This morning at 8, fourteen volunteers piled into a van headed out of Antigua to an area in the outskirts known as Jocotenango. There they arrived at the newly finished clinic known as the Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados, or “Our Godchildren." There they hoped to spend the day giving medicinal care to people who weren’t able to make it to the Obras in Antigua. The center is run by a charitable organization known as God’s Child, which has several stations throughout the world, including one in El Salvador, as well as two here in Guatemala.
The center in which MMF volunteers are working doubles as a secondary school for impoverished children. The organization provides a high-school level education, for free, in a relatively safe place—walled off from the surrounding neighborhood and
protected by armed guards. The crew working today included medical doctors, pharmacists, medical students, interpreters and two members of the MMF Student Ambassadors. Although the start of the day yielded only a few patients in the waiting room, including four young children playing with wooden tops, and their parents, the clinic hopes to serve many patients who aren’t able to come to the hospital in Antigua.
Back at Las Obras, the first day of surgery was a success, with the ENT group alone completing 23 successful surgeries, including multiple tonsillectomies. In another room full of doctors and nurses, Dr. Steven and Dr. Bryan led a talk explaining how to use the new ventilator (a machine used to help patients breathe) donated to the Obras by MMF.
On another high note in the OR, today was the beginning of the first annual Most Hideous Scrubs Contest. The competition is expected to continue the rest of the week, with surgeons searching through piles of scrubs to find the tackiest and hideous combinations possible. Today, many of the male surgeons of the urology team were spotted in floral v-neck shirts and neon pants, while the ENT men were showing off their Spongebob fandom and affection for shamrocks.
The Art Team spent another day in Obras, entertaining children and adults alike with puzzles, coloring books, and arts-and-crafts activities such as decorating foam visors and making paper airplanes out of construction paper. A musical interlude was provided by the team’s own Kelsey, who provided a concert of violin music and fiddle tunes. At one point, the team learned that today was one of the children’s birthdays and proceeded to loudly sing “Happy Birthday” in Spanish.
With the team’s help, the atmosphere at Las Obras was lightened considerably. However, as more and more surgeries are completed, many team members leave with patients toward another section of Antigua: Casa de Fe, a sort of Ronald McDonald house for Las Obras. Here the Art Team’s duties expand beyond entertaining patients. Whatever is asked of them, they will lend a hand, from washing windows to making beds.
So sad not to be there this year! But very glad to be able to follow along via the blog. Keep up the fantastic blogging, Nathan & Andrew!
Posted by: Sabrina Shih | June 28, 2011 at 12:04 PM