Monday, April 30, 2012

Guatemala Day #5

 Today we were back in the clinic for the day.  Brianna and I leave the hotel each morning at 6:30 am and then Jon comes on the 8:30 bus.  We were a little busier today and saw 144 patients.
Lori Watts is a friend of our from our home ward in Logan.  They are here serving as the Mission Presidents for the Guatemala mission.  We were able to see them for a few minutes and visit.

This is the lunch and dinner room.  They kept food and drinks stocked in the hallway all day long and when we got a break we came and ate.  They had a restaurant cater our dinners and they brought them to the clinic each night.

After I got done working the registration in the front they would have me come to the back and check patients in for oral surgery.  Brianna was usually done with taking x-rays by then and would come and keep me company each night.  We were usually there until around 8:30 or 9:00 each night.

This is the oral surgery room


Brianna with some of the people she worked with in the x-ray area

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Guatemala Day #4

Today was Sunday so we loaded on the buses for the day.  We left and drove about an hour from our hotel thru the countryside of Guatemala.  We arrived at a small city called Cuilapa for church.  The church was right in the middle of all the shops on the street and had barbed wire on top of the fences.  We had a police escort part of the way to and from the church.  


The drivers here are amazing.  Sometimes you wonder if you are going to fall off the side of a mountain or road!  This is one example of the close driving conditions.  Both buses had to fold the mirrors in to pass by each other. 



Standing outside the church

I took this picture out the window in the chapel

We got there and they were asking for someone to play the piano for Sacrament Meeting.  Brianna ended up playing four songs and did a great job.  We have been very lucky to have some General Authorities with us each day.  We were able to hear from Elder Enrique R. Falabella at church.  He is the President of the Central America Area.

After Sacrament Meeting we had a sub for santa set up in the class rooms and outside for the families to come thru and receive things.  We took all the bracelets that we made at the Robison reunion last year to hand out to all the kids.  It is amazing to see how excited the families got over the simplest things.  They got to have their family pictures taken and then we printed them and put them in a frame.  Most of the families have never had a family picture taken.




Jon loves the buses that are all over the city. 

The boy on the right is Wilson.  He is the one that passed out a few days ago at the clinic and Jon was able to help with him.

After church we drove about another hour to another church.  We attended a fireside for the kids in the area.  There were about 700 kids at the meeting. Presdient Enrique R. Falabella and Elder James B. Martino of the seventy spoke.

A form of transportation in some of the outlying cities of Guatemala
We finally arrived back to our hotel around 6:00 and had a nice banquet.  We are being fed very well!  We can't complain of being hungry or not liking the food.  We are all going to come home weighing more than when we left!
Our friends Daren & Emily Gehring


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Guatemala Day #3

Today we saw 140 patients today.  We were all pretty busy all day.  Jon was able to put some of his schooling to work today on a patient.  They had one boy pass out in the dental chair and Jon had to go and help him.  He ended up putting an IV in him and watching him for awhile. 

Brianna & Jon waiting in our hotel lobby to leave for the dental clinic
The Stake Center we are working in

This little boy came with his Grandpa today with a group of missionaries.  He had lots of pictures taken and got lots of candy and toys from all of us.


This a couple from our ward in Logan Daren & Emily Gehring
Brianna's first set of perfect x-rays!

This is the sterilization area.  My cousin Bubba is here with us.  (far left in scrubs)



This is Jon with Rachel the girl he works with in the recovery area and the interpreters.



These cute little kids came to the clinic today and I took them to the humanitarian room and got them a few toys and candy to take home with them.  They each chose a stuffed animal.

Brianna with the x-ray group and some Guatemalans that have had their x-rays taken

This is the waiting area out front of the church.  The kids wait here and fill out all their mission papers.


This is one group that came by bus to have all their work done

These boys are waiting to be checked in.  The boy on the left did not want to get his haircut! Below is a video of the cultural hall where they have all the dental chairs set up for the dentists.


Friday, April 27, 2012

Guatemala Day #2

Today was our first day at the dental clinic.  I had to leave the hotel at 7:00 am to get all the registration material set up and ready for the first group of kids that were coming.  Jon & Brianna left the hotel and arrived at the church at 9:00 am.  The dental clinic is set up at a Stake Center.  It is amazing to walk in and see the church completely set up like a clinic.  They have taken over the entire church including the chapel.  They have removed the benches and set up tables and everything they need.  It was a little hectic at times trying to get the routine down and learn all that we needed to with our different jobs.  I especially have a hard time because I don't speak Spanish.  I'm the first one they come to and I have to ask them questions and it is hard not speaking their language.  There are interpreters all over to help us when we need them.  I work with a girl named Larissa who does speak Spanish so that has been a great help.  We worked hard all day until 8:00 pm when we loaded the buses and came back to the hotel.  We saw a total of 91 patients today.
This is where I sit most of the day and check each person in.  We have to check their papers they have filled out and then send them to the right area.  They get haircuts, pictures, go to the Dr. for a physical and blood work and then they go to the dental area.


Brianna is taking x-rays.  This is set up right in the chapel.  They have 5 chairs that are all designated for x-rays.

Here is where they are trained on dental hygiene and how to properly take care of their teeth. 

Here is where Jon works all day long.  He sees the patients after they have had oral surgery.  He has to make sure their bleeding has stopped and they have instructions on how to take their medication.  Most of the patients do pretty good.  This is a boy named Henry.  He had a little bit of a rough time.  He was in the recovery room for 2 hours.  As you can see his white shirt is stained a little red.  He had some bleeding problems.  He would not bite down on the gauze like he was suppose to so he just kept on bleeding and gagging.  We will never forget Henry!

This is the view from the back of the church building we are working out of.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Guatemala Day #1

 Jon, Brianna & I left today for our humanitarian trip.  We are going to be spending 10 days in Guatemala with a group called "Smiles for Guatemala".  We are here with 125 other people preparing future missionaries for their missions.  They are able to get their picture taken, haircut, physicals & any dental work they need.  They have me working on the registration part.  Brianna is an x-ray assistant taking x-rays and Jon is working in the oral surgery recovery room. 


Waiting in line at the Salt Lake airport.  We were assigned five 50 lb. duffel bags filled with humanitarian things to check on the airplane.  We were able to just bring all of our personal things in a carry-on. 


Leaving Houston on our way to Guatemala



Getting our instructions on where to take our luggage.  They loaded all the humanitarian bags on a big truck and then we loaded on buses to go to the hotel.



We were the first ones on this bus so we got the very last row! We had to hold our luggage on our laps.

The view we had from the back seat