International Nursing Opportunity
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Every year, junior and senior nursing students are invited to participate in a mission trip to Guatemala. This may be taken as a Special Topics course and thus meets a graduation requirement. The following is a report of the trip in January 2007 written by its faculty sponsor, Dr. Delia Pittman.
On January 4, 2007 our great adventure began. We arrived in Guatemala City at around 1 p.m., loaded up on a bus and headed to our first place to stay that night. Once we settled-in, Dr. Helmer Juarez and his wife Susy took us on a drive around the city.
We had a couple of days to play (shopping, trip to Tikal) while we were there. Then Monday through Friday (January 8-12) we set up our clinics in different villages across Guatemala each day. We saw approximately 300 children and enjoyed caring and playing with them. It was very exhausting, but the rewards were priceless. Our journey ended on January 14th but remains in our hearts like it was yesterday.
For those embarking on their first medical mission, there was no way to be prepared for the realities that followed.
Expecting to assist with the usual assessments, students saw hundreds of orphans with parasites, almost all with impacted ear wax, and most having dental caries serious enough to be referred for further care. There were respiratory problems, heart defects, cases of HIV, and even a child with hydrocephalus, all of this over a five-day period.
Not only did the volunteers put their nursing skills to use, but they took time to be recreational directors, running, playing, and engaging in activities that are universally fun for children anywhere. Other hidden talents emerged as houses of worship, in each village, were transformed into functioning clinics. Meals for participants were lovingly prepared by their own personal chef, Sister Flori, with menus of traditional Guatemalan dishes as well as American. Who in the group will ever forget her remarkable spaghetti dinner?
Among moments remembered will be the father who returned with his son to show the boy's shoes to the student who gave them the money to purchase a new pair. The child's old shoes were so small his toes were curling over. Students returned with small treasures given to them by children grateful for the help. Everyone will carry with them the memory of the young HIV mother, and the shared tears upon hearing of her death a few months after the group returned.
No one remains the same after a mission. Those in Guatemala to whom the students gave their affection and aid and those who received intellectual, emotional, and spiritual knowledge regarding the needs of others, all understand that we are one.
