There were so many other little things that happened in the market. I hesitate to add any others here. The repercussions that may follow such a lapse in judgement are just to horrible to take that risk.
We are off to the orphanage tomorrow. More handwashing sessions. I am sure you will all be tuning in tomorrow to find out how that goes. I am thinking that I should videotape the sessions and put it on the blog. That way you too could share in the wisdom of the 15 seconds. After the orphanage we are off to Chichicastenengo and what is said to be the largest open air indigenous market in Latin America. Yes, that's right, another market. Well, by that time we won't have been to a market for at least 18 hours. Besides, we're going so we can get a taste of the flavor of the people and the country, right?
Buenos dias. You now have the sum total of my Spanish. Well, maybe I know a little more, but not this early in the morning. Especially on a day when we coud sleep in for an extra half hour and instead I got up 20 minutes earlier than usual. This whole sleeping at night and doing things in the daytime is a tough transition for us night shift people.
I really don't have any updates, except to let everyone know that I did not have any frighteneing soap related dreams.
I really don't have any updates, except to let everyone know that I did not have any frighteneing soap related dreams.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wow, what a day. Sumpango visit today. It is a town outside of Antigua that Nancy, Chris, and Karen have made a great contact with a local doctor. Dr. Oscar Paredes is a kind of one stop shop for many people in and around Sumpango. He does some general practice, lots of OB/GYN, rcently got an ultrasound machine (which is a story in itself that I will share sometime thnks to Karen), and is doing more and more work with diabetes and high blood pressure, a growing problem in Guatemala as we are finding out on this trip. Dr. Oscar is an amazing man. He treats anybody who comes to his door, and if he can't help he has a kind of grassroots network of other similarly minded doctors that he refers people to. He is not only an honor to his profession, but an inspiration to me and others about caring and taking action. He grew up poor in Sumpango, decided to go to medical school because he wanted to make a difference in his town, and is now making that difference.
We did another handwashing session at another school. It went very well. Older students this time and they had lts of questions about diseases and viruses and many other things. The school is a private one stared by a couple from Nicaragua that specializes in computer technology. Very interesting to see the students and classrooms.
We had a two hour lunch (welcome to Latin America). There are McDonalds and Wendy's and the like in Guatemala, but mainly in the big cities. Fast food is a very foreign concept in most of the country. But the food was delicious and we were hungry, so why not enjoy it. Time is very relative anyway, and I figure the schedule, as most things in Guatemala, is subject to change.
We ended our day with a visit to the families living in the town dump in Sumpango. What an eye opening experience. About 200 families live in the dump in Sumpango, and Dr. Oscar is trying to develop some kind of outrach to them, since no one else is minitering to their needs, and there really is no government program to help them. We did another handwashing session with some of the mothers and children. Yes, tht's right, another one. For years to come when the people of Guatemala hear of Edgewood College, the first thing that will come to mind will be how clean our hands must be. Sometimes I think the goal of our trip is to get 100% compliance in the 15 second hand washing technique for the entire country. If I don't start doing something else on this trip soon, I am afraid I will soon be stopping people on the streets of Antigua to talk to them about washing their hands. My dreams will be filled with bars of soap chasing me down cobblestone streets with buckets of water chanting "15 seconds, 15 seconds." OK, I'll stop now.
I think the entire group has fallen in love with the children of Guatemala. To see these nurses to be laughing and playing and talking, yes talking, in Spanish to these kids was such a great sight. OK, our Spanish wasn't perfect, but neither they nor we seemed to care. We brought them some balls to play with, some hygeine items like toothbrushes and tooth paste, and other odds and ends. The smiles on the faces of these kids is infective. It is so hard to see them nd not think of the difficultis they face now and will probably face for the rest of their lives. But at the same time it is so easy to get lost in their smiles and the sparkle in their eyes.
Have to go to bed now. I'll write when I can. Keep visiting and tell your friends.
