Love and Healing in Guatemala
Irelyn Branam
I have always dreamed of experiencing healthcare in other parts of the world. This January I had the opportunity to participate in a medical mission working for an organization in Guatemala called La Misión. Along with a group of thirteen Whitworth students, I traveled to Guatemala at the start of the month, unaware of the profound impact this experience would have on us.
La Misión’s motto is “bring love and healing to hearts in need”. This organization embodies all things that honor Christ. This time abroad provided me with the opportunity to not only expand my medical knowledge but also grow in my faith. I was reminded how good God is through his creation and those around me. I was constantly amazed when driving through the Guatemalan jungle and learning of the diverse ways in which people live around the world.
Puerto Barrios
We spent the first part of our medical mission in Puerto Barrios, which is located on the coast. Each day we traveled in the back of pickup trucks to go and serve the people of different villages. Our clinics took place in schools, and we worked for about an average of eight hours a day. During our first few days in Puerto Barrios, my team and I assisted with creating profiles for La Misións sponsorship program, which includes gathering height, weight, shoe size, and personal information for new students at each school. This information is essential for La Misión to create a profile for these individuals in hopes that someone will sponsor these children.
Students shoe sizes are measured in order for La Misión to provide these students with a new pair of shoes, while personal details about the children and their families are gathered to ensure that La Misión can assemble the appropriate food bags for each home. Once the sponsorship data was compiled, we began our time providing services such as dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, medical intake, and gifting water filters to individuals in the various villages we visited. In regards to the water filters, less than half of rural households have a piped water supply; therefore, the water filters we offered increased the amount of clean drinking water that is available in each village. Though not every day went as planned, such as experiencing a torrential downpour while en route to one of our villages, we learned to embrace challenges together, which ultimately brought our group closer to one another.
Cabrican
The second phase of our medical mission was in Cabrican. Cabrican is located at an elevation of approximately eight thousand feet high in the mountains. Our clinic operated in a community center where we provided dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, and medical intake services. Though our time in Cabrican was short, we still managed to provide care to many individuals, some of whom had walked miles to be provided with our services. We were offered tea and bread pastries as a thank you. A home in Cabrican also prepared us lunch, which consisted of rice, potatoes, meat, and Guatemalan tamales wrapped in banana leaves. It was truly a unique experience to gather around a table they had hand-built and experience a traditional Guatemalan meal.
Insights
During our time with La Misión, I learned of new medications and illnesses. I observed different ways of living and engaged in conversations with individuals in Spanish. I learned about a five-year-old boy when helping him color, held a younger girl’s hand while Dr. Debbie extracted her tooth, and assisted with removing a shard of glass from a young boy’s eye. These enriching experiences not only broadened my knowledge regarding healthcare and Guatemalan culture but also instilled in me a renewed sense of purpose and gratitude for the connections I made along the way.
I am studying Spanish at Whitworth and aspire to go to medical school, this medical mission trip enabled me to grow in my Spanish abilities through journaling and partaking in conversations in Spanish with individuals from La Misión and those in the villages. Additionally, this experience offered valuable insights into how healthcare can be and is provided in other parts of the world while highlighting how much can be accomplished with limited resources.
Lastly, I am grateful for the love, support, and safety La Misión provided us with during this last month. My worldview has been changed, my heart has grown, and my appreciation for many aspects of life has deepened.
Images provided by Irelyn Branam