Recently, we had the opportunity to partner with ASELSI and Principe de Paz, a local church outside of Chichicastenango led by Pastor Miguel Angel, to serve on a medical mission team to a community on the coast. Pastor Miguel Angel and his church have been going to this community for the last four years. Since then he’s prayed for the opportunity to take a medical team. Now, he was seeing his prayers answered. 

Leaving at 4:30 am, we didn’t know what to expect other than we had about a four-hour drive ahead with a few stops for breakfast and other things along the way. One of the first things we noticed was the heat. Unlike the cool mountains of Chichicastenango, we were now in the heat and tropical environment of the coast and all that brings (read insects for one thing).

The community of El Esfuerzo is considered a lost community by some. At the end of the road, the community is surrounded by several different types of farms. Some of the farms grow coffee, others different plants, and one grows the maraca flowers to be shipped to the U.S. Until Pastor Miguel and his church helped a local church grow and reach out to those in their community, sexual abuse of girls was rampant. A 3-liter bottle of Pepsi would keep everyone quiet. There are no stores in the community, and the nearest local town is a good hour or more walk away.

We had a great two days seeing patients, attending church, and getting to know more about the people in this area. I loved watching Ceci, a former therapy worker at ASELSI and now a full-time nurse, lead a song in the church service and hearing Dr. Gaby preach. I saw the need for therapy through the variety of adult and pediatric patients we were able to see, eleven in total. It wasn’t as many as the 200 patients that were seen by the clinic, but it was a good number for a short trip.

Arriving at the road to enter the community, we were met by members of the church with machetes. They were our protection for the twenty-minute ride into the community and our time there. Pastor Miguel Angel has promised the community he’ll keep coming back, but if there is ever a problem by anyone from the community with those he brings, the community knows he won’t return.

As Shesita and I waited for patients, we talked about the possibilities of training rehabilitation promoters here. Would this be someplace we would come back to train? Or, I thought, would those we’ve trained come back and train others here? Time will tell. In the meantime, we will wait and see.

P.S. Don’t miss next week’s blog as Shesita shares what she learned on this trip.