At Debby's urging to write something for the blog, I have decided to ramble on a bit about something that is very dear to my heart. For the past eight years I have spent August in central Guatemala on a medical mission. This work also includes the medical support, a feeding program and a children's ministry. Last year we expanded with a program we call "Buy a Bag." For a five dollar donation, we send each of the families, who come to the medical clinic, home with a bag of staples that will last them a month - cooking oil, flour, sugar - things like that. We even give them ground coffee. Many of these people climb the steep mountain slopes and harvest coffee beans, but they are not able to afford the final product. Five dollars...so little money, yet so meaningful to these Mayan people. Many of the people who come to our clinic are not only sick, but very poorly nourished - they are hungry! The poverty around Lake Atitlan is quite astounding, and it is made even worse during the rainy season with terrible mudslides that take the lives of hundreds of people. However, the people are gracious and friendly - smiling and welcoming us into their villages. I made my first mission trip more for adventure than dedication to third world problems...but I was hooked on the very first clinic day and can't imagine a summer without a trip to San Lucas Toliman. Guatemala is south of Mexico, and north of El Salvador and Honduras. They are less than ten years beyond a terrible thirty six year long civil war that especially devastated the indigenous Mayans. Guatemala is made up of many different groups from the Mayans to the Ladinos to the Spanish descendants. Although Spanish is the official language, large areas of rural Guatemala speak Mayan dialects very different from Spanish. So, for me,Guatemala has been a significant focus...either in the actual time spent there, or in the planning for the annual trip. It's been a wonderful experience that has shaped my everyday life.