Nathan
PS I want to include a special hello to Helen. Nancy said you told her to say hi to me, so I am returning the hello. Nancy has also given us our new trip motto: we're off like a herd of turtles.
We did another handwashing session at another school. It went very well. Older students this time and they had lts of questions about diseases and viruses and many other things. The school is a private one stared by a couple from Nicaragua that specializes in computer technology. Very interesting to see the students and classrooms.
We had a two hour lunch (welcome to Latin America). There are McDonalds and Wendy's and the like in Guatemala, but mainly in the big cities. Fast food is a very foreign concept in most of the country. But the food was delicious and we were hungry, so why not enjoy it. Time is very relative anyway, and I figure the schedule, as most things in Guatemala, is subject to change.
We ended our day with a visit to the families living in the town dump in Sumpango. What an eye opening experience. About 200 families live in the dump in Sumpango, and Dr. Oscar is trying to develop some kind of outrach to them, since no one else is minitering to their needs, and there really is no government program to help them. We did another handwashing session with some of the mothers and children. Yes, tht's right, another one. For years to come when the people of Guatemala hear of Edgewood College, the first thing that will come to mind will be how clean our hands must be. Sometimes I think the goal of our trip is to get 100% compliance in the 15 second hand washing technique for the entire country. If I don't start doing something else on this trip soon, I am afraid I will soon be stopping people on the streets of Antigua to talk to them about washing their hands. My dreams will be filled with bars of soap chasing me down cobblestone streets with buckets of water chanting "15 seconds, 15 seconds." OK, I'll stop now.
I think the entire group has fallen in love with the children of Guatemala. To see these nurses to be laughing and playing and talking, yes talking, in Spanish to these kids was such a great sight. OK, our Spanish wasn't perfect, but neither they nor we seemed to care. We brought them some balls to play with, some hygeine items like toothbrushes and tooth paste, and other odds and ends. The smiles on the faces of these kids is infective. It is so hard to see them nd not think of the difficultis they face now and will probably face for the rest of their lives. But at the same time it is so easy to get lost in their smiles and the sparkle in their eyes.
Have to go to bed now. I'll write when I can. Keep visiting and tell your friends.
Nathan
PS I want to include a special hello to Helen. Nancy said you told her to say hi to me, so I am returning the hello. Nancy has also given us our new trip motto: we're off like a herd of turtles.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sorry for the delay in updates. This is the first time since we arrived in Guatemala that I have been able to write. So, first things first. Yes we did arrive. Everyone arrived safely, as did ALL of the luggage. Miracles do happen. We sailed through O'Hare (don't tell anyone, but they didn't even weigh our bags, which is A) incredible and B) another miracle since a couple of bags were well over 50 pounds. Flights on time, no problems in immigration and customs, driver and translator waiting for us at the door. WOW, we actually made it to Guatemala.
Our first stop in Chiquimulilla has come and gone. We had some good times there. Very different than the states. Hot humid weather. A couple of us got a little (or a little more) sick--mostly stomach ailments, but we are all getting better.
We did some great teaching programs for the 30 midwives. They were so receptive, eager to learn. Teaching them to take blood pressures was fascinating. Everyone did a fantastic job. We are all taking lots of pictures (I am already over 400 photos) and I can't wait to put them up on the blog and wherever else I can so you all can see what we are seeing and doing. Sorry, gonna have to wait a few more days. No way for me to do it here. Just have to settle for what few words I can share here, when I get the chance to log on.
The kids here are so cute. We stopped at a school today and I did a session on hand washing. Chris was originally going to do it, but she was not feeling well, so last night she asked me to step in. Of course I said yes and then came to my sense, but it was too late. Anyway, we had a great time, and the kids seemed to both enjoy it and learn something. I did five sessions, I think, with groups of about 25-30 students each. I started each session with the standard "Hi I'm Nathan and my friends and I are going to teach you about proper handwashing, and I would motion to the back of a dark and extremely hot room to the rest of the group. Imagine my surprise on about session three when I went into my opening and got to the my friends and I part and looked up and saw that none of my fellow travelers were back there. They had all gone out to play with the rest of the kids. Oh well they had fun, and some came back in time to help with the interactive hand washing part.
