It’s 7:30pm and we have just filled our stomachs with chicken and salad at the Aurora Hotel. We are recalling today’s successful trip to a shelter in Zona 3 for Hurricane Agatha victims. Today’s group of 6 traveled to this small shelter down in the valley of Zone 3 near the Puente de Las Inscripciones. The bus dropped us off at the top a hill this morning, and we trekked down the little hillside which is only accessible by foot. A narrow cement walkway with a steep decline of 300 feet brought us to our destination. You could look over the edge towards the right where there was a ravine. We followed 3 local shelter volunteers through the neighborhood. One of them, Astrid, pointed out her house on the hill as we passed below. The structures that we passed were bare with the only indication of life inside being clothes of all sizes hanging outside to dry. The walkway is clearly only traveled by locals. We were welcomed with smiles and shouts of “Buenos dias” as we made our way down. After 15 minutes, we arrived to a cement church that consisted of a small common room with an altar in the back, no bigger than a convenience store. At one point, 14 families were sheltered here during the aftermath of the storm. The shelter volunteers had already arranged 3 curtained clinic stations with care. They had let the community know of today’s clinic in days prior. This morning a megaphone-like “horn” was used to remind everyone. The first clinic station was designed for history-taking, vital signs, and lab work. The second station received the adults in order to perform physical exams. The third station dealt entirely with the physical exams of children and adolescents. Once patients were seen at their respective stations, they were then sent to the make-shift pharmacy in the middle of the small room. The histories of present illness and treatment recommendations were documented on Shared Beat intake forms. Surprisingly, the line of patients moved efficiently with the help of the shelter workers and staff from Camino Seguro. The clinic flow was constant from the morning until we left in the afternoon. Around lunch time, we were about to take a short break for some PB&J’s when one of the shelter workers alerted us that they had already prepared a special lunch just for us. At first, the 6 of us were a little hesitant to try locally prepared food since sanitary conditions (such as purified water, clean hands, etc.) are often questionable in third world countries like Guatemala. Nonetheless, our meal of tripe and potato in tomato sauce with rice and tortillas was served piping hot and all of us felt honored to try it. After a short lunch and bathroom break, the waiting line had grown out the door and we jumped back into our stations with renewed energy. Patients of varying ages and conditions were seen throughout the day. Our youngest patient was one month old while our oldest was 102 years old. Without a scale or prior medical records, many weight and birthdate estimations were made. Upon leaving, around a hundred patients had been seen. It was difficult to turn people away, but time constraints wouldn’t allow us to stay any longer. People were grateful that we had come and allowed us to leave without much commotion. As the rain began to pour down, we quickly gathered any remaining medications and supplies and sloshed our way up the hillside back to the van in the afternoon downpour. Standing at the top of the hill, watching the rain gush down across the cement steps, we walked away with a sense of accomplishment for having helped this small community in their time of great need.
Sarah Scofield & Jared Winikor
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