Blog Post Day #2
We started off our day breaking into two groups...we dropped Cindy, Dana, Lori, and Craig at Alida España and Paige, Kori, Charity, and Ashley headed to Mama Carmen's.
Alida España is a school for children with special needs. In the morning, our group gave a presentation about how to know the difference between sensory and behavioral difficulties to the staff of the school and some of the students' parents. They were given techniques and real life examples on how to address these issues. We then broke into small groups and each therapist led small group discussions while Craig worked on a set of twins wheelchairs. Craig was able to make custom cushions to provide improved postural support for both boys.
At Mama Carmen's, we were greeted by familiar faces, Cesar and Merlin, and quickly made lots of new little friends. We were able to fit some kiddos with Beniks and orthotics and educate the caregivers on good positions for the more involved children. We also did lots of language development activities with lots of kiddos.
The group was reunited at Alida España where a wonderful lunch was prepared for us by the children. In the afternoon, each discipline paired up and evaluated 15 students. We were able to demonstrate therapy techniques and give equipment to the therapists that work at the school. Only a PT or an OT would cry over a scooter board and quad canes! We also got to work with parents and provide them with home programs.
When we were packing to come to Guatemala, Lori and Charity found in our donations, two sets of tennis shoes that were so specialized that we almost didn't bring them. Each pair of shoes had one shoe with a lift. God threw us a surprise party this afternoon when two children came to us today that both needed a shoe with a lift! The shoes were the perfect size and had a lift on the side that needed it!!! Only God could provide that!!!! The smiles on the faces of the kids and parents made all our hurdles the past two days worth it!!!! On a side note, our equipment specialist, Craig Evans, 22nd anniversary is today. Happy Anniversary.
Gautemala Day 1
We arrived at the airport on time with all 16 suitcases, 8 wheelchairs, and 6 walkers. Our first hurdle was when the airline recommended that we use a competing airline on our next trip after seeing all of our equipment. The second hurdle started off not so bad with $200 in extra baggage fees.....and then Craig showed up with a 113 pound crate that cost $400. The third hurdle was the pilot informing us that we would have 20 minutes of turbulance that lasted 3 hours until we landed in Guatemala City. With the hurdles behind us, we emerged to find beautiful weather and Leo and Juan's smiling faces. Once we loaded the van down with all of our equipment, we went straight to The Learning Spot. The Learning Spot is a facility that our dear Guatemalan friend, Diana, created with the help of her friends and family to provide services for children who desperately need therapy but cannot afford it. We were welcomed with a delicious lunch and personalized painted pictures given to us by the kids.
After our lunch at The Learning Spot, we divided into three TEAMs and went straight to work for the next four hours. Some parents traveled via bus for two hours to come to see us. We saw each child with their parents. They were all eager to learn and appreciative for any information and equipment that we could give to them. We were able to give two wheelchairs, orthotics, beniks, a walker, games, oral motor tools, and developmental toys to these sweet children.
Our fourth and final hurdle, happened as we were trying to leave the Learning Spot. We experienced more turbulance when our van required a push start to get started. Leo and Craig pushed the van full of all of us girls and all of the equipment and thankfully after 2 huge "clutch" starts, Tio Juan got it going!
We finished our evening with a gracious hostess here in Guatemala CIty, Anita, and another delicious meal. Tomorrow half of the group will be headed to an impromptu visit at Mama Carmen's Orphanage while the other half will be speaking to parents and teachers at a local school for children with special needs
“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.
Everybody Dance Now!!! (Arriba! Abajo! A derecho!, A la izquierda!)
We began today at Hermano Pedro, a hospital, residential care center, and church. They house approximately 250 residents, many of who are in wheelchairs. We were immediately taken to “dance group” where we, of course, jumped right in to help out! We were told by one of the volunteers that many of the residents were non-verbal but were very expressive with their face, and he wasn’t kidding! These kiddos lit up at just a simple touch and smiled from ear to ear when we were dancing with them. It was such a great start to our time there. After dance group we were split up. Paige was able to go to the baby room and help out with several feeding questions for parents whose children were in the baby wing and she played PT for a mom who needed help with trunk/neck strengthening. Nicole, Kelly, and Carol were sent to the pediatric wing where there were approximately 100 children in wheelchairs. This was obviously an overwhelming situation and due to time constraints and scheduling we were not able to do as much as we would have liked; however, at the last minute Nicole and Kelly were able to provide a wheelchair to a little girl who had been living at the hospital for two weeks without one. It is our impression that because she did not have a chair she was mostly bed-ridden unless a volunteer got her out of her crib to hold her. The chair fit PERFECTLY! God really provides for those in need and Nicole and Kelly were so humbled and grateful to be His hands. Carol spent time loving on as many kiddos at she could and was able to briefly go to the baby room to spend some time with them. We are truly grateful for this new relationship and are looking forward to future trips where we can build on it.
