Friday, April 29
Drove to DIA in a late Spring snowstorm. Fortunately, everyone made it to the airport safely and in time for our flight. We accompanied Gerson Leiva, 24-year old Guatemalan citizen suffering from organic brain syndrome, on the flight. A Denver hospital had arranged for us to escort him back to his home. The timing worked out, so he was with us on our flights. Larry took good care of him during the flights. Gerson was full of smiles, although somewhat nervous at the prospect of his first time in an airplane.

Saturday, April 30
We drove north to Chichicastenango, which was to be our base for the week. After unloading our luggage there we drove another half hour north to Lemoa, where we spent some time at the Hogar del Niño Methodist orphanage. We got to see the newest resident, a 5-day old baby who had been recently been left on their doorstep. They had named her Miriam Elisabeth. We also dropped in at the nearby Maryknoll Contemplative Community. Sisters Helen, Lilla, and Connie gave us some history of Lemoa and the recent civil war, and its effect on the local population. Towards evening we headed back to Chichi, stopping by the Ruth and Naomi Methodist weaving project, which provides work for widows, orphans, and local youth. This is also where we usually buy the Guatemalan crafts for the annual craft sale.

Monday, May 2
We drove to our first clinic site in Camanchaj. This would be our only day in a real clinic - the rest of the week we would set up in rural community buildings. At the clinic, Methodist missionaries Phil Plunk and JoAn Dwyer got us started. After a prayer with the group and our 12 translators we got to work. We set up individual stations for our dentist, three doctors, a pharmacy and triage areas. Each station required the presence of 2 translators - one for translating from K'iche (the local Mayan language) to Spanish, and one for Spanish to English. The triage area and each care provider required nurses as well.

Tuesday, May 3
Our first field clinic: Lemoa. We set up in the Methodist retreat center. Not many patients were waiting when we got there, but we ended up being busy all day. A common complaint was scabies, a rash caused by an infestation of the skin by microscopic mites. We saw all patients that came to the clinic that day, and afterwards stopped by the nearby Methodist orphanage. We performed a well baby check on Miriam Elisabeth. She is in great health!

Wednesday, May 4
It was 2 hour trip on rough dirt roads to our next site, the village of Lacamá III. As we pulled up to the large multipurpose building that was to serve as our clinic, we saw a huge line of patients was waiting. This was the first time a medical team had been to this village, and the need was great. After being welcomed by the mayor, we quickly set up and began seeing patients. It was busy. We worked as late as possible, and left at 5:20 PM only to prevent being caught out on the roads at dark. We saw 61 medical patients and 28 dental. Everyone arrived back at the hotel exhausted.

Thursday, May 5
We made it back to Lacamá by 9:30 AM, and were working by 10:00. We treated a 99 year old woman! We saw lots of stomach pain, lice, and scabies. At the end of the day the mayor sent us off with a speech and handshakes. We saw 80 medical patients and 26 dental (55 teeth extracted!). We got back to the hotel at dusk. Everyone was pretty tired.

Friday, May 6
Our final clinic was in Chipacá I. It was the worst conditions of any clinic so far - we were crammed into a small municipal building. Encountered lots of parasitic problems. It was hot and dusty all day long. We saw 92 medical patients and 43 dental. Jeronimo, one of our translators, was a Methodist pastor and the official church representative for the trip. At the end of the day he led us in prayer as we bid farewell to our interpreters. He thanked us for coming to his country and doing what we did. We returned to the hotel very tired but happy.