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!

Day 2 of Service Learning

Good Evening family, friends, and followers alike! Writing to you today are Andrea and Clare, two occupational therapy pracitioners and XU alumni. WOW. We had an awesome day today! At Daryl's home, we divided into two groups and were able to see 10 kids throughout the day, all of whom have various needs to be addressed (and all of whom are very sweet). The caregivers at the house were present during most of the sessions and very receptive to learning new ideas and continuing to work with the kids on therapy goals. In the afternoon, we spent some time working at Daryl's second location, where four children who have special needs are currently living.  It is amazing to see the compassion of all the people involved with working at this organization.

At Missionaries of the Highway, Andrea was on the wheelchair team with Carly, Sarah, and Claire. We also could not have accomplished so much without our amazing translators who were busy translating information to and from the family, as well as jumping in to work on the wheelchairs. We saw three children and adjusted three wheelchairs, fixed one walker, and fit a 12 year-old boy with his first wheelchair ever! The new wheelchair took four hours of team work, but the final product resulted in big smiles from both the boy and his parents. For sure, the end result made all the hard work worth it!

According to our sources (aka Erin, fellow XU alum and occupational therapy practitioner), the group at ABI started with a shoe fair.  The group fit shoes to all of the residents at ABI, who were very grateful for their new zapatos (translation: shoes).  Student/pracitioner pairs then spent the rest of the morning observing group routines and assessing some of the children's individual and sensory and oral needs. In the afternoon, the group ventured over to the Annex (a day program for 17 of the children at ABI) and spent some time observing and  treating children there with sensory and oral needs.

Tomorrow, we will be at our service sites (Daryl's group will be going to a different location so stay tuned) and spending two overnights near or at those locations.  We are looking forward to having extended hours of service during these days. FYI, we will rotate bloggers at each site for the next three days. Thanks for reading, we are off to coffee happy hour (shoutout:Rolando). As always, thanks for all the support and following our trip!

Day 1 of Service Learning

Hola  amigos this is Ann and Tara. Today was our first day at our service sites. Overall I would call today a  great first day of being at our service learning sites and we are all excited to go back tomarrow.  Carol made it in today making our group finally complete. Tara wnd I were both at  missionaries of the highway today, there they have a  sensory room, a occupational therapy room, a physical  therapy room, and two special education rooms. On site there is an  orphanage, and a school that goes from Kindergarden through 12th grade. Our job was to  evaluate and modify wheelchairs to improve quality of life of both the client and their family. It was rewarding to see the  instant improvement just by modifying a wheelchair to better fit the client. When we got back from our sites we had dinner then discussed our highs and lows for the day. It was exciting to hear about everyones day and how they were all so different.

The Road to Antigua

Hola todos mi amigos! Allie and Nikki coming at ya live from Guatemala! We woke up bright an early this morning to our wonderful rooster friend. We then traveled to Iximche and had the opportunity to observe three traditional Mayan dances. The first was King Iximche, then The Market, and finally Courtship. We learned about the traditional food as well as the ancient game of Pok ta Pok. We also observed weaving and pen wrapping. Walking through Iximche, we saw the ancient Mayan ruins such as temples, ball courts, and the moat. They were all unique and educational experiences that we will be able to incorporate as future culturally competent OTs.

After walking through the ruins, we traveled to Antigua with most of us asleep in the van.  On our way, we were able to drive through the city of Zaragoza, which was really interesting to see after having read about it in our Guatemalan language and culture class.  When we arrived at our hotel in Antigua, we immediately got to work unpacking and distributing all of the donations that we were able to bring with us (thanks again for all the donations)!  We then got the opportunity to walk around and explore the beautiful Hotel Santa Ana before a nice dinner.  Now we are all excited and preparing for a full and fun day of service at our sites tomorrow! Good night everyone! 

Last Day in Xela

        Sadly, today we had our last day in Xela with our host families. In the morning the group went to a cooperative called "Trama". This cooperative allows indigenous women in Guatemala to sell their traditional woven products. However, unlike the street vendors these women are given a fair price for their work. The cooperative aims to eliminate the middleman that usually receives most of the profit. Therefore, the women directly make money from the products they make in order to support their families. During our time at the cooperative we watched an informational video about the organization and each of us had the opportunity to learn to weave on our own. At first it was difficult to master the technique, but the women teaching us were very patient, and we were eventually able to work on our own! We were so comfortable talking to the women that we found ourselves joking with one another. It was an amazing experience. We also had the opportunity to buy beautiful hand-woven products from their store!
       When we came back from the weaving cooperative we had to say our final goodbyes to our host families. It was an emotional morning, and each of us will not forget the memories we made with our families. We continue to be in awe of the openness and hospitality of our families to let us into their homes as strangers and treat us like their own. MaryLauren and I shared a special moment with our host family moments before we left. We tried on the traditional dress and took pictures with our host family. It was very difficult to say goodbye to these families who were so loving. Although we had only known them for a few days, we felt so welcome in their home and we will truly miss them. After leaving Xela we then traveled to Panajachel. Although we haven't been here long, we are already in love. Panajachel has a beautiful view of Lake Atitlan and is bustling with street vendors. We even had a chance to bargain and roam the markets on our own! We ended the day with a delicious dinner and final reflections on all we have learned during our cultural immersion week. Our first week in Guatemala has truly been an experience we will never forget. We not only learned about the culture through our home stays and various tours, but we also became closer to one another. We can't wait to see what the second half of our trip holds for us!

