Monday in Chujuyub

Apparently, someone was not too excited about our plans for today. Heidi didn't hardly sleep at all last night, including a stretch where she was awake listening to Jake and some other cat fighting in our living room. Tomcats aren't too fond of other tomcats, so that's all we can figure out.

Also, our friend Bill Basey was supposed to come with us today to preach and translate (he is fluent in K'iche and is also a tremendous preacher). Matt Capehart from Casa Del Rey Hotel called this morning to tell us that Bill was up all night with severe abdominal pain and that he's headed to the hospital today to find out if it's stones or appendicitis.

So we said a prayer of protection over ourselves as we left town this morning with one sleep deprived doctor and no preacher. Matt delivered a short message in Chujuyub when we got there - not exactly his forte, since it was in Spanish - but we got across the point that we're not just here to hand out medicines, we're here to share the love that Jesus has for all of us.

Fortunately, a good number of the patients there were Spanish speakers and we were not in dire need of a translator.

Remember that this clinic was a first time visit for us. Our friend Regina lives in this village. She's the one who has brought us close to a dozen cleft palates (including three of her own children), a spina bifida, a couple of malformed ears, and a woman with the worst case of mastitis Heidi has ever seen (we actually saw her back today and she's completely cured and is happily breastfeeding again!)

We had driven out to this village last month to meet with the local Comite (town council - more or less) and asked their permission to do a clinic there and asked if they would organize it a bit for us. Regina had set up that meeting for us and we've been very impressed with all of the authorities out there. They agreed to hand out 40 numbers for us and provide us with a room to do the clinic.

When we showed up today, there were 36 people waiting for us in a very nice room with electricity, a concrete floor, and some nice tables. During the morning, a few more showed up, so we ended up seeing around 60 patients, but we had Kaitlin and Charlie helping, so it worked out quite well.

Anyway, we will definitely be back, probably next month. This village definitely has need, the people are very friendly (one neighbor lady brought us coffee and bread for a snack) and the town authorities are very well organized and concerned for the well-being of their people. The head of the local Comite was there all day with us and never asked for anything himself, but was very thankful that we were able to bring medicines to people who can't afford to go to the doctor.

We saw some quite interesting patients, too. Some we couldn't help, which was frustrating, such as the lady with a thyroid problem, or the woman whose knee we tried to drain but it wouldn't drain, or the woman with a large abdominal mass. But some we could, including a man who has been having seizures for a few years (hopefully the anti-seizure drugs will help), several people with colds, a couple of sick kids, a couple pregnant women, a woman entering menopause, several people with rashes, etc.

Anyway, we got home after 4pm - a long day - and have tomorrow off. So we'll get up early to beat the construction and head to Guatemala City for an errand or two, then to Antigua to meet some folks who are down from North Carolina and to show Kaitlin the city. Charlie may try to catch a chicken bus down to Lake Atitlan, so pray for his safe travel!

Anyway, here are a few pics from the day...