Final thoughts

Dear Family and Friends:

What an impactful week. So much service to those in need of more resources and so much learning about Guatemalan culture and occupational therapy. We appreciate all the support from home, all the thoughts and prayers sent on our behalf. During this entire program and in so many ways we were blessed by the people of Guatemala. Now, we strive to pay forward all the kindness, goodness, and positivity shown to us. May we, in our future endeavors and careers as occupational therapy students, faculty, and therapists, continue to make a difference in the lives of others.

Thank you,
Carol, Program Leader

June 9, 2018

Hey family and friends!
Today was our last full day here in Guatemala together, and we made the most of it! We started our day by hiking up a short mountain to get an amazing view of Antigua. We took many pictures, and had a blast while we were there! Then, we gathered the whole group and connected with a young couple that own a direct-trade coffee company that focuses on finding work for individuals that grew up without traditional familial supports. We then treated ourselves to a delicious lunch that had a fabulous view of Antigua. We later had free time in the afternoon to explore the city of Antigua, Guatemala. We had not had this opportunity all week, and we loved getting to shop, drink good coffee, and look at the beautiful architecture. Finally, this evening we had the opportunity to reflect on all of our experiences here and everything that we have learned thus far. We were so blessed to have had this opportunity to learn about how occupational therapy can serve clients of all cultures and backgrounds.

We look forward to seeing you all soon and sharing our experiences more in depth with you.

Adios!

Jenna, Judy, and Lauren

Last Day at Sites!

Hola amigos! This is Melissa and Elizabeth. All the students and therapists have arrived safely back to Antigua. Today, each site had to say some hard goodbyes to those they had worked with all week. However, we are grateful for the experience and appreciative for the close connections we have made. Tomorrow, we have an exciting day ahead of us; we will be exploring Antigua!

Buenas noches!
Melissa and Elizabeth

Catch-up Post From Thursday at Missionaries!

Here is our post from Thursday night, which we were unable to post because we did not have good Wifi at our site. Enjoy catching up! 

Buenos jueves, familia! Today was our fourth day at our service sites. Here at Missionaries of the Highway, we met to have breakfast with the children who stay at the home on site, followed by a morning of play. We sang songs in Spanish, played blacktop games, and got lots of hugs while we were surrounded by therapists, school teachers and tias (live-in assistants), and later by some of the parents of the children for a special group picnic. We continued on with treating our patients in the afternoon; we got to send two kids home with functional wheelchairs, which is always exciting, as well as deepen our learning about occupational therapy in Guatemala by observing the different areas – fine motor, sensory, and speech therapy. We finished up our care plans thanks to all of our wonderful traveling translators and printed them out for the therapists to keep when we leave. Finally, we headed to a relaxing group dinner at San Martin where we grew even closer. Even after leaving the sites, Jaq kept our brains stimulated with her crazy and frustrating riddles. If you want any answers, don’t ask Jenna because she probably still hasn’t figured them out. Just kidding! Much love from us as we spend our last night on site before heading back to Antigua. Write to you soon!

Katie, Hannah and Gabby

Hola! This is Carol, the Program leader, confirming that all is well with our program, our students, and our therapists. Last evening a blog was not sent from the scheduled site as the Internet connection at that site was not working for reasons other than any related to the volcano. We remain safe and well out of harms way. Look again yet tonight for a blog from our second of two service sites. Both groups had a great time of serving and learning.

Thank you,

Carol

Overnight Day 1

Hi loyal followers!

This is Daryl's adventurous team reporting from Canilla. Today we embarked on a 5 hour journey to begin our overnight stay at Las Maripositas ("little butterflies"), a rural outpatient clinic, where we will be working until Friday. We saw three patients in the community, two of which were seen in their home. We also visited Mayan ruins this evening, located close to Las Maripositas. Tomorrow will be a busy day, as each group will see five clients and we will also be leading a training session for the staff at Las Maripositas. We are thoroughly enjoying our experience thus far and excited for what is yet to come!

FYI we will not be hiking a volcano on Saturday. Although we planned to hike a different volcano than the one that erupted, our plans have changed and we will be exploring the city of Antigua.

Thanks for reading and look for a post from Missionaries of the Highway tomorrow!

Buenas noches,

Emily, Lauren E., Paige, Marie, Elizabeth, Melissa, Erin, Carol, and Todd

Hola from Guatemala!!!

