3-22-26. Day One
“Eres pequeño pero puedes hacer cosas grandes”
(You are small but you are able to do big things)
As of last night, our full team had all assembled at our hotel in Guatemala City. After brief introductions, Marie Carmen gave us our marching orders for the morning… breakfast at 6:00, luggage in the lobby no later than 6:45 and on the bus and on our way by 7am. Perhaps we are just a generally compliant group of people, though I suspect it’s more likely because everyone was excited and on our best behavior, we were on the bus and moving at 7:04… an auspicious beginning portending a great week ahead.
Then…Less than 5 minutes into the ride Joel stood up in the front of the bus, scanning the seats looking concerned. Sure enough, name redacted was missing ! Thankfully we had barely gone a mile so the driver was able to turn the bus around and head back to pick up our missing teammate, no harm done. 😊.
As we set off on our 6-hour ride to Puerto Barrios, the bus was filled with animated conversations… old friends catching up, newbies asking questions about what to expect, and an overall sense of anticipation. As the ride progressed, the bus quieted down and people reverted into their own thoughts or drifted off to sleep, only interrupted by a pair of rest stops to stretch our legs and to “take care of business”
Finally, we arrived at our destination, La Esquela Oficial Urbana Mixta No. 1 Dr. Mariano Galvez, an elementary school in the heart of Puerto Barrios.
Joel led a small “advance team” into the school to assess the spaces available and to lay out the setup of what would be our clinic for the next four days, while the rest of us waited (not so) patiently on the bus. 10 minutes later it was finally go time!
As we filed into the school, we were met in the courtyard by about 50 people. These were the local people who had been and would be working with us: the “Blue Hats” who had been spreading the word throughout the area of our pending arrival, identifying candidates, evaluating needs and setting up appointment dates, and the “Red Hats”, 40 people who would be assisting us throughout our time here, checking in patients, answering their questions about process and helping them navigate from intake, through triage, and to the appropriate stations and specialties as warranted by the individual reasons for their visit.
Marie Carmen welcomed us all and facilitated introductions. She then spoke a bit about what lay ahead for the rest of the day. Joel thanked Marie Carmen for her help and wished us all, collectively a productive, beneficial and inspiring week.
After a quick lunch in the courtyard, it was time to get to work!
A large truck was backed into a side entrance gate, packed to the rafters with all the gear, equipment and supplies necessary to set up and supply the clinic for the week. It is hard to adequately describe just how much stuff was on the truck! All of us, along with all the Red Hats, queued up and started unloading what seemed like a never-ending stream of crates and boxes of supplies, equipment…. And wheelchairs… So many wheelchairs!
What at first appeared to be chaos, turned out in fact to be AMAZINGLY well organized.
The locations of the various specialties (Mobility, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Laboratory, etc.) had been marked by signs by the advance team. Each item coming off the truck had a specific destination, either labeled on it, or identified by the people handing down the items off the truck. Even with about 90 of us steadily unloading, it still took quite a while to relocate everything to its proper place. By about 3:30, however, the trucks were finally unloaded and everyone set to the task of unpacking their gear and setting up their respected “offices”.
In short order, empty classrooms were transformed into medical clinics. Specialty equipment was set up, privacy screens were built, a wheelchair assembly station was erected, a pharmacy laid out, and triage and waiting areas established. It was a really amazing transformation made possible by exceptional preparation, organization and the experience of those that have been here before. While the veterans were nonchalant (“this is the way we roll”), as a newbie, I found this transformation incredibly impressive.
Our school was now a medical clinic.
After a long day, we were finally headed back to our hotel for dinner, a shower and (hopefully) a good nights’ rest.
On our way out I noticed a mural painted on the wall of the school with a message that felt like it was meant for our team as much as it was for the children of the school:
“You are small but you are able to do big things”
We arrived at the school a little sleepy, and left a lot sweaty, but satisfied with the progress we made.
Tomorrow begins “the practice”.
