Yoga team arrives

On Sunday we said goodbye to the UMass Dartmouth group and we welcomed a new team. Lauren, Karen, and Jessica, 3 yoga team members, joined Tara, who had signed up to do construction but will actually be working with the yoga program for the week. Tamara is staying a second week here with the new group, and will continue seeing patients for (and with) Dr. Paul.

The yoga team had their first day of yoga today with kids from the orphanage. They had a great day with the kids, doing yoga moves and arts and crafts. The kids finished off their afternoon with a hot meal. The ladies are looking forward to a great week and lots of fun with the kids!

The rest of the week with UMass Dartmouth

We had a great week here with the UMass Dartmouth team. They did well child checkups for about half of our sponsored kids!! The nurses and students gave each child a very thorough head to toe exam. All of the emergency babies as well got to get seen by Margo, the pediatrician. We are so excited to be able to offer well child visits to so many kids!! Everyone did a great job, and the kids and their parents were so appreciative.

Tamara spent the week working in the clinic with several of the nurses and some of the students as well. Dr. Paul was in and out, seeing patients in between working on several projects with Guetchine. Samuel 2 had a big diabetic class on Thursday, with over 50 patients! The people from the big diabetic center of Haiti, Fhadimac, came and did a class for Samuel's patients. Each patient got a blood sugar test, blood pressure taken, and meds. Kathleen and a couple students helped Samuel.

Each student had one day out at the construction site, where they made great progress on the Blanchard house.

Throughout the week, many sponsors had the opportunity to meet or reunite with their sponsored children.

The team went on a tour of Port-au-Prince on Friday after work and out to eat at Epidor. On Saturday, Tamara taught a class for many of her sickle cell patients. Marceline also taught a class on family planning for many local young women. While Samuel translated for Tamara's sickle cell class, Kathleen ran Samuel's diabetic clinic. When the clinics and classes were over, the team headed to the beach to relax for their last day.

The UMD students prepared fantastic posters in creole to put up in our clinic on scabies and immunizations.

The students presenting their posters

 Diabetic class with Samuel

Last day in the village

Today the team finished up work in the village. They saw patients in Desierto and the Concepcion clinic in the morning and then a few patients in Concepcion in the afternoon. Around 3 pm they went with Maria Jose to visit Maria Francisca, an old lady who was injured by a falling box of chickens and sits on a rock all day in pain. Kelly usually goes and visits and brings some pain meds and tums. She really likes having visitors.

The afternoons have turned into art classes behind the clinic with a bunch of little girls who like to come and color.

Tomorrow we will go to Lake Atitlan to visit.

First day in Desierto

Today the mobile clinic team set up outside the catholic church in Desierto. They were quite busy and saw many patients. They all came back exhausted in the afternoon.

In the clinic in Concepcion it was much quieter today. In the afternoon our newest cleft baby Jackelyn came in for a weight check. She only gained 1/2 ounce in a week. Ruth spent some time with the family teaching them how to properly feed her and also teaching the mom how to hand express her breast milk which is the best thing for little Jackelyn.

Well child checkups off to a great start

Yesterday, Tamara, Margo, and the UMass Dartmouth team had their first day of work. Tamara is replacing Dr. Paul this week as he works with Guetchine on several projects, including our public health licence. The team is doing well child checkups for 350 of our sponsored kids this week, and they are off to a great start for their first two days. The UMD students prepared fantastic take-home well child care cards, which were filled out at their well child visit, and children and families were instructed to keep the card and bring it back for future clinic visits and well child visits. We set up a waiting area in the eating area, where while the kids waited, they were given education on various topics, including dental care and hygiene. When they left, they were each given a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bar of soap.

The students have been learning so much, while working with kids in the well child clinic, and sick people of all ages in the clinic. Today we had a patient who was 130 years old!

Some of the students went out to construction each day, and worked on the last single house in Blanchard. They started putting blocks up, and worked on sifting. They enjoyed being out in the neighborhood.

After work yesterday, the team went out for a walking tour of Blanchard and saw all the PID houses in the area. They got to meet some of the families, including Rosemarie, who took everyone inside her house.

Saw over 90 patients on day 1!

The first day in the village was a success. The mobile clinic in Saquiy saw 45 patients and the clinic in Concepcion saw 50. The nurses and students were busy attending to the various ailments that the patients were suffering. I went and did and home visit with Ruth to see a woman named Marina who had a c-section 5 days ago. She was in a lot of pain but we got her on a schedule for her pain meds. Today she was feeling a lot better.

Two great teams

Yesterday two teams left the US. One for Haiti and one for Guatemala. Both teams arrived safely in their respective country except for one team member who didn't find out until she got to the airport that her passport was expired. Hopefully she will be able to join the Guatemalan team tomorrow. So if you are heading out with a team check your passport. We ask you to send passports  in but we do not check the date. Don't be left standing at the airport while the rest of your team leaves:-(

Mobile Clinics to come!

After a day spent touring Antigua we dropped the team off at a hotel in Guatemala City last night and they flew out today.

Our next team arrived safely this evening. We had a yummy dinner and wnet over the basic information and the schedule for the week. It is a medical team so we will be able to see a lot of patients. We will be working in the clinic as well as doing a movile clinic in Saqui for 2 days and Desierto for 3 days.