Today was service day number 2 at Missionaries of the Highway and Hope for Home (Daryl's). It was an eventful day with full case loads. At Missionaries of the Highway, we made modifications to six wheelchairs, one of which set a record of 4.5 hours to complete! Despite it being such a long project, the boy who received the wheelchair was full of joy and shared the biggest smile in the world with us the entire time. When focusing on fine motor skills, we were able to create a splint out of a pool noodle, velcro, and a little too much super glue for a young boy with cerebral palsy. After visiting with each client, the families expressed an immense amount of gratitude which touched our hearts greatly. On the way home, our bus driver was kind enough to drop off two of the families (and stop by an ice cream shop). To end our night, we heard from a guest speaker who, despite losing a leg and finger from an accident, shared a story of inspiration and love which reminded us to always maintain a positive attitude throughout life.

We are looking forward to many more adventures as we pack up tonight for our overnight stays at  our service sites for the next two nights.

Hasta luego!!!!!

Lindsey, Amanda, & Kaitlin

Hola! This is Carol, the program leader. Yes, the same volcano erupted again today in a similar pattern as Sunday. We are all fine and well. The volcano is about 10 miles from our hotel, and the lava flow is on the side of the volcano away from where we are staying. We are continuing our service schedule as planned, although we did leave a bit early today because of the rain and to avoid heavy traffic. Rest assured we are keeping a sharp eye on the news as well as local reports. We are well-aware of the devastation from the lava flow and we know the airport is closed and the State Department is telling travelers to avoid Antigua. Yet, we are safe here in Antigua, to repeat, we are 10 miles away from the volcano and we are fine. 

Best, 

Carol 

Service Learning Day One!!!

Hello All!!!  Jacqueline and Todd here!  Quick Volcano update- we are all safe and continuing with our service as planned!  There is some ash on the streets and some on the trees, but otherwise everything is as usual! FYI, our three service learning groups have now combined into two groups and visited Missionaries of the highway and Naomi's.

Today at Missionaries, we had an orientation in the morning with a beautiful dance and marimba concert by a few of the children who are clients of Missionaries!  After lunch we began to see clients.  I (Jacqueline) worked in the OT/ Fine motor room with two clients, who were working on maintaining attention, dressing and pre-handwriting! Other people also worked in Speech, Sensory Integration, and with Wheelchairs.  We sent two kiddos home with new wheelchairs that will work much better for them!  Overall, it was an exciting day at Missionaries of the Highway!

Darry's group went to a new site today at Naomi's house with 9 Guatemalan kids she has adopted, 8 with special needs and disabilities.  I worked with 7 of the kids sharing NDT handling and positioning techniques for functional mobility in sitting, standing, prone, quadruped and gait with Lisa, OT that comes there to work with the kids 1x/wk.  The students did a great job taking photos and typing up the recommended plan of care for Naomi and her caregivers that came to her house daily to providing amazing care of all the special needs kids.

Thanks for reading!
Jacqueline (Missionaries) & Todd (Physical Therapy)

¡Hola!

Volcano update:
All students and therapist are safe and out of harms way. We did receive more information about the volcanic eruption. The latest news that we have received is the tragic information that there were a few fatalities among the locals who lived on the volcano. This volcano is called Fuego and is located in Alotenango, Sacatepequez, Guatemala. We will continue to update you all with any changes.

Students:

The students have arrived in Antigua! Here is what we did today. We woke up and many of us went to Mass at a Catholic church in Chichicastenango. This church was a very special church because it celebrates mass in both the Spanish language and in one of the Mayan languages, Tz'utujil. During this mass, twenty children were baptized and many prayer petitions were given by the people of the church. This was a very famous church because it has incorporated both the Mayan culture and language into Catholic practices. This was a very meaningful and special experience for our group.

After mass, we were able to attend the market. This was a very insightful experience for us. We were able to use our Spanish to barter. We were able to see all of the beautiful handmade crafts and clothes. This experience helped us to better understand the culture and interact with the people.

We then headed to Iximche. Iximche is a very powerful and meaningful place for the Mayan people. It is the capital of the Mayan empire. Here many Mayan rituals are performed. This was a very peaceful and reflective location for us. We felt very connected to the culture.

Next, we headed to Antigua to meet the therapists and start our next journey.

Therapists:

The practitioners had an interesting day in Antigua. A small group of us went to Catholic Mass in Spanish. Then, we met up with the others and walked to the Cerro de la Cruz. This is an elevated spot with a 1930s cross and sweeping views of Antigua, including an unobstructed view of Volcan Agua. We took pictures as a group.

