The Antigua group spent the day at Naomi's house in Santa Luca. Naomi's house is an organization that cares for 9 girls with a ride range of disabilities, from things like Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and other ailments. They have live in in nannies that care for the girls 24/7. The girls have access to education and therapists, one of whom is Lisa, the OT and wife of our host Rolando. It was so fun to learn from her! We were able to conduct sessions with all the girls today, and will be heading back tomorrow to get to work with them again. This trip has really pushed us to be creative therapists and students and to think about the impact of culture upon society, disability, and therapy. We had so much fun working with these amazing, bright, happy girls. They brought a huge ray of sunshine to an otherwise cloudy, rainy day in Antigua!
Following the day at Naomi's, we spent some time at Rolando's cafe, Spokes. We had heard so much about the amazing philosophy behind this place and we were so happy to spend time there and drink his coffee! We had some time to reflect on the day and work on our Care Plans for the children. After that we had dinner at San Martín, in Santa Luca.
Meanwhile, the Canillá group has been kept pretty busy today at the clinic, with patients arriving at 8:30 and continuing throughout the day. In case this was not explained yesterday, we are staying at a clinic in the town of Canillá, which is approximately 4 hours from Antigua. The clinic has a single therapist to care for the entire town and surrounding villages, so the main goal for these few days is to help train him while evaulating new patients and making adjustments to the therapy being done. The appointments from today were similar to the ones yesterday, with many of the same patients returning. We were able to see such a large range of ages, abilities, and injuries and have learned so much from working with the different therapists. It is awesome to know that the care plans that we are leaving will continue to be carried out by the current therapist, as well as with the caregivers and individuals who received a copy.
Some of us were also able to go on home visits today, which involved making adjustments to adaptive equipment and providing treatment to individuals who were unable to leave their homes. It is incredible to see the difference in medical care between the United States and in Guatemala, such a errors in simple surgeries that lead to further complications or common illnesses that progress to dangerous conditions. Many patients have come to the clinic searching for diagnoses or help beyond the typical scope of practice for an occupational therapist in the States, but because the therapists we are with have a higher education, they are looked at for recommendations on any kind of medical need. We got to finish the day by seeing Mayan ruins close to the clinic! We drive back to Antigua after seeing patients all tomorrow morning, and we are looking forward to rejoining with the rest of the group!
As a group, we have begun to do a lot of thinking of what this trip means for us and how it will change the way we think about occupational therapy. It is so hard to believe we only have 2 more full days here! Hope all is well at home.
Hasta manana,
Molly y Laney
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