“We care for orphans not because we are rescuers but because we are the rescued”
-David Platt
Today we were able to follow-up with the sweet children we had met last Thursday. Our first stop was Veronica’s house, the little girl with osteogeneis imperfecta. We were able to give her a new chair with a few modifications to keep her comfortable. We also feel like she might have the most buoyant chair in town (see picture below ☺)! We then stopped by to see the village woman’s husband who had been in the car accident. Kelly was able to educate his wife on how stretch his arm once he was more comfortable and Nicole was able to provide him with a walker for when he was ready to ambulate. We were also asked to pray with the family for his healing. It was a very humbling and special moment. We also stopped by the man’s house who suffered from TIAs and he was looking much better and told us he had been doing the exercises Nicole had previously shown him. We were able to visit a new child’s house today. We had previously attempted to go by his house last week but he was not home. Jonathon suffers from residual effects of meningitis, which he acquired at 3 months old. Paige was able to give information regarding hearing loss and improving textured feeding. Nicole discussed the importance of “tummy time”. And, Kelly was able to discuss ways to improve bringing hands to midline and beginning functional play with his hands. Lastly, we visited Jose Angel the baby with hydrocephalus. We were able to provide him with a wedge for positioning.
We then headed to Casa Mana to meet a boy with a brain tumor from an outlying village. His name was also Jonathon and he, his mother, and two brothers took a taxi 50 miles from their village to meet us there. He was very sweet and interacted well with each one of us but was very weak. Nicole and Kelly were able to show simple techniques for strengthening and Paige was able to show oral motor exercises to decreased drooling and language activities. He also had increased seizure activity, as his mom was unable to pay for his expensive medication. We educated her on seizure safety and effects on function. She was so sweet and grateful but we were even more grateful to help her out. We were also able to give a wheelchair to a sweet girl in need from another city. Carlos, an adult from this city drove FIVE hours in a rented ambulance to pick up this chair. Our driver, Juan, has been with us for the past 4 trips and has gained quite the knowledge base for assembling and adjusting our wheelchairs. He was able to quickly show Carlos how to fit the chair to this little girl upon his return. Paige, Nicole, and I were just there to inform him on safety precautions and positioning. We would also like to take this time to mention and thank our AMAZING translator and friend, Leo. He is such a trouper translating for three, fast-talking women! He is able convey not only our knowledge and information to each person we meet but also our hearts. We love our Guatemalan team!
This was our last day of seeing kiddos and we are so grateful for all the support and prayers back home. We have had an amazing time! We have made new connections and continued our relationships with old friends. We are excited to see what the future holds for TEAMworks Guatemala.