After a long three years, the Iowa MOST team is excited to be back in Huehuetenango! This year’s trip has met many last minute challenges but as they say, “where there is a will there’s a way.”
An advance team arrived a few days early to help make sure all arrangements were in place. They also worked with a local Rotarian to coordinate a new location for Screening Day in a government building near the Hospital Especialdades which was a wonderful location for the team and for the families. Rotarian David Ramos catered lunch for the patients and families and volunteers, local Rotarians helped all day with translation and patient advocacy and wherever they were needed.
We arrived in the morning to find many patients and families already waiting. We screened 63 individuals so it was a very busy and long day – but filled with joy at rekindling so many friendships and forming new ones.
Each child receives a lovey and a bracelet or necklace. Many kids have a sibling with them and the siblings receive the same welcome. This helps the patient advocate assigned to each child form a connection which builds as they spend time going to each of the medical teams for screening. Screening includes checking vitals, visiting with the surgical team, being checked by the otolaryngologist for possible needs such as tubes (a common need for children with cleft lip and/or palate), meeting with the anesthesia team, having a dental exam, and then a pediatric check-up.
The kids and their families are amazingly patient throughout the process. Having a beautiful outdoor space to wait was especially nice and as the day went by, many of the kids relaxed and started to play and enjoy themselves during the process.
As the final screening wound down, the schedule for the week was put together so that any child who was screened who could be helped by the Iowa MOST team is able to receive that help – whether it is getting tubes put in, dental extraction, a custom obturator made, or a cleft lip or cleft palate surgery.
Housing arrangements were made for families who do not live locally and so as the screening day ended, they were provided with transport to their accommodations where a special concert and dinner awaited them. More about that soon!
The Iowa MOST team is so delighted to be back at work again. Every year we are amazed by the tremendous volunteers – in the U.S. and in Guatemala – who all come together to make a difference in the lives of children. We look forward to sharing more about the 2023 mission!
