Meet the Team

Well, we've had plenty of time to get to know each other a little today-- too bad we're all so sleepy that the main thing we all know is the color of each of our eyeshadows on the outside of our lids!!!  Still "miles to go before we sleep", but I couldn't ask for a more low-maintenance and positive group of women to have traveling delays with!

So here's the team for this week:

There's "me", Heidi Bell for those of you who don't know me.  My husband Matt and I have been keeping this blog since we committed to moving to Guatemala and spending the first two years of our marriage there in 2006-2008.  I was straight out of OB/GYN residency in Houston, TX, and oh-so-young then, looking back... but since then, I have been extremely blessed to continue spending one week each quarter back in my second home, Guatemala.  I think this is the 19th time I have been back since moving to Greenville, NC to work as ECU School of Medicine faculty in 2008!

Carol Akers and Stephanie Maxwell are both fourth year medical students at ECU who are planning to go in to OB/GYN residencies next year.  It was such a privilege to watch each of these beautiful young ladies (who are also roommates in Greenville) fall in love with OB/GYN while they were on our rotation separately last year!  That is one of my favorite privileges of my job.  They will both be a huge help in the operating room, and have stayed busy all day today working on personal statements and schedules for this year.  It is a stressful but exciting time in their lives.  Stephanie has the added stress of a wedding in September coming up, too.

Judy and Maria Koutlas are two lovely ladies that I met indirectly through Hale Stephenson (the Greenville OB private attending that came down earlier this year... I've made so many great contacts through him, so his contribution-- like so many others before him-- to Guatemala and God's work there just keeps on giving!  Judy is an experienced nurse, currently working at the Leo Jenkins Cancer Center.  She apparently has quite a talent for fundraising.  I think I've had two or three emails every week the last month or so asking me what to spend another "few" donated funds on, so we are well-stocked on some popular medications and supplies for this trip.  Maria is her 16 year old daughter and has already been on several missions trips.  We are looking forward to putting her Spanish classes to the test and hopefully feeding off of her youthful energy this week.

The pictures pretty much sum up the day...  Me on the phone with Delta and us napping in the Atlanta airport!