http://www.proartemaya.org/

http://www.proartemaya.org/2010/07/guatemala-after-hurricane-agatha-2010/

Diane

http://www.keloland.com/videoarchive/index.cfm?VideoFile=070610guatemala

The students from Tzanchaj  are very responsible.  They come to the Elder Center and do any type of work that we need.  They helped paint part of the center.  They got here early and were ready to work. They never complain and always ask the workers at the center how they can help.

They are painting the outside of the center.

Here they are cleaning and painting the  inside.

When the elders got to the place, they loved it.  The ones who could walk good, enjoyed putting their feet in the lake.    It is really sad to know that we have a beautiful lake and the elders cannot get to the lake because no one takes them there.   Some of them sat on the grass and enjoyed the sun shine. The very old ones got cold under the sun shine and we had to prepare coffee to get them warm.  Then the activity started.

Bernavela  talked to them, telling them that this is the first time we have celebrated the mothers and fathers day in a beautiful place and close to the lake.  Without the help of the college students we would not be able to do this.  She did a prayer of thanks to God for all this wonderful opportunities for the elders.

Students from Morningside College playing with the some of the elders.

Some of the elders enjoyed painting faces and arms.   Some of the others asked to have flowers or their names painted on their arms.

The students prepared some things to do with them. They enjoyed making little dolls for themselves. They are like children in many ways.  

They appreciate what people do for them. During their lives they have never gotten gifts from their children. This mothers/fathers day they felt like their students were their children and they received a gift from them.  

At the end of the activity they received some food.  They enjoyed every part of the celebration.

Here is an elder eating her “Tamalito”

They would like to  thank everybody who is part of Sharing the Dream in Guatemala and they bless everybody for all the work.

Left to right: Jorge Quen, Juan Tzep, Tomas Eduardo, Jessica Tomasita, Angelina Martina, and Manuel Eduardo

It has been fourteen years since my first journey to Guatemala.  Over the years I have seen many changes.  Most have been for the better.  I have experienced many changes in myself too.  Long ago, I stopped coming here to do ¨service¨ or ¨mission¨ work.  Now, I come to be with friends, to work together to improve the lives of the people here and in the United States.  This is a very special place.  The people here continue to teach me valuable lessons about what is truly important in life, what it means to persevere and to appreciate the people who care for and support me.  There is still a lot of oppression, poverty and injustice in this land.  We still have a lot of work to do together.  Sharing the Dream, the communities and groups we work with and the projects we undertake together continue to make a real difference in the lives of the people of Guatemala.  Thank you so much for your support of this work!   And…  if you can…  join us on our next journey.  Trust me, you will never be the same.

Michael Girlinghouse

Dr. Arrazola is Guatemalan and his first language is Spanish and his second is English. He said he is learning some of the local language. He did his internship at Casa Guatemala over 20 years ago and then went to the states and practiced for 20 years in Florida. He came back to Guatemala 3 years ago and has had a practice in Guatemala City. He said his heart has always been at Casa Guatemala and he loves being back there. He works 11 days on and 8 days off. During the 11 days he is on 24 hours a day. It was great to meet him and to hear his stories so far. He will be writing reports and taking photos so we will have a special place on our website for his updates.

Dr. Arrazola has done quite a lot already. One of his responsibilities is to head up volunteer teams. He said last week he had several dentists come and they cleaned all the children’s teeth. He has worked with lots of children from the orphanage as well as people from 5 different villages. They come in their little dug out canoes and paddle up to the clinic for help. The clinic is over the water so it is accessible for the people.

As we visited he said one of the main problems the children have is parasites. The reason being is that there are 4 main water systems and they are all suppose to be filtered but the filters are to be changed every month. Right now because of lack of funds they are changed every 6 months. I think STDG can come up with the $35 a month per filter… a total of $140 a month to make sure the water is clean. He said he will oversee the changing of the filters himself to make sure it is done right. He said the other part is education about the water. He plans on working with the school to create an educational plan about the water. One of the other problems is the kids swim in the river and swallow some of that water. He said he is going to borrow some videos from the health department here in the city and really work on educating the children. He said these two things should decrease the parasites in the children by 80%.

