Antigua 2015, Sunday, June 21
The Medical Missions Foundation team of 68 volunteers arrived at Las Obras Hospital bright and early on Father’s Day morning to get ready for our mission. We were welcomed by the new director, Father Carlos Portillo, as well as Odra, the OR director, and Anabella, their secretary. We arrived on the last day of Las Obras’ 34th anniversary celebration. In addition to commemorating three and a half decades of care, the staff is also excited about their new facility, Virgen Socorro Hogar de Niños y Adultos Especiales. They anticipate opening and serving even more patients from Guatemala and Central America by the end of the year. Las Obras is the home of 350 patients — adults, adolescents, women, children and infants. Many of their residents have lived here their entire lives. Often times, patients have been brought to the hospital by their family and left, or they no longer have a family.
As patients wait to be seen in the clinic, the Art Team is busy entertaining children, young adults, and their parents. Making jewelry and accessories seems to be the most popular activity today, but we have been drawing, doing puzzles, taking polaroid pictures, playing cards and battling the niños for Connect Four bragging rights. It was so gratifying to see our team making special connections with the families today.
The Antigua team has ENT, General Surgery, Audiology and Urology clinics today. Urology anticipates seeing 60 patients, ENT 130 patients, and General Surgery hopes to see 40 patients. Audiology plans to meet 20 patients today, and approximately 30 more during the week. There are four medical students from University of Kansas and several pre-med students as well, many of whom helped with the arts and crafts. We are all looking forward to serving the gracious citizens of Guatemala.
Use this link to view a video of the anniversary celebration at Las Obras: https://youtu.be/s3smkSz4VmE
Use this link to watch a video made by the Las Obras to Happy by Pharell: https://vimeo.com/98771773
