Clinic Updates

Last week in San Andres, a mother came to clinic with three of her five children. The youngest one had a bad ear infection. As we talked, she became tearful and with good reason. Her husband was with another woman, he drinks too much and had sold their land, her parents had died, and her mother-in-law wasn't nice to her (I'm pretty sure that's the jist of what she was saying about her). The team that came from Guatemala city a couple of weeks ago had given bags of food for us to distribute after they left. I gave her one of these bags. The woman was adament that she would like Leslie to pray with her. I took her to the other clinic room and Leslie and I prayed for her, her child, and her circumstances. After praying, she took Leslie aside and asked her about birth control (pills vs. injection - with five kids and essentially no resources, I believe it was a responsible question). As she left, I had the sense that this is how it should work. Today, this woman was ministered to in body (medicine & food), mind (a listening ear & encouraging words), and spirit (prayer). I am again grateful to be able to serve here.

This last week in Canilla, we had two kids with what we think is Rotovirus. One poor girl had water just running out both ends. We had to refer both of them to the hospital in Quiche. We just don't have the ability to support these kids in the way that they need to be supported. It again reminds me of how much need there is here and how frustrating it is to have limited resources. The drive to Quiche is two hours, that is if you have a car - which most do not. Many times, when kids need to go to the hospital, they do not get taken. It is just too much, or people don't feel like they are able.

This last Thursday, we took another trip north up to San Pedro in Zona Reina. We took two loads up in the Cessna. When we arrived, our first task of the day was to go out on a house-call. This is a picture of us heading out.

Our patient was an old woman with a sinus infection. Here is a picture of her son and grandsons standing outside their house.

Walking back up to clinic, I took this picture. The building on the left is the Catholic church where we showed the Jesus film (in their indian language - 'Kekchi') as the people waited. The building on the right is the community building (or 'Salon') which serves as the clinic building.

Here is a picture of the clinic set up as we were getting started. Katie's prenatal/ultrasound line is on the left, medical consults on the right, the waiting area on the far wall, and the pharmacy table running down the middle.

Here is a picture of Katie and Aaron Ficker. The kids flocked to her as soon as they saw her calling out, "Kay-tee!"

Before we started clinic, a local pastor translated for Duane and Leslie and offered a word of encouragement. Also, a new believer read out of a Bible translated into their language.

Here are pictures of Craig and I examining patients. We counted out about a hundred numbers, but I am not sure how many we saw that day (and as most of them can't count, they were not anywhere close to coming in numerical order). We had everyone seen and headed out at about four in the afternoon.


Pictures cannot capture how incredible the views from the airplane. Seeing the mountains peeking through the clouds and then giving way to the valleys - it is just unbelieveable!