read me first
I've just flew back to Pittsburgh last night from Guatemala City. I was so immersed in writing in my journal... the old fashioned pen and paper... due to lack of internet access this time around... when I heard the captain announce our descent into the 'Burgh. I stowed away my journal and belongings back under the seat, with my thoughts still dancing to marimba, fresh pineapples, bright sun, and friendly faces. I sat back in my seat and looked out the window: snow on the ground. It actually caught me off guard! I hope to relay some of those experiences here; hopefully my memory serves me as it did last night.I left Pgh on 1/13 to join Children of the Americas (COTA) for the 3rd year in a row. COTA is a medical and surgical mission organization, which specifically serves the Guatemalan population each January, providing free medical, dental and surgical care. Much other work is done thru out the year, to arrange state-side accommodations for individuals who need more intense medical treatment, than what can be provided in one week’s time in the country. Host families, donated medical services, long-term visas, and many other things I am probably not even aware of need to be arranged. Meanwhile, they collect donated medical supplies, equipment, and goods to be shipped to Guatemala for use during the January "jornada" (as it is called in Guate). This year the team was well over 100 people, many types of doctors, dentists, physicians, nurses, translators. Even though it seems like such a large group, much work was accomplished and many needs were met.
I was involved in the genetics part of the team, which is also what I do for a living. We conduct a study of cleft lip and palate, a common birth defect, which seems to have a higher incidence in the indigenous population in Guatemala. Our study is worldwide, and thanks to COTA, we have continued our research in Guate for 3 years. We see families of the children who are born with CL/P, when they arrive at the clinic to receive surgical repair of their child's birth defect. The plastic surgeons average about 40 CLP surgeries each January, within a 4 day span. Therefore, we are able to enroll these families for our investigation. Additionally throughout the rest of the week, we take in a "control population" from the general clinic area to provide a comparison group for the study. When we have downtime, I slip out of my "research" role, and pretend to know something about patient care. I learned to take vitals, translate a few questions, check in on our CL/P kids recovering from surgery, and at the end of the clinic, played an optometrist. more about that later....
Our location this year was Puerto Nuevo Tiquisate. The town was at low altitude, heading down out of the mountains of Guatemala City, thru Antigua, towards the Pacific Coast. That means heat, humidity, mosquitoes and anti-malaria meds. The scenery was lined with sporadic fresh fruit stands, sugar cane & pineapple fields, volcanoes, people walking the roads usually carrying a bunch of branches. My friend Darryl, who was driving us, mentioned that the women tend to carry stuff on their head a joking cause for them being short; whereas, men carry things strapped to their back. However, I pointed out that the women had to carry things on their head because they also have a baby strapped to their back! As we drove, we could notice the temperature getting warmer with every mile.
We briefly acquainted ourselves with the Hospital in Tiqui, and met the small group who had been there for a few days. Our group from Pittsburgh came 1 day ahead of the huge team. And we were there just in time for the dinner on the beach. The beach had suffered some damage from Hurricane Stan, but it was hard to assess in the dark. We were the only patrons of the restuarant, but the food was freshly caught, and delicious. The choices were fish, fish, and fish soup. yum.
Well, I am getting quite lengthy, & this is just the beginning. Geez.
I'll keep blogging another day... remember to read it from the bottom up. Plus once I get my photos downloaded, I will have some pictures to add.
posted by carla @ 6:58 PM
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