As the father of three children, aged 3, 5, and 8, Mario’s sickness has put an innordinate amount of stress on his wife, Isuara, as she not only has to care for the children and the house, but also bring in whatever money she can each week by washing clothes or doing whatever other odd jobs she can find. Often, though, a week’s work may only net her Q50 or so, the equivalent of about $6.

It was back in June when we first found out about this family’s situation.  At the time they were being evicted from the tiny apartment they were renting, and due to their poverty and lack of recourses, were about to become homeless.  Though Isaura had a small plot of land that she had inherited, the family had no ability to build a structure on it.  At that point, with the help of the mission groups that came to volunteer with Mission Guatemala during the summer, we were able to construct a house for the family.

However, in the course of talking to the family, we discovered that Mario had never had a full and thorough examination by a specialist, or even a competent doctor, apparently.  While Mario had consulted with a couple of doctors over the years, none of them had seemed to have any clue what his ailment was, and the extent of the help that they had given appeared to be only shots of painkiller.

Back before Christmas we took Mario for a consultation with our doctor at the clinic, who diagnosed him with advanced rheumatoid arthritis, and recommended physical therapy and further treatment with a rheumatologist.  So, this morning we took Mario to his first consultation at Fundabiem, a local organization here in Panajachel that provides low cost physical therapy services.  He is now scheduled to return each week for regular physical therapy sessions, in addition to doing exercises at home.  The doctor is confident that with the therapy and exercise, Mario will be able to regain a good deal of mobility and strength in his body.

The road to improvement and relief for Mario is long, and the doctor and nurses worked hard to instill upon him that this would require much effort and commitment on his part.  But for the first time in many years, Mario finally has been given hope that some relief is possible, and with the financial support and help of Mission Guatemala, he is starting to believe that it can actually be found.

Dr. Chumil had been working one day a week filling in for our regular clinic doctor.  However, in October, the full time clinic doctor needed to leave his position with us and Dr. Chumil was willing and excited to take on the task of seeing patients on a daily basis.

A graduate from the Univeristy of San Carlos in Guatemala, Dr. Chumil is 43 years old and  lives in the Lake Atitlan area in a town known as San Lucas Toliman.  He is married and has three children.  Dr. Chumil has practiced medicine for 12 years and is trained as a general medicine doctor and surgeon.  He also works part time at the hospitalito in Santiago Atitlan.

Dr. Chumil’s gentle manner and caring heart has been much appreciated by the clinic patients.  We are happy to welcome him and we are very happy he is part of our team.

There were several children who saw the dentist for the very first time.  Sometimes, you would hear them scream, “I am afraid!”  But, when they left the office they managed to conjure up a small smile.

There was a man who had a severe abscess who allowed us to take his picture.  He must be on antibiotics for several days before his tooth can be treated.

The dental clinic was just a dream in early December.  Then retiring Newburgh, Indiana dentist Dr. Tom Scholl donated his entire dental office to Mission Guatemala.  Today, what was just a dream six months ago became a reality!

Dentists are very difficult to find in Guatemala.  When you can locate one, the fees are very high.  The Mission Guatemala office has low economical fees to meet the needs of the poor indigenous population that surrounds the office.

Ayda Yaneth Gonzalez, or Dr. Janet, is a native of Columbia but has been living in Guatemala for nearly five years.  She has been a dentist for 15 years.

Most recently, she worked for a dental clinic supported by the Christian Children’s Fund.

Janet studied at the Columbian Dentistry School in Bogota and the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City.

She is extremely skilled and we are delighted to have her on our staff!  Hopefully, she will soon be treating the many dental needs of people all around the San Andrés region.

In December of 2010, Mission Guatemala received a generous donation of dental equipment from Dr. Tom Scholl of Newburgh, Indiana which has enabled the start of the dental clinic in San Andrés Semetabaj, Guatemala.

Currently, the Mission Guatemala clinic staff is trying to sort the contents by type of medicine and then organize the medicines  by the expiration date.  This continues to be a huge challenge since there are literally thousands of different medicines in each box.

Mission Guatemala is in the process of reorganizing the clinic building.  Walls have been constructed to have separate doctor and dental offices.  Additionally, we have created a larger pharmacy space to accommodate our increasing numbers of medicines.

Mission Guatemala wants to thank Calvary United Methodist Church in Brownsburg, Indiana for organizing and packing all the medicines.

Fortunately, there was a hardworking team from Castleton United Methodist Church here when it arrived.  With a the group of 13 here, it made it far easier to unload the truck filled with equipment.  You would not believe how heavy a dental chair can be!

We will now begin to search for a dentist and get the new office in place.  We are hoping that we can begin seeing our first patients by June!

Below are a few pictures of the loading and unloading!

These over-the-counter medical supplies, as well as school supplies and towels, were accompanied by written prayers that several of the congregations had enclosed. The prayers were offerings of blessing for the Calvary congregation–and the 20 people who came to pack . . . children, youth, and older adults–as well as for Tom & Manuel Heaton, the new clinic in San Andreas, and the staff of Mission Guatemala. Prayers were also offered for the people of Guatemala, that God’s help and healing would find its way in a cardboard shipping box.

Indeed, each of these boxes contains not only medical supplies, but love and prayers. We pray they arrive soon to bless the many lives who will be touched by the hands of Christ.

Blessings,

Calvary UM Church, Brownsburg, IN USA

Click on any picture below to see a larger image of the packing fun!

Robin searches for a serial number on the dental stool.

Under the leadership of Robin Lannert, the dentist office has been boxed and crated and will soon be transported to Vine International near Knoxville, Tennessee.  Vine will then transport the equipment to its warehouse in Guatemala City where we can retrieve it.  The entire process will take several weeks to get the dental equipment here.  We are hopeful that the new dentist office might be open sometime in June or July.

Christi Peach keeps track of each item in a spreadsheet.

Packing the office took several weeks.  Each item needed to be accounted for in the paperwork for Guatemala customs.  That meant days of counting tiny dental items, bagging them, labeling them and then keeping track of which numbered box was holding the items.  We ended up with four crates of dental items.

A big thank you to Robin Lannert for heading up this tremendous task and all those she recruited to help.  Also, a thanks to Christi Peach who kept track of things on a spreadsheet so we could keep a packing list and know where everything is located when it arrives.  You can see a few pictures of the packing efforts in the photos below:

Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Thomas Scholl of Newburgh, Indiana, the people of San Andrés and the surrounding area will soon be receiving dental care.  After practicing dentistry for many many years, Dr. Scholl decided to retire and donate all his equipment to a ministry in need.  Mission Guatemala is the lucky recipient of Dr. Scholl’s generosity.

We are currently trying to arrange for packing and shipping of all the equipment to Guatemala.  If all goes well, by mid year the dental practice may become a vital part of our health ministry in Guatemala.

The need for a dentist and dental care in the rural areas of Guatemala is tremendous.

We will post more information as the dental clinic develops!  See some pictures below.

Diabetes is a growing problem in Guatemala due to diet and lifestyle.  It also appears to be a disease that is strongly inherited throughout the indigenous Maya.  

With appropriate access to medications and medical care, the long-term complications of diabetes, including damaged eyesight, foot ulcers, and heart and kidney disease can be prevented. Patients can therefore lead longer and more productive lives. 

Through the generosity of our donors, we are able to provide needed medicines to those who suffer from diabetes at a very low cost.