Monday with the Sensory Team

Our sensory team (Haley, Melissa, Katy, Rachael, Mabel, Stephanie, Joan, Meridith, Kelly and Lisa) and three great interpreters (Josh, Norma, and Darvy) spent the day at Misioneros del Camino (Missionaries of the Highway), which is an outpatient clinic that is located about 45 minutes from Antigua. When we first arrived, we were very impressed with the organization of the staff members as well as the wonderful therapy equipment they had available. We worked mainly with three of the therapists there; a physical therapist, a speech therapist, and an occupational therapist (“sensory therapist”). Our day was busy, as we saw fifteen children. The children’s parents and the therapists were very interested and welcomed any and all advice of our practitioners. The children we saw exhibited sensory defensiveness, feeding issues, and developmental delays. While treating these conditions, we had many of the kids swinging or bouncing on therapy balls, playing with bubbles and playdoh, and racing scooters down the hallway! At lunch time, experienced a wonderful Guatemalan meal, including pepián (the national dish of Guatemala), rice, and homemade tortillas. What a treat!

One of the most challenging cases of the day was a three-year-old girl named Heidi, who had the development skills of a 4-month-old. She presented with increased muscle tone and appeared to have pneumonia caused by severe feeding difficulties. She had a very pleasant demeanor, which allowed our therapists and students to try a lot of different techniques and help educate Heidi’s mother about more effective feeding methods. Throughout the day, our team was encouraged by how receptive the parents and therapists at Missionaries were of learning new techniques to help the children. The kids are very fortunate to have such wonderful people who care for them and access to equipment that will facilitate their treatment. We worked very hard today to write plans of care for the children we treated. We wrote them in Spanish and included pictures so that the therapists can continue the work we started today.

Quote of the day (From Misioneros del Camino):

“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up…”

-John Andrew Holmes

Con paz y amor,

Melissa (estudiante) y Lisa (terapista)

Monday with Wheelchair Team

Today the wheelchair team (Kate, Laura, Kaitlin, Georganna, Chris, Lauren, Krista, Susan, Danielle, and our professional photographer Dr. Mark) went to the orphanage, Nuestra Pequenas Hermanos y Hermanas. After a wild ride there by our wonderful driver Rolando, we fitted four children with new wheelchairs or we fixed their old ones to allow greater comfort and function.

While the chairs were receiving adjustments, the team played with and provided therapy for those children and at least five other children. Occupational therapy students worked together with therapists and faculty to brainstorm ways to create the changes we needed with the material available to us. It wasn’t always easy to make these changes, but we were able to because of all the donations that were provided for the trip.

We also took pictures of the children before and after we provided adjustments to their chairs. This was done to provide a paper trail for the staff at the orphanage in a way that was visible. Pictures surpass any language barrier and allow improvements to be continued after we leave the children.

Overall, the experience was eye opening and put smiles on the faces of all the children. So thank you to all who helped us out in any way! You really are making a difference and everyone from Xavier and the orphanages appreciates it deeply!

Funny Story:

We are being immersed in language here in Guatemala, we just didn’t realize it would be from Georganna. Her best quote of the day, “Parque le truck s’il vous plait”.

Highlight:

The smiles on the faces of the children after they were fitted for their new chairs.

Kaitin (estudiante) And Kate (terapista) plus 8

Sunday - exploring Antigua...

What an awesome day. We began bright and early with a 6:30am breakfast of delicious Guatemalan coffee, papaya, yogurt, granola, fresh pineapple juice, and pancakes. Who could ask for a better way to begin a day of adventures?! Rolando and Darvy, our personal tour guides from Guatemala, guided us all around town. We began our day overlooking all of Antigua -- absolutely beautiful (see below). The vans dropped us off behind the cross overlook and we walked to the cross and to the wall to overlook the city. It was very cloudy and we could hardly see the volcano Agua directly in front of us.

