Pay It Forward

During these weeks that I've been in Guatemala, I find myself often reflecting on my last year of nursing school and how grateful I am for the professors I had, the classmates/friends I had (and still have), and for my brother Andrew and his wife welcoming me to live with them. They showed me nothing but kindness. I had my study and sleep space, endless amounts of coffee, and study breaks were times filled with little nieces and nephews or going for runs while exploring new places with my brother. They did this out of the generosity of their hearts and did not ask for anything in return. Although Bear Creek feels more like my true PA home, they surely made Philly feel like home during my years in college, and I will always hold those memories in my heart.

Bear Creek is where I loved to spend weekends and holidays, experiencing the same hospitality from my sister Sarah and her husband. I enjoyed countless hours with them the great outdoors, watching The Office, making delicious food, and many days just sleeping and not doing much at all but enjoying the company of them.

In my memories of growing up, parents were always welcoming friends to stay with us. They have set a good example of hospitality for us, reminding us that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), and to my siblings to whom I look up to so much, thank you for continuing that example.

The kindness of my family often reminds me of when I lived in Honduras. The medical director of the hospital and his wife took me in as their own and I became a part of their family during that year, and they remain dear friends of mine to this day.
One evening after dinner I thanked them for accepting me as family. Pauline told me that while in college and medical school, she and Jay had been shown the same hospitality, and they are just paying it forward to the next generation, and she told me that I have my own family I will do the same.  


When someone has shown you kindness, be sure to pay it forward. Be sure to always show kindness to others, because you never know when you'll be the one in need. 

Progress In The Casa Materna

Another week of adventure and making progress sometimes slowly, but definitely surely! This week hasn't been as adventurous as last week when Kennet was here; we took the opportunity to travel around the lake visiting other towns and hiking around the mountains (with my new Solar BakPak that he gave me!!)  and finding the places with the best food and coffee. Although he's now back home working in Honduras, he continues to be of help from afar with details such as finding the best pricing for lighting and curtains which he will bring to us next month.

 
Hiking the Cerro de la Cruz of San Juan and passing by the San Juan museum


Xela
This week I traveled with Merlyn and Lesbia about two hours away Xela where were were able to find a lot of supplies still needed. Although we are extremely fortunate to already have some big items in the casa such as hospital beds, cribs, and exam tables, there is a still a lot needed to complete our supply closet. We are almost completely ready now with just a few items needing to be bought in in the US for cost-effectiveness. A missionary team coming from Erica's church at the beginning of next month has been so kind to bring us these items.

Progress in the Casa
All of our areas have now been assigned and we are organizing each room. Right now the municipality is only giving us the upstairs of the clinic as they are claiming to use the first level as a new location for their Centro de Salud. We are still hoping that they will decide to give it to us in the future as their current location is sufficient for their needs and we could expand greatly our program and host teams that come to serve and educate the people of these communities. Upstairs we currently have the waiting area, bathrooms, a birthing room, a newborn exam room, the prenatal care room, the staff lounge, the administration office, the prayer room, the pharmacy, the storage room, and two postpartum rooms with three beds each. We are very thankful even for this space and the rooftop space that we have which we hope to utilize in the near future. As well we have beautiful gardens and as mentioned before, space for a kitchen and laundry area.

This week we were told that we would have electricity, but this has yet to happen. We have had a surveillance camera installed, and Kennet has helped us to purchase LED bulbs which are 90% more energy efficient than regular light bulbs, so once the electricity is actually working it will be pretty exciting.

We continue to work with the municipality to get approval regarding the legal aspect of the functioning of the Casa so that we can can work with the Ministerio de Salud to have everything in legal order.

Photos: Birthing room and the view from the windows- a small farm of cows and horses with avocado, coffee, and lime trees


















Jes
A new friend of mine and huge asset to the Casa project has been Jessica, a Physician's Assistant who works with Saving Mothers. Erica introduced me to her as she's been working here in Guatemala teaching birthing assistant classes to the comadronas ('midwives') here. The curriculum she developed is a several month long program and she has been working in different parts of rural Guatemala, San Juan being one of them. She is currently living near Xela teaching her new school, and has been a help to me with things such as where to find certain supplies, electronic records and patient documentation, contacts to many local people who can assist us, and much more including the best places to eat and fun places around the lake to visit on the weekends :) All of our casa staff have graduated from her school and the casa will be a place where new birthing assistants can come and gain experience.


Birth
This week we had a birth! Every time I attend a home birth with Lesbia (or in the Centro de Salud which unfortunately has near to no medical supplies) I am so thankful for the casa and its opening coming soon. Thankfully the mother and baby are both doing well now, but the birth was a little complicated. The first-time mother was having trouble getting her little one out despite the babe only being 6 pounds. Her heart rate began to drop dangerously low but we thankfully we were able to assist the mom to push her out just in time. She wasn't breathing upon birth but the Ambu bag came to the rescue and we were able to resuscitate her. Within a short time she was breathing and began to cry a little over the next hour.
The photo is with Lesbia shortly after baby was cleaned up and doing well.



Global Health Media 
In my last year of nursing school, my community health professor showed our class these amazing educational videos. They are available in many languages and free to download which is absolutely amazing!  I remember thinking to myself that day in class, one day when I'm a community nurse I'm going to educate the people with these. Now all this time later, I was talking with Jes in Xela this week, and she reminded be about the videos and that there are many available about pregnancy, birth, and newborn care. I am so excited about these and how they will serve the people here!


Prayer Requests! 
-Permission for us to use entire clinic for our birthing center
-Electricity
-Legal aspects (working with municipality and Ministerio de Salud)
-Safety of the mother's and babies in these communities
-An emergency vehicle for the Casa
- Alvarez- Cholotío Family: Lesbia and her husband Juan and their three daughters Elena, Oneida, and Cana (and new Pit Bull/Dalmatian pup Dolly) have welcomed into their family as their own. They have taught me about perseverance, servant-heartedness, and contentment in ways that I never imagined. My prayer is that God continues to bless them more than they can imagine for their hard work and service to their people.

Return To La Casa Materna

As many of you know, I spent the month of June 2015 (see posts from that date) in San Juan of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, working on a birthing center project that was initiated by my friend Dr. Erica in partnership with her church, Christ Wesleyan, in Milton, PA. A year later we are now close to being able to open it. I am here for two months working again with Lesbia attending home births with her and working with her and her sister, Merlyn, who will be the administrative director of the Casa.

Right now we have two birthing assistants, Johana (Lesbia's daughter), and Wendy, who have been helping us immensely with the preparation and Cristina, a nurse from the Centro de Salud (local health center) who has helping us with some preparation as well.

Kennet has been here this first week and has been helping us with a lot. Among many things, he repaired half of our cribs which were broken, helped us purchase a computer, and repaired and rebuilt a storage closet (which we were told was unfixable and should be thrown out).
It's been so fun after being apart for 6 months to be able to work together and have fun exploring different places around the lake. The Atitlán region has so many beautiful places!

Return to the Casa after more than a year

Organizing the Casa with Kennet, Cristina, Johana, Merlyn, and Wendy

View from the casa which directly faces the Rostra Maya.
The tin shed is the future home of  our kitchen and laundry area.

Beautiful gardens surround the Casa. Some rose bushes are taller than me!