MaryLauren and Libby

Kids and Coffee

Hola!  Day 6 here in Guatemala has been exciting for all of us. We were lucky enough to sleep in a tad since we had a slightly later start today! We gathered at our school (Casa Xelaju) before heading off to our first site of the day. We went to Escuela Oficial Urbana Mixta de Educacion Especial Xelaju, a elementary school for kids with disabilities in Quetzaltenango. The teachers brought the kids out to the center courtyard where we circled up and intermixed with the kids. We used this time to sing the songs that we learned in Spanish class last week! The kids were so excited to be singing the songs with us, and some of them really got into it and were dancing along as well. They even shared a new song that they knew with us! The joy that these kids had made everyone in our group so happy, and the experience brightened everyone's day.  After singing, we were given a tour of the school. It was a pretty small school with few resources, so it really hit us hard. We all could see that the lack of funding was apparent, so it was difficult to see the conditions of the school. However, we were all happy to hear that the school has really helped these kids to progress in their skills and has some amazing teachers who are really dedicated to their work.

After our tour, we loaded up in the vans to start our drive to Santa Anita. It was about an hour and a half away on windy roads through the mountains. There were lots of beautiful views of the country and little towns that we passed through. Lunch was made for us by community members from Santa Anita, and it was quite delicious! After lunch, we listened to a testimony from Marconi. He explained the history of Santa Anita's formation due to the events in the civil war. Guerilla fighters gathered into a community there and all forty-two families now work on the coffee farm. We received an explanation of how coffee is harvested, dried, ground, and roasted. We had the opportunity to view a museum that contained pictures and clothing of guerrilla soldiers. Sadly, we were unable to take a hike around the coffee farm due to some heavy rain that conveniently started once we showed up. However, we still enjoyed our time and some of us were able to purchase some coffee from Café Santa Anita!

Lastly, we headed back through the mountains to the school for a short reflection. We went home for our final dinner with our host families as tomorrow afternoon we will be departing Quetzaltenango (Xela) for Panajachel.

Adios!
Alayna y Sara

Wednesday May 24, 2017

We had another day packed with activities. Today, we continued to further explore Guatemalan culture and the overall atmosphere of the country. Our day began with a visit to FUNDABIEN, an organization that provides services to adults and children in the community that live with developmental disabilities. We got to see the facility as well as the departments of speech pathology, special education, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Everyone as FUNDABIEN was welcoming and enjoyed sharing their organization with us. We found the experience quite incredible because we were able to compare and contrast this facility with similar places in the United States. The organization has multiple locations across the country, and they are mainly funded by telethons and various local fundraisers. FUNDABIEN is also labeled as a public organization; however, the federal government has not provided any funding for many years. We were frustrated with this because with federal funding, this organization could provide more services to serve their clients. With more funds they could provide psychological services, repair necessary therapeutic tools, and acquire much needed technological advancements. 

Another highlight of our day was hearing Joel tell his story of an accident that led to both arms requiring a transradial amputation. He was such an uplifting and optimistic person, and we were amazed that he was able to see the positives when there was so much negativity. He faces discrimination in everyday life but approaches each day with strength and grace. I'm glad we experienced his positive attitude before we toured La Democracia Private Hospital. The hospital was interesting compared to a public hospital within the same town or even a private hospital in the United States. There were very few people able to afford the private care, and the facility, while considered complete, lacked much of the technology and equipment we would consider a necessary part of medical care.

We spent the last part of our day at a women's rights organization in Xela named AMUTED. They have multiple small groups that advocate for all women's rights in Guatemala especially the rights of indigenous women and those who have experienced domestic violence. Another aspect AMUTED focuses on is the preservation of the language, clothing, and spirituality of the indigenous Mayan culture. The women are able to participate in activities such as cooking, baking, sewing, and weaving. They use these activities as occupational therapy because it allows the women to process the traumas they have experienced through the means of engaging skills and means to create their own income. AMUTED and similar programs allow women the opportunity to feel safe, independent, and empowered. All of our experiences from today will help us continue to grow as future occupational therapist and call us to be more attune to the cultural differences and injustices in our world.