It has been several days since our mission trip came to an end. There have not been any posts to this blog since Wednesday night as we have all been traveling and reconnecting with our loved ones back in the States. Our total number of patients served remains to be counted but we estimate about 125 people per clinic per day (including children) for the four days we were able to run clinics.
Dr. Frank Baudino at one of the clinics.
These few days were as meaningful an experience as any service we have done in Guatemala. We remember so fondly the faces of the people we served and their genuine gratitude for the time we spent with them. Some were very ill and others just wanted the peace of mind that comes with a wellness check. As seems to always be the case, we all feel that they gave us so much more than we gave them.
A young patient with type-1 diabetes gets treated with an IV saline drip while Pamela Hearn runs labs on another patient. Privacy is a luxury in Guatemala.
Though our goal is to serve as many patients as possible on these missions, the safety of our team members is the foundation upon which all our work is built. As our mission progressed we encountered a few disheartening thefts from our rooms at the basilica. The monks graciously refunded us what we lost. We were of one mind about continuing the mission and set about setting up our clinics the next day.
But when it was discovered that the spare keys to our rooms had gone missing, and that re-keying all the locks was impossible on such short notice, we felt we had to make the difficult decision to bring everyone home early in order to ensure their safety.
We are heartbroken that we could not finish our last two clinic days, but are confident that the basilica will take steps to ensure that future guests are well cared for. This is a set-back, but we are resolute in our mission of caring for those in need and we do believe we'll be back in Esquipulas next year.
At the end of every mission year we ask each of the particpants to write a reflection about their mission experience. We post these reflections to this blog so please do keep checking in. Since the mission ended early we weren't able to publish posts from all the team members so we will start with those reflections first.
Thank you all for your kind support of our work and please continue to send us your prayers and thoughts.
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