Goodbye Gordon, Hello Umass Dartmouth!

Gordon College team had a great week. The cafeteria is finished, screened in, and painted! It looks beautiful. Pictures soon, internet willing. Paul also worked on furnishings for the sponsorship office in the new admin building and built benches for the cafeteria! Out at the construction site, the team not only finished filling in the foundation, but started putting blocks up on the duplex in Canaan. They made so much progress!! The team left with a lots of new experiences, a new perspective on poverty, and lots of great new friendships with the staff here and the children at the worksite.

We said good-bye to Gordon yesterday and Claudia today. Claudia spent a month here working in the clinic, helping in triage and wound care. We will miss her!

Today the UMass Dartmouth nursing team arrived, and Dr. Tamara and Dr. Margo. We are so excited to have this great team here! The bunkhouse is completely packed. The team brought so many PID bags and so much great supplies. We spent the afternoon unpacking all the suitcases and sorting out donations. Jeanne and I led an intro meeting with the team before dinner because everyone was so tired after a long day of travel. We are looking forward to a great week together!

Working hard in the heat and early rainy season

The days here are getting pretty hot and it has started to rain in the afternoon which has all the guatemalans confused becauae we have a few more months until rainy season officially starts. But deapite the heat and rain the group has been working hard. They installed some more filters today and spent some time this morning on the construction site.

I always enjoy seeing sponsors meet their children. It is a very special and sometimes emotional experience. I'm including some pictures of team members Dave and Jane with one of their sponsored kids.

Pictured is also Julie coloring with some kids and Sarah giving rides in the wheelbarrow.

Great start to the work week with Gordon

On Sunday the Gordon College team enjoyed a church service in the morning and a day at the beach before the busy work week started.

Each day many of the team members have been going to Canaan to work on the duplex. So far, they have filled in the foundation with the "ranble", or rocks and dirt, up to the level of the foundation. They have also poured cement over the whole top of the foundation, and today they began to put blocks up. They are making a lot of progress!

Back at the PID compound, Paul has been working hard with the rest of the team members on the cafeteria. They are painting it a lovely shade of creamsicle! Paul is working hard framing the windows with wood and screening them in, as well as putting screen doors. It's not easy because the windows are round, but Paul is doing an amazing job and they look great!

Today the team went on a walk around Blanchard to see the PID houses in the area. It was so nice to see Wislain's mom in her new PID house with her kids. She was so happy. She moved in last week.

Washing sand and meeting sponsored kids

The first day in the village was certainly a busy one. We started off with a quick tour of the village to get a better sense of how the people we serve are living. When we got back to the clinic Norm gave a condensed "course" on the water filters. 101 was theory and then 102 was practice. The washed some sand, removed a filter that was no longer in use and installed a new filter. In the morning I worked with a few ladies un packing the PID suitcases and making bags for the clinic.

Two team members got to meet their sponsored children today and that is always a very special experience for child and sponsor. Julie's little girl Yoselin arrived with her mother, younger sister (6 mo. old) and a bag of bananas for Julie. David and Jane sponsor a boy named Eduardo who came today with his mother and two sisters. That was an emotional encounter.

Next Team in Guatemala

Our next team arrived this evening in Guatemala. After a very long day of travelling they arrived at the hotel hungry and excited to be here.

There are a few returners and many new faces. Norm will be working with Miguel and the team members in the water filters. Running some tests, installing and checking them. The team will also be continuing the work on the house in Saquiy.

Here is a picture of the finished house in Desierto.

Saturday in Haiti

Today most of the Gordon team went out to Canaan for construction for a half day, and 2 of the students stayed back to sand the walls of our new eating area to get it ready for paint. Paul went out with Pouchon to buy wood and supplies for the many projects we've got for him for the week.

In the afternoon, the team went out for a driving tour of downtown Port-au-Prince, a visit to the museum, and out to Epidor for dinner.

Gordon College team arrives

The team left on Sunday, except Andrew who left on Tuesday. They had a great week. The midwife classes went well, and 21 new midwives, nurses, and other interested students from the Blanchard area have a whole new set of knowledge about doing safe births and received birth kits and certificates. Andrew, Nicole, and Claudia spent the week working hard in the clinic, and Emma split up her time helping out with triage in the mornings and construction in the afternoons. The office building is coming along great! We can't wait for it because the clinic is so crowded when there are multiple practitioners! One day we had every clinic room occupied, triage out in the hall, and even a patient on IV in the sponsorship office.

Today the Gordon college team arrived. They unpacked all the supplies they had brought down in PID suitcases. Those who've come before were shocked to see all the work that had been done on the PID compound since last year! The new eating area is done, Paul will be screening it in and putting screen doors on it, and the team will be painting it. The team will also be going to work in Canaan, starting by filling in the foundation for the 4th duplex. I am looking forward to a great week with the team.

EMERGENCY SPONSORSHIP NEEDED IN GUATEMALA

This little girl needs 2 sponsors! She was born on Saturday March 1st with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. 

Sponsoring her will help us buy her formula and pay for her surgeries in the future!

Child Number: 377
Name: Baby Girl Chavez Mejia

Please visit http://www.pidonline.org/programs/child-sponsorships/guatemala for information on Sponsorship or contact the Ipswich office.