The Middle of the Week

This week has been exhausting in so many ways. During the weekend I was excited to go back to my ministry site to see some of the patients and see what other ways I would be able to help. And now, I'm back at Hermano Pedro with no real routinue yet. Things seem a lot different than last time, but I'm not able to put my finger on it as to why things seem different.

The patients are doing alright, basically the same as last time. The only difference is that there are some new patients, or patients that I've never seen before, so I have to work my way to getting to know them and interact with them, which is sometimes difficult because they don't speak or if they do, I can't understand some of them.

A lot of what I do in the mornings is working with the special ed school, doing the same thing that I did before. Helping them with tasks that 5 year-olds can easily accomplish. Also, some of them do a lot of crafts like painting or coloring or playing with playdough. So either I join in or I just sit and watch them and talk with them a little bit. It just depends who you're talking to or working with and how much interaction they need.

There have been some new things that I have learned at Hermano Pedro. I've been noticing how different their system for dealing with mentally handicapped people differs from that of the States. This is substantially different in that here, Guatemala is somewhat in an institution sort of stage where the patients live there and are given tasks to do and aren't seen as having much potential to accomplish much of anything in life. However, this system is beginning to change in Guatemala because of some of the people that work with these people. There are a couple people who I work with and are great with the patients and do see some sort of value in them. This is encouraging to me because I know that change is coming, just slower than the States. I also have learned that a lot of the patients there have a large mental capacity and for some reason that I'm not quite aware of, they are in the hospital. We have found out that one of the gentlemen there thinks that some of the tasks they have them do are boring and he would rather do something else. Another lady isn't able to speak but can comprehend fully what's going on. However, she doesn't have much of a form of communicating to the workers and nurses so she often doesn't get what she wants, which is a struggle for her.

Some afternoons we go to work in the cerebal palsy unit with the kids. This is a lot different than working with the adults in the morning. These kids just basically sit in their wheelchairs all day and when it's time to eat, they are fed and they get changed and they sleep and that's about all they do. So our role is to just hang out with them and try to have fun with them while they are sitting in their wheelchairs. Well, this is obviously difficult because they aren't able to talk and if they are it's just a few words. It's kind of frustrating because we haven't been really trained as to how to handle these children, so we're kind of just making things up as we go. What we really want to be able to do is take some of these kids out of their chairs and hold them because that's what they're lacking, human touch. So once we find out how to do this, we'll be good to go. Most times, the kids are just happy that they receive attention from someone and well, that's what we're there for, so that's what we do. This can be done through racing around the area with their wheelchairs or talking to them or playing a little ball with them. Basically anything to get a smile on their face is an accomplishment.

Today, I played with 2 kids who are capable of a lot more than what the nurses give them credit. For example they have this little game and one of the kids is able to sit by himself on the ground so there's a tiny tire that you wind up and then he pushes the button for it and then it goes rolling. Another kid goes to retrive the tire because his wheelchair is controlled by his head, so he's able to move where he wants. You have to go with him though because he's unable to pick the little tire up off the ground cause he's in his chair. But they have a lot of fun watching it role across the ground and then fetching it. The little boy who presses the button liked to hide the other little piece from me and then I'd have to find it. He thought this was so funny and he was one of the boys who knew how to talk a little bit so I'd ask him where it is and then he was say I don't know and then start giggling. It's so rewarding to see smiles on their faces.

So this week has been pretty exhausting and everyday that I come back I'm exhausted. This is emotionally draining because you put so much into helping these patients and then you don't really see any results from all the hard work you put forth. But I know that some of our work is really appreciated and some of it isn't, so I just have to make sure that I'm emphasizing the positive and not the negative. So that's kind of been my week so far. I can't really explain all that I'm feeling and experiencing because this is one of those things that you kind of need to experience for yourself.

Love you and miss you all!!!