After Hermano Pedro we headed to San Lucas to a feeding center where we were able to help a boy from the village whom had cerebral palsy. Nicole was able to fit him with night stretching splints to help gain enough range for an AFO for the next trip. Kelly was able to fit a Benik and give oral sensory ideas for increased food and oral structure awareness. Paige was able to give him oral motor exercises to decrease drooling and Carol taught his mom how to better cue him to swallow. It truly was a TEAM effort! Additionally, Nicole assessed a young girl who had a significant leg length discrepancy and we are hoping to get her a lifted shoe by our next trip. The feeding center was filled with sweet children and we enjoyed playing with them before we left.
We then went to Hogar Amor del Niño’s and spoke with their director who has many connections throughout Guatemala and is willing to help us on future trips reach out to those in significant need.
We look forward to seeing where all our new connections lead us!
Just call us TEAMworks Towing Company! Today we traveled out to Mama Carmen’s farm village to visit some familiar faces. We were able to see a few of our kiddos but road conditions made it difficult to see them all. We began by picking up the local pastor’s son who has always been such a great help in navigating the village and finding the kiddos with the most need. He took us to see Keyla, a sweet teenage girl we have been keeping up with over the past 4 years. Wow, has she grown up! She is still attending school, and she blessed us with the reading of a poem. While she was reading, we noticed she was skipping lines and she told us her eyes occasionally got tired during her school work. Kelly was able to give some visual scanning exercises and Carol worked on adaptive strategies for keeping her place. Due to her difficulty with visual scanning and systematic sounding out of words, Paige noticed she did not comprehend what she was reading and gave some strategies to retain the information. Leo, Nicole, and Kelly worked on stabilizing the wheels on the walker she was using for showering. Because it was rusting, Nicole was able to find a new one that fit and worked perfectly. She was also able to find her some new shoes.
We then went to Benicio’s house. Unfortunately, his mother reported that he had started having increased seizure activity and the group was collectively able to educate her about the symptoms of seizures and safety. His mother was very welcoming this time and told us that she had been bribing him with the new shoes he may get from us in exchange for doing his oral motor exercises. It must have worked because those of us who had seen him before noticed a significant decrease in drooling. We attempted to give him some of the donated shoes but we were unable to find a pair that fit…but we are a generous group and Nicole selflessly stepped up to give him her shoes. They weren’t the perfect fit but with a few modifications they worked and Benicio was very happy!
We know you are not supposed to have favorites but there is one TEAM Guatemala favorite, Wilder. His smile and infectious joy just makes you want to see and help him as much as you can; however, he was out with his family. We were able to leave a bag of things we know he really likes including adaptive materials to help him draw and write.
Now, at the beginning of the blog you were probably wondering why you might call us TEAMworks Towing Company?...well here is why…we are EXCELLENT at pushing cars out of the mud! Please see the evidence below.
Oh Saturday! Today was spent at the Universidad de Valle de Guatemala. It began in the big lecture hall with an introduction to each therapy and to our clinic at Children’s Therapy T.E.A.M. It had previously been requested to list our “Top 10 (or 16) Items” that could be used across disciplines. Items such as, a therapy ball, baby doll, duct tape, bathroom stools, and pillows were all used. Paige got away with introducing some items since benches and balance discs just really weren’t her thing. We then split into “labs”. Each discipline had their own lab and students signed up to attend the labs that were of most interest to them. Paige taught on PECS and spontaneous language development in the natural setting, Kelly taught how to make OT materials from everyday objects and therapy techniques for different diagnoses, and Nicole…well she had quite the time teaching about positioning and therapy techniques for different diagnoses. Things started out well, but then she “stumped her translator” and her notes went temporarily missing; however, she made it through and had tons of good questions from her participants. Lastly, we held a panel interview for those who had specific questions. Many educators and parents attended to ask about their kiddos. We were very happy to help them! Tomorrow we head to Mama Carmen’s farm to see some old friends and follow-up on these sweet children.
We are kind of slow with our photographic updates so, here are some photos from our time at the government funded orphanage and the baby house from Friday.