Day 3 of Service Learning - ABI

  Buenas noches from Guatemala City!
  This is Lorrie and Erin (OT practitioners) coming to you live from ABI, a government-run residential facility located in Guatemala City, near the airport. Today was our third day of service at this site including the Annex, a day program for some of ABI's residents. We spent the majority of our day at the Annex, treating residents with a wide variety of physical and sensory needs. Some of our highlights of the day include:

• Introducing an iPad to a resident with spastic CP, who appears to be very intelligent however lacks the physical and verbal skills to interact with his environment. This individual appeared to love the iPad, and we are very hopeful that it will help improve his ability to communicate with others and challenge his mind. We are hopeful that our recommendations for an iPad will help secure one for him in the future!
• Engaging a child with a burned, contracted upper extremity in purposeful reaching activities with his affected arm, which he normally does not use. It was difficult to find something that motivated him, but grasping handfuls of beans seemed to do the trick!
• Having a teenager--who has only ever used a bottle--eat flan from a spoon for the first time. This has been an undertaking a year in the making, needless to say everyone was very excited at this major development!
• Teaching the staff at the Annex how to better utilize their sensory integration room, as well as safe feeding and positioning strategies. The staff were very receptive to our suggestions.
• Working on Spanish letter/number discrimination, PECS, and safe swallowing strategies for some of the residents with our talented speech therapist.

After we finished our work today, we headed to our hostel, aptly named "Hostal Guatefriends". It is within walking distance of ABI; however, we still managed to get a little lost on our way here. :) We were treated to some delicious "Pollo Campero" which we all agreed were the best chicken nuggets we have had in awhile. In addition to the food, we also have the great company of two children living here with their family, who have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.  It may be a bit cramped (8 of us in 2 rooms!), but thank goodness for a nice outdoor patio! The students have been working hard on our care plans for the residents of the Annex, and we are looking forward to spending more time at ABI tomorrow. Signing off now from ABI, stay tuned for a post from Missionaries tomorrow!