Mateo Hernandaz was number three on the surgery schedule. He was wheeled from his room and his mom waited patiently at the doors of the operating hall, standing against the wall. Mateo’s surgery was straight-forward. He was going to have his cleft lip repaired now, and his parents were encouraged to come back in a…
Read MoreMonday, February 22, 2010 Mateo Hernandaz went home today, his future made brighter thanks to the donation of time, talents and money from many people both near and far. He was born ten months ago in Los Angeles, a very remote village in the area of Xoxlac, in the western mountains of Guatemala. He was…
Read MoreWhat we want to share with you today is a little about what we call Comnmand Central. Command Central is a room of 317 square feet on the third floor of this hospital. In this small room the following takes place: Coffee Lunch Storage: Countless necessary bottles of water for all staff; all office supplies;…
Read MoreToday a young boy, Anderson (age 1 1/2) was scheduled for surgery. Anderson had spent the night at the hospital in preparation for today’s surgery. While doing his last minute checkup, the nurse heard a heart murmur. This was verified by the pediatrician. For his safety and health, Anderson’s surgery was postponed. But MOST feels…
Read MoreThis is just a quick note. For those of you who may have heard through the news, we did feel tremors from an earthquake today. The first tremor we felt woke some of us up about 5:00 a.m., and then two more forceful ones were felt about 9:00 a.m. and 9:15a.m. Obviously we were scared,…
Read MoreThe day started out on a happy note. Oscar, the gentleman who wasn’t able to make his appointment yesterday because he couldn’t afford the bus ride, was able to find the funds to make the trip today. We were all elated, but especially the dentists. In the morning they made an impression of his upper…
Read MoreThe motto for this trip, which is posted on the door to our “Mission Control” is the phrase, Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.” Adherence to this motto was certainly important today. This was a wonderful day of surgery and recovery. The children all left the operating room…
Read MoreThis was the first day of surgery, after evaluations and scheduling yesterday. 7 surgeries were done today, with ages of patients ranging in age from 7 months to 15 years. Everything went well. Six stayed overnight because of the distance from home. Four of these all came together in one truck, and these four were…
Read MoreWe arose early this morning and started out to Quetzaltenango (Xela) about 7:30. It was a long, slow bus ride. We initially fought rush hour traffic, and discovered just how close two vehicles can actually get without pulling off a rear view mirror. Our trip went along the Pan American Highway, or Central American One.…
Read MoreGreetings, it is about 11:00 p.m., and the team has arrived at the hotel in Guatemala City. All of our connections went well, there is a wonderful spirit with the group, and we begin another day tomorrow very early. We have about a 5 hour bus ride to Xela tomorrow, and then the work begins.…
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