Day One
The sky was gray and cloudy in Guatemala city this beautiful first morning as those who had flown in the night prior awoke. Several team members had yet to arrive in the country, while others toured the market, relaxed, or participated in other small excursions during the morning hours. The team members situated in Guatemala City loaded onto buses that left the city a little after noon and traveled for almost three hours to Antigua in heavy traffic. The landscape shifted from the busy, industrial cityscape which boasted hundreds of tiendas, barbed wire on every wall, electrical wires strung every which way, and a constant battle between the timing of courageous pedestrians versus ruthless motor vehicles, and slowly gave way to a luscious jungle, towering walls of stone adorned with colorful graffiti, winding roads, and more colonial architecture. Motorcycles scurried past and in between cars for hours and the team members discussed a variety of subjects. When the bus finally began driving through the charming Antigua, the team was thrilled, pointing out restaurants and beautiful buildings to one another. They were relieved to finally exit the vehicle and get settled at the hotel.
Antigua, a beautiful place with a rich history beginning almost 500 years ago as a center of Spanish power and capital until its tendency for earthquakes led to its abandonment as the capital of Guatemala in the 1700s. Looming over the cathedrals are massive mountains with two gargantuan volcanoes that spew fire and water into the sky, truly natural wonders. Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a place of significance, a place that is charming and beautiful. But even more beautiful than the architecture, the natural surroundings, the rolling clouds, the plumes from the craters atop the mountains, are the people.
The cloudy sky opened up upon the arrival of our team and let out a downpour of droplets as they filed into the quaint “La Quinta de las Flores” and greeted one another, excited to finally meet those to whom they had not yet been introduced. At 3 o’clock, the orientation commenced, where new friends and Faith in Practice staff Maria Jose and Yvonne laid down guidelines for the new arrivals and expressed gratitude for the service they were prepared to provide. As team members introduced themselves, a common theme was found: this was the first time for many of the individuals. Every member of this team makes sacrifices to come and serve the people of Guatemala, and to hear time after time the phrase “this is my first time,” upon introduction was truly heartwarming. This kind of endeavor is no small feat, and requires hard work on everyone’s part to accomplish. For those who were returning, they had memories to look back on that helped them understand what to look forward to, and for those many who had never had the opportunity to serve the Guatemalan people in such a capacity before, they were simply excited to serve, to jump in to a new experience with new people for the sake of relieving the suffering of others.
Anticipation for the week ahead was expressed by many of the team members, who looked forward primarily to getting to know each other and being a part of the lives of the patients whom they were excited to serve. Dana Carnahan, a physical therapist, remarked regarding the patients, “They inspire me. They are some of the toughest people I know, and also the sweetest.” Brad Van Duker, the lead anesthesiologist explained that he most looked forward to taking care of people who needed help, which was different here than it was at home, because the lack of pay signified a willingness and desire to help those less fortunate get back on their feet, an altruistic approach to the service as opposed to an obligatory task.
Several of us walked past the church-adjoined hospital we will be spending so much of our time at this week as we spent the evening touring the city, and stopped for a moment to hear the message being shared inside. We heard words of faith, of hope, of being unified as a people, words that described our experience thus far. Faith and hope that everything would go according to plan, that the checked medical supplies would make it, that the travels would be safe, that this next week will be successful in changing the lives of our struggling brothers and sisters, and being unified as a team and with the Guatemalan people.
Maya Holmes
Team Blogger