We are now in Antigua. It is a beautiful, colonial city, the old colonial capital of Guatemala. Our hotel, Hotel El Carmen (see link a couple of entries ago) is super, a definite change from the mission guest house in Chiquimulilla. The rooftop "terrace" has great views of the city and surrounding mountains. And I have some internet access, so hopefully I wil be able to update the blog on occasion, so keep visiting. Tomorrow we are off to a clinic, another school (I may end up being a handwashing expert by the time I get home) and to the dump to work with some of the families living there. Good night for now. Nathan
Our first stop in Chiquimulilla has come and gone. We had some good times there. Very different than the states. Hot humid weather. A couple of us got a little (or a little more) sick--mostly stomach ailments, but we are all getting better.
We did some great teaching programs for the 30 midwives. They were so receptive, eager to learn. Teaching them to take blood pressures was fascinating. Everyone did a fantastic job. We are all taking lots of pictures (I am already over 400 photos) and I can't wait to put them up on the blog and wherever else I can so you all can see what we are seeing and doing. Sorry, gonna have to wait a few more days. No way for me to do it here. Just have to settle for what few words I can share here, when I get the chance to log on.
The kids here are so cute. We stopped at a school today and I did a session on hand washing. Chris was originally going to do it, but she was not feeling well, so last night she asked me to step in. Of course I said yes and then came to my sense, but it was too late. Anyway, we had a great time, and the kids seemed to both enjoy it and learn something. I did five sessions, I think, with groups of about 25-30 students each. I started each session with the standard "Hi I'm Nathan and my friends and I are going to teach you about proper handwashing, and I would motion to the back of a dark and extremely hot room to the rest of the group. Imagine my surprise on about session three when I went into my opening and got to the my friends and I part and looked up and saw that none of my fellow travelers were back there. They had all gone out to play with the rest of the kids. Oh well they had fun, and some came back in time to help with the interactive hand washing part.
We are now in Antigua. It is a beautiful, colonial city, the old colonial capital of Guatemala. Our hotel, Hotel El Carmen (see link a couple of entries ago) is super, a definite change from the mission guest house in Chiquimulilla. The rooftop "terrace" has great views of the city and surrounding mountains. And I have some internet access, so hopefully I wil be able to update the blog on occasion, so keep visiting. Tomorrow we are off to a clinic, another school (I may end up being a handwashing expert by the time I get home) and to the dump to work with some of the families living there. Good night for now. Nathan
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Well, we leave tomorrow. Excitement is in the air. Or is that rain? I'm easily confused. But I'm also packed and (I hope) ready to go. This will be an adventure for all of us. I'm very eager to see what is in store. I don't think I will be able to post to the blog while I'm out. Maybe if I'm lucky I will, but I don't expect to. I'll have a lot of catching up to do when I get back, but I am taking a notebook and pencils to keep a journal (we'll see how that goes, I've never been too good at keeping a journal). Everyone be well, and I will see you in June.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Just a quick note, we (hopefully) have finished packing the supplies that we are taking. 11 bags at about 50 pounds a bag. You do the math. Seriously, you do the math, I'm too tired to do it right now. Anyway, I am trying to finish up some teaching material on puberty (in Spanish of course) and collecting the rest of my carry on supplies. My clothes are packed, for the second time, and I am almost ready to go. Very exciting.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
For those who want to know, here is the web address of one of the hotels we will be staying in when we are in Antigua:
http://www.elcarmenhotel.com/home.htm
Check it out and practice your Spanish at the same time.
http://www.elcarmenhotel.com/home.htm
Check it out and practice your Spanish at the same time.
Intro
Hello everybody. Thought this might be a good way to keep everybody posted on what's happening as I get closer and closer to going to Guatemala. I can show off pictures, maybe include a map or two, and when we get back I can share the trip with y'all.
Here we go....
Here we go....
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