Just got back from Guatemala on another medical mission with Shared Beat – what another amazing experience!
This was my second trip with Shared Beat and it definitely gets better with every trip. I was blessed this time to have my wife, sister, brother and nephew on this trip along with 22 other volunteers – doctors, nurses, translators, their siblings, local volunteers and others with as little medical experience and background as I have. I met folks from all parts of the country (U.S.) that have the same drive, passion and commitment to helping the Guatemala children, families and countrymen in improving their health, education and their burning desire to pull themselves and their families out of the bottomless pits of poverty, poor health, malnourishment and abuse.
One of the most important things I recognized this past week was the everyday struggles the majority of Guatemalans have in obtaining the most basic substance (food, and clean water) of everyday life. I was amazed at the tenacity of the common man or woman to use their basic skills – carving, sewing, cooking, washing, cleaning, recycling, harvesting, selling and/or sharing in their daily efforts to survive. This is absolutely amazing to me as I would have no idea how to survive in this environment and it is a daily struggle for the majority of Guatemalans. Another important observation was that there really is no middle class – families are either born into poverty or wealth – there is no in-between.
As a non-medical and everyday blue collar worker I continue to be amazed at the opportunities I have to contribute to a very dedicated and well organized volunteer medical team in their efforts to provide medical and educational assistance to the students and families surrounding the Guatemala dump. Even with my very limited ability to speak Spanish, they find productive ways for me to contribute to the team. I was asked to work on the vision team.
As part of the vision team, I had the pleasure of performing vision tests for many of the school children as well as some of their family members. Wow – that was fun! I also got to experiment with a focometer and other assorted basic vision technologies in trying to determine the best corrective lenses for some of the more basic vision problems. The patience these folks had with our team was incredible and we actually ended up putting together and handing out over 30 pairs of glasses. Their gratitude was almost overwhelming and personally I felt a tremendous accomplishment when they put on their new glasses and declared “claro” with a larger than possible smile.
What a rewarding week!
Mark Bisett
Houston, Texas
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