Funny story of the day:
One of our tour guides, Rilando, began a photo-op trend -- jumping off a very small cement block making it look like we were jumping high above the city! (no worries parents, we were totally safe! )

(from L to R -Katie flying high, the entire group making the Xavier 'X' in front of the cross overlooking Antigua, the entire group at the cross overlook with Antigua in the background, Rachel 'X'ing it up while mid air)



We then ventured to the Cathedral, in downtown Antigua, for service, where we experienced the language and culture of the local people. The Cathedral is surrouned by ruins built in 1555, which have been destroyed by earthquakes. Currently the people of Antigua are rebuilding the ruins and is now open as a museum. A tour guide from the ruins stayed with us and then took us to La Iglesia de Santa Hermano Pedro (The Church of Hermano Pedro). Hermano Pedro (Brother Peter) became a saint in 2002, though was alive many centuries ago and known for healing those in need. There were many artifacts and thank you notes from individuals who reported being healed through the intercession of Hermano Pedro.

(from L to R - the students and the Cathedral ruins, the entire group in the ruins, a view of Antigua)


We were able to eat our pb&j and snacks (lime 'fritos', strawberry banana juice, and cookies with coconut flavored marshmellows) for lunch on the chapel of the grounds for Hermano Pedro, and visit the museum to see these artifacts and the grounds. Our group with our tour guide then went to San Domingo grounds & finished our guided tour with a trip to the Jade museum. Jade is a precious stone mined in Guatemala, and is found in more colors than just green (rainbow and lavendar). Our adventures ended with a shopping spree at one of the largest Jesuit mercados (market) in Antigua -- where we all left with wonderful finds!
























(from L to R - Stephanie learning how to swaddle a baby in a Guatemalan sling , the entire group at the church in Casa de Santo Domingo - a 5-star Guatemalan hotel - which would cost you $40,000 to rent for a wedding).



Mission of the day:

Fatten up the skinny dogs of Antigua
"Try it, then give it to the dogs."


We're all having so much fun but our adventures are exhausting. The real adventures begin tomorrow with our first visit to the orphananges. We will be splitting into 2 groups (sensory & wheelchair positioning) and venturing out to two orphanages where we will follow up with children/families from the year prior, as well as meet new children and families. Stay tuned for more info!

Buenas noches!

Rachael (student), Kelly (therapist), & Stephanie (therapist)

Video from Saturday June 12th

Saturday Evening

Hello, by now everyone should have landed in Guatemala City. Lauran, Krista, Danielle, and Kaitlin were the last four coming in to the country because of various flight changes.

Everyone else is already at the Lutheran Center and had a wonderful dinner. All of the bags have finally arrived and will total 13 wheelchairs to donate. Some people who arrived earlier in the day were able to do a bit of shopping this afternoon. Our excursions planned for tomorrow are to go to Lake Atitlan as the roads are now open.

In the pictures above, you can see our new driver, Rolando, in the light blue t-shirt talking with a child at the ministry he works at in the Guatemala City Cemetery. The ministry works with children who either work in the Cemetery or have parents that work in the Cemetery. The star was Chris Bochenek, who enjoyed a ride from the kids and later gave rides to them.

We hope to blog again tomorrow, the internet connection reacts badly to rain, and it seems to rain everyday in Guatemala.

Mark, (Dean) and Joan, (Faculty)

Friday 5:45 Guatemala time

Hi to all,
Susan is here safely, I made it with my wheelchair and suitcases and had a nice afternoon exploring Antigua and a quick siesta.

Carol, Georganna and Joan spent the day with Rolando who was delightful. He was our driver and interpreter and will serve in those functions all week. He is a wonderful person and you will all enjoy meeting him. We went to all four of the orphanages today. Each location is looking forward to our time to visit them next week. We have those days set up. We have talked about the excursion days but have not yet confirmed for Sunday or next Saturday -- we have many ideas and now have to select the best ones as there are more possible options than time will allow. Carol and Steve will work those out probably tomorrow.

This was a beautiful day in Guatemala. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of our crew tomorrow. Carol, Rolando and Steve will meet you at the airport tomorrow.

Safe travels to all.
Joan, Carol, Georganna and Susan

Friday

good morning! We are in Antigua after a safe trip yesterday. We are getting ready to leave to visit the orphanages to set up the dates for this week. Steve said we MAY be able to visit some of the excursion places we originally discussed. All of these plans are still being planned. We will be happy to see the rest of our travelers tomorrow.

Joan, Carol and Georganna