Buenas Noches,

Megan, Emily, and Melissa

Hola! This is Carol, the group leader. All therapists arrived safely yesterday afternoon; and, soon the students will join us after their week in Xela. Everyone is safe and well in spite of our day being a bit eventful. You may have heard about it on the news or via social media, yes, a volcano near Antigua, the city where we are staying, spewed a bit of volcanic ash. It was enough to put a light dusting on cars and and make us bring out our umbrellas. The light volcanic "rain" lasted about an hour after which the sun came out, and the skies cleared. Because of that bit of activity, this is a quick note to let you know we are fine and there is no further concern or threat from the volcano. FYI, look for another blog posting yet tonight from a student/therapist team.

Best,

Carol

¡Hola!

Today, Saturday, was yet another busy day in the beautiful country of Guatemala!  We left our host families early this morning, and many of our goodbyes weren’t easy.  We all made such great connections and had such wonderful experiences with our families, we were sad to see our time with them come to an end!

After leaving our host families, we traveled about an hour and a half to a Mayan village.  Here we were lucky enough to participate in a traditional Mayan ceremony.  The couple who hosted the ceremony were so kind and welcomed us with open arms into their home.  Even though the majority of the ceremony was done in a Mayan language (which none of us understood), the message of the ceremony was still so beautiful and clear. We all felt so honored to be invited to participate in such a sacred event and were even invited to return if we ever visit Guatemala again.  After the ceremony, we traveled to a widows’ cooperative in Chichicastenango.  The cooperative is the home to many widows who lost their husbands during the war.  The women here were kind enough to make and serve us a delicious lunch.  Although the food was great, the most impactful part about visiting the cooperative was hearing the widows’ personal stories.  The stories that the widows told about how they lost their husbands were extremely difficult to hear, so I can only imagine how hard it was for the widows to tell these stories themselves.  We were all amazed by the widow’s strength and perseverance, as they have endured more than anyone should ever have to in a lifetime.  We were once again welcomed with open arms into the widows’ home, were invited back if we ever return to Guatemala.  We all felt so welcomed and loved after today’s experiences!

After the widow’s home, we drove to the hotel where we will be staying for the night. We had a tasty dinner, and are heading to bed soon, as we’re all very tired after our busy day!  I can’t believe we’ve already been in Guatemala for nearly a week.  It feels like just yesterday we were stepping off the plane, getting ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime!

Lauren Benson

¡Hola familia y amigos!

This is Elizabeth and Rachel signing in on our last night in Xela!  Today we spent our time at Santa Anita, an organic coffee cooperative. First, we took a long and challenging hike around the organic farm. However, the hike was worth it, since we were able to hear more about the  process of coffee farming and see the beauty of the coastal vegetation! Plus, we came across multiple waterfalls and had a blast (or shall we say splash) viewing them! Once we finished our hike, we enjoyed a lunch provided by the hosts of Santa Anita. After lunch, we heard multiple testimonies about the civil war, and the army of guerrillas! These personal testimonies were a great way to piece together some of our previous education of the history of Guatemala!

Tonight, we will be saying adios to our very gracious host families. We have been so thankful for their hospitality, and are very sad to have only had such a short time with them! However, that time was very impactful as we all had the chance to experience family culture, traditional food, and language immersion!

¡Buenas noches!

Elizabeth y Rachel 

¡Hola nuestra familia y amigos amados!

What a busy day we had today! We started our morning early at a school for children with a range of disabilities in Xela and took a tour through the different classrooms; one of the teachers touched our hearts when she told us that even though they have very limited resources to use with the students, they do their best to offer them special education. After that, we made a song circle and were outnumbered by the excited children, and we had a memorable time playing with them. Right after, we traveled to an elderly home for grandmothers in Xela and met occupational therapy students from the University of Rafael Landivar that were doing field work with the ladies. Right away, they welcomed us with applause as if we were all family and we did “gymnastic” exercises with the group – dance moves that replicate actions that the women are familiar with, such as “making the bed” (arms waving up and down) and “washing the dishes” (one hand moving in a circle) which was a fun combination of music and therapy. Many of us experienced powerful emotions as we saw first hand the intersection of different languages, cultures, and ages to connect through eye contact and smiles. Many of us cried; we will remember our time here when we return home to start our own fieldwork.

