UPDATE 6.19.06 PM

     A lot happened today.

     Fix-anything-troubleshooting-handyman Joe Leier and Wayne left separately from the hotel to pick up some parts for an anesthesia machine, the autoclave, some fluorescent light stuff, and some satellite repair parts.  The rest of us left in the bus with translators:  Maaike (a Dutch recent med school grad, pronounced “Micah”), Ynge (a Dutch tourism intern, pronounced “Inga”), Kevin, and Lucy.  Two women at the clinic, and the Guatemalan Dr. Freddie, who works full time with Phil at the clinic, also speak the Indian language from this region.  About a third of our patients only speak Qu’che (spelling?), so it is a 3-way translation effort for us….English to Spanish (Maaike, Ynge, Kevin, Lucy, or Mackenzie), then Spanish to Qu’che (Dr. Freddie or the 2 clinic women, then back to Spanish, then back to English.  We’re quite sure it’s true that “something gets lost in the translation”.

     Amazingly, Dr. Freddie also speaks enough English to get by, and Maaike and Ynge each speak Dutch, German, English, and Spanish fluently.  The rest of us feel quite language-challenged.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     We again successfully ran the twisting mountain road to Camanchaj.

     As usual, there were patients and family members waiting out front at the clinic.  Local Metodista pastor Sebastian met with the group, thanked us for coming to help his people, read some scripture from Joshua, and prayed for our mission.  It was a bit of a jolt to hear that these people consider what we are planning to do to be “miracles”.

     There were so many different jobs to do:  here are a few moments from the day….

     There were kids to play with out front, pictures to take, and tables to move.  Brenda S. mopped OR floors, Pam started IV’s in the pre-op area, and Cheryl inventoried all the drugs we brought and incorporated them into the clinic farmacia.

     There were patients to sign in at the front door, and donated uniforms to deliver to the elementary school down the street.  Wayne cut boards and put up shelving, Bob directed traffic to and from the OR hallway and assisted in OR 1, and Barbara scrubbed instruments after each case.  Jennifer ushered patients and family members to their places, and kept the team web site up to date.

     The translators had to be everywhere at all times.  Mackenzie translated at times and did OR laundry in the back room, and Susan and Janet pushed IV meds and comforted the post-op patients.  Lorraine and Esther assisted Larry in OR 1 where David provided the anesthesia, while Max, Nancy, and Maaike worked with Charlie in OR 2.  Steve provided the anesthesia in OR 2, and, along with David, solved some unexpected glitches – the kind that cannot be anticipated but always seem to creep in…

     Brenda W. counted vitamins into baggies, and Martin monitored post-ops and entertained kids.  Arlen saw some medical patients and tried to facilitate everyone else’s work.  Cindy counted out ibuprofens, helped in OR 2, and assisted in post-op.

     Everyone pitched in.

     The day flew by, and some parts of many people’s lives were changed today.

Patient Ruth, Dr. Larry, Ruth's mother and Nurse Janet after Ruth's surgery.	Pam taking vitals on a patient.
Susan and Martin at the door of the OR.	Wayne performing surgery on the wall, preparing for an internet implant shelf.