Huehuetenango.
by Dr John Spiers.
On Friday 15th November 1996, my wife Maggie and I got up
at four am to embark on a very special trip.
We were heading to Huehuetenango in the western highlands of Guatemala.
We were going to be travelling with a group called Missionary
Ventures.
 | This is a group headquartered in Orlando, Florida, with arms
reaching out all over the globe. The group's stated purpose is to help
with a "personal missionary outreach, which assists the indigenous
church to reach their own people with the love and message of Christ."
in a city of about 35,000 . There would be approximately one hundred
and five of us, (builders and medical people), who would work in teams
over a four week period from Nov 1st to Dec 1st. 1996. |
| Dr
Spiers at work in Guatemala. |
We
were going to build a school and hold some medical clinics for the
mentally and physically challenged
Guatemala is the most northerly country in
Central America. It is bordered by Mexico on the North and West, Honduras
and El Salvador on the South and East, and Belize on the East. It has a
total area of 42,052 square miles. Within its borders are a large variety
of landscapes .... 33 volcanoes - a number of which are still active -
numerous high mountains in the south, the pacific plains and moist tropical
jungles in the north. It borders on two oceans .. the Pacific in the south
and the Caribbean in the east. It is also the third poorest country in
the western hemisphere. 
Guatemala is called the Land of Eternal Spring.
The average annual temperature is 75 deg F. Guatemala has a wet and a dry
season. In the central highlands the rainy season lasts from May - October.
As we were going in November, we were told by John Verdone, the President
of MVI Canada, that we didn't need any rain coats because, and I quote,
"It never rains in Guatemala in November!" He was almost right!
It didn't rain much.
Huehuetenango, which is 5000 feet above sea
level, is six hours by road from Guatemala City. The road passes through
some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable.
When we arrived, at the beginning of week three, a good portion of the
school was already erected - but there was still a lot to be done.
Maggie and I did not have any time to put into the construction, which
was a pity. When the previous team left, there would be something
concrete behind them which would continue to help and be a blessing
to the people. When the medical team left,
their contribution would be less tangible - but hopefully not less valuable
to the people it served.
Our days were full. We were up usually
by six am or slightly before. We showered and then headed over to the construction
site which was a fifteen minute walk from where we were sleeping. Some
of us slept in tents and others on the floor of a Gym in the Community
Center. At the work site we were served food cooked by the parents and
teachers who would be using the school. The food
was delicious and varied. We were served three meals a day, seven days
a week for four weeks by these ladies! All done outdoors, under an awning
with 4 burners - for forty to fifty people at a time! What a task!
Breakfast started at 7:15 and then the medical teams
headed out to the Hospital and the villages. We usually tried to be at
the hospital for 8am. It will be hard to forget the
sight that awaited us at the hospital that first Monday morning.
There was a line of between one to two hundred people outside the doors
and at least another two to three hundred more in the "lobby"
of the hospital.
As I waited for the team and the supplies to be gathered together that
morning, I was swamped by Spanish speaking,
mostly Mayan people, looking for help. I spoke a very little Spanish that
I had picked up in January on our first trip to Guatemala, and so started
seeing and treating them right then and there. This continued until our
van was packed and ready to leave.
We
drove up the mountain, through even more spectacular scenery, to
the small village of San Pedro Necte - where we set
up a clinic in the local "Iglasia" or church. Rachael
Pyles, the wife of one of the MVI field representatives, was to be my interpreter
that day. Dr Michelle Emery and I saw about eighty people that day. We
saw a lot of people with worms, amoeba, "dolor en la cabeza"
or headache, abdominal pain and "pain all over!" I had one man
in in the afternoon complaining of backache, and when I went to examine
him, I found a revolver stuck in the back
of his waistband! This was to shoot a dog which had been bothering him,
he said!
The homeward journey of "the Mountain Team"
- which is what the outgoing team was nicknamed, was fairly uneventful.
We were coming down dirtroads in the dark. These roads had potholes the
size of gravel pits; there were shear dropoffs with no guard-rails and
in places half of the road was missing because
of washout! We were also being chauffeured by Dr Michelle who insisted
on driving AND nursing her small child at the same time! At one stage I
offered to drive to let her settle the baby - the team wasnt sure which
was worse - the nursing mother or the neophyte (in Guatemala anyway) driver!
The days passed so quickly and there was
so much need. We had our hearts broken many times by what we saw - one
tiny Mayan mother carried her four year old, retarded son in to see me.
This boy was unable to walk and had just started to have seizures
the previous week. I started him on some anticonvulsant which we had with
us and arranged for them to be seen by the social worker at the hospital.
I dont know what will happen to him - will
the mother be able to afford the medication he needs? Does he live close
enough to be able to access the school which is being built? I don't know,
but can only hope so. There is another beautiful part to this story however.
One of the dentists from Cambridge had been given some money by her husband
to give to someone whom she felt really needed it. She had asked some of
the team to keep their eyes out for someone who could really do with it.
Maggie had identified this boy and his mother and so she received the money.
I could go on and on with numerous stories of people
who touched our lives. Our intent was to give, but we receiving
much more. God touched our lives as well as the lives of the Guatemalans.
We have often been asked " does a few days there,
seeing a few people make any difference?" I don't think there
is any question in our minds now . It really does! In the short run it
helps the few people whom we see. In the long run it lets them see that
some one does care for them - not for what
they can get out of them but for themselves. It is often the only time
in their lives that this happens and if it is done by christians, in Christs
name, it shows them that God does love and care for them. There is also
the "domino effect". In turn they may reach out and be able to
help someone else.
This trip was supported by many people in Stratford
who gave of their time and talents. Without them there would not have been
a medical outreach.
Email.
Copyright © 1997, David Williams - 14th Jan 1997