After that, we headed to the University of Rafael Landivar for a much-needed lunch, which they made very special for us by catering delicious food and giving us a beautiful presentation of the work they’ve been doing since last year’s group from Xavier OT visited them. They also gave us a tour of their campus which showed us how much we have in common as Jesuit universities – we both value beautiful greenery as an inspiration for our education, study space in libraries, and having an on-campus chapel with its own parish. 

After this, we split up to go to the sites that we did not go to yesterday – half of the group went to the TRAMA cooperation for weaving, and (our) half went to the temascal where we stepped out of our comfort zones and into a very hot, tiny room where we experienced the Mayan tradition of the “baño,” cleansing ourselves of toxins. We reunited again as a group to watch a documentary on the painful history of Guatemala and spent much time afterwards reflecting on all of the incredible experiences and emotions we shared today. We had more things to share than we had time for, and we ran back to our host families in the rain for another warm meal and night’s sleep before tomorrow’s activities.

How can it get better than this?

Adiós y mucho amor,

Katie y Paige

Glad to hear all is well. Can't wait to join you!

Carol

Hey Guatemala Gang

Therapists and faculty are coming your way on Saturday morning.  Can't wait to hear all about your adventures so far.  Stacia

Hola familia y amigos!

The learning and adventures continued today as we started off our day by visiting “Fundabiem,” a non-profit, holistic care facility for children and adults with disabilities and other injuries. After getting a tour from the director, we were able to spend some time exploring on our own and even engaging in conversations with clients and their families. We sang songs to the children (in Spanish) and had very meaningful conversations with parents and other family members. After our visit to “Fundabiem,” we went to the market to engage in a learning experience during which we were split into four groups and assigned a different topic: food, medicine, education, and clothing. Each group was given 50 Quetzales (about $7) to shop for the “necessities” for a family of five. This was a very eye-opening experience, as many people in Guatemala live off of less than $2 a day.

We then had lunch with our host families before splitting into two groups: one group experienced a traditional Mayan medicinal practice, a sauna, (Temazcal) while the other group learned how to weave at a women’s cooperative. Our day concluded with a delicious treat, ice cream, and a group reflection before heading home to our host families for the night. We are so grateful for all that we have experienced thus far and are looking forward to continuing our intercultural growth.

Saludos,

Ashtyn and Marie

Hola! Today was our second day in Guate! We departed for Quetzaltenango or Xela early this morning. We took a four-hour bus ride through the mountains and enjoyed beautiful scenery of mountains and agricultural landscapes. We saw people farming corn, beets, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes and other vegetables. Once we arrived in Xela, we headed for Café Red, an NGO that supports individuals readjusting to life in Guatemala following migration due to deportation from the U.S. Willie Barreno spoke to us about his life migrating to the U.S. and his experiences for 12 years working as a janitor, kitchen prep, and a chef before deciding to return to Guatemala. Upon his return to Guatemala, he started Café Red. Willie challenged us to examine through a new lens issues of world migration, globalization and hybridization. There is a small shop inside Café Red called Igual-Mart (Equal Mart), which sells many fair-trade hand made items. After a delicious lunch and cup of coffee, we walked through the center of town, the ‘parque central,’ and on to the language school which organized the family stays for us. Once we arrived, we met students from Rutgers University who were wrapping up their immersion experience. 

During our reflection, we talked about our hopes for the family stay and our experiences thus far. Finally, the time had come to meet our families! In pairs, we went with our ‘señoras’ to their homes. Nathalie and I are staying with Olga and her daughter Paola. Olga took us to the grocery store to choose foods we like and gave us a tour of the city. We feel especially blessed to be spending time with this sweet woman who has welcomed us into her home for a few days.

We are looking forward to more adventures tomorrow!

Hasta pronto,

Nathalie and Diane

Welcome to Guatemala!

Hi Allison and Rachel here posting from Guatemala City! We all arrived safely after a long day of traveling and we are excited to begin our Guatemalan adventure. After settling in and eating lunch, we learned about the history of Guatemala and safety tips for the week. It was really interesting to learn about the political disputes that have gone on for decades in this country, and how people are coming together to support change. After our lesson and a little rest, we had dinner at our hotel, Casa Emaus, and some of our telecollaboration partners were able to join us. It was great to get to speak to them in person! We are heading to bed early tonight to be ready to head to Xela early tomorrow morning.

Buenas Noches!

Allison and Rachel. 

Guatemala 2018!

The Guatemala 2018 students will be on their way in the morning! Guatemala, here we come!