Another thing he would like to do right now is to create a pharmacy. We have some medicine at the clinic, but because we have not had a full time person there, some are outdated, some we don’t need etc. He would like to have a pharmacy where we have medicine for the children but also can have medicine that the villagers can buy at a very low cost. STDG will try and do a start up for the pharmacy and then hopefully it can run on it’s own with the people using it paying a minimum. I think if we can gather up $3000.00 we can have a complete pharmacy. We will start small with a small amount of money and as we go add more. We can also bring medicine from the U.S. There are always volunteers coming down. We cannot however bring outdated medicine as the customs won’t allow that.

We hope to eventually set up a small lab at the clinic. We have some lab equipment as the lab that CG had in the city is now closed. We will probably need to add a lab tech/nurse. This can also be the person who is there when the doctor has his 8 days off.

The clinic has been run for years by volunteers. This has been good but there is no consistency and no one is in charge to make sure things are operating correctly. This should be a vast improvement.

Dr. Arrazola says he is in real need of surgical equipment and also dental equipment. So if anyone has a lead on that it would be great.

Dr. Arrazola has been visiting the villages. Most of it by foot but some by horse back. (Yes, horseback with no saddle) In the villages he has lots of the women coming and wanting birth control. He said the husbands don’t know the wives are coming but they are pleading with him to help. He has met young women who are 23 with 8 children. There are also problems with parasites, because of the lack of clean water, skin and lung problems and many other things. The nearby village has 3 wells and he is going to have them checked to see about the water.

Angie said one of the problems right now is malaria and Dengue Fever (not sure if that is spelled right) She said they can come and spray the orphanage and possibly the nearest village every one to 2 months for Q300 which is about $37.00.

We gave Dr. Arrazola a lap top computer that we had here in the office. (Thank you Josh, we are continuing to use the computers you gave us) We could always use more lap tops in good working order. He is excited about keeping track of the inventory etc on the computer and also he will have access to e-mail which will be great.

We are working with Dr. Mark Huntington from the med school at the University of South Dakota to make some connections. Mark are you ready to come down again? He came down several years ago with me and had great ideas…

As you can see I am really excited about this project. The emphasis STDG can now have at Casa Guatemala and the villages is health care. WE can all make a difference in this community. If you are interested in helping you can donate on line at www.sharingthedream.org or send a check to Sharing the Dream Box 220 Vermillion, SD 57069.

This morning, Israel picked us up in his truck and took us to the community of Chuk Muk.  Israel, who is about thirty, grew up in Panabaj and lived through the mudslides there.  Today, he and his family live in Chuk Muk.  Chuk Muk is a new community built by the government to the east of Santiago.  The new community is built on the site of an ancient Mayan village.  It is divided into four zones.  There are plans (developed by the community) to build stores, a school, hospital, etc. in the future.  The homes are in neat rows, made of cement block painted white with red trim and red tin roofs.  Large water tanks provide water from community wells.  Diane reported that there was some trouble with the water quality, but Israel didn´t mention that.  Israel did say that each house has a small indoor bathroom.  Israel also said that the best part of the new community is that it is secure.  Chuk Muk is built on a plateau overlooking the lake.  Low hills lay just behind it, but far enough away to be safe from mudslides.  Beyond that are three volcanic peaks.  Again, they are far enough away to protect the community from slides, (though not from the ash).  Israel was very proud of his community and every right to be.  He also showed us his home and the beadwork business he is trying to establish there.

After lunch, Miguel and Mike caught a chicken bus back to the city.  Along the way, we saw more of the destruction caused by Agatha.  Mudslides and flash floods had torn apart crops, roads, and villages.  Huge boulders, some the size of small cars, had been swept along, smashing homes, tearing up bridges and destroying lives and livelihoods.   The bus had to pick its way through several places where the road had been washed away.  At one point the traffic was stopped dead.  People were standing along the roadside.  It was announced that it would be at least a half and hour before we would get moving again.  Miguel decided to hop off the bus to see what was going on, leaving Mike to watch the packs and keep the seats.  No sooner than people had gotten off the bus the traffic suddenly started moving!  People scrambled to get back on only…  no Miguel.  Mike was a little concerned.  He speaks very little Spanish and wasn´t exactly sure where they were going to get off in the city.  As the bus came down the hillside to the place where the road had washed out, Mike spotted Miguel.  He was helping to move a pickup that had stalled on the one lane crossing, blocking traffic.  Miguel had suggested using a big front end loader to drag the pickup out of the way.  Good thing, or we might still be sitting there!

We arrived back in Guatemala City without incident and Diana and Diane picked us up at the bus station.  Traffic was terrible, but we eventually got back to the Sharing the Dream Center.  It was good to be home.