The Clinic Arrives - Providing Services - Journal by Vivianne Rotondo

January 31: Rita Redner reports: The Mobile Medical Clinic arrived in Guatemala on Tuesday Jan 29. Regan, Paul and Luis were met by José Yac at the border, el Carmen. It took them 10 hours to get through the Guatemalan border and pay taxes and duty on the Mobile Clinic and goods (everything on the bus made it through). The Mobile Clinic is now securely parked in Cantel and will be unpacked when we get to Guatemala in a couple of days!

From left Paul Haunarey, Grizelda Gonzalez, José Yac of CEDEC at the border with a young CEDEC employee.

February 5: The GSP Volunteer group travelled to Cantel to unpack the donations and supplies that had been sent off with the bus on the journey to its new southern home. Most items travelled well and there was only some minor damage from the rugged roads in Mexico and Guatemala.The medical supplies will be repacked at a later date by Vivienne Rotondo, Dr Lyall Black, and Juli Heney, our "medical team" volunteers.

	GSP Volunteers unpacking supplies in Cantel
	Paul Hauraney drives the bus to its first clinic day in San Francisco El Alto. Volunteer mason Jeff Guillmette provides back-up.

On February 8th, 2008 the Guatemala Stove Project's Mobile Medical Clinic arrived to see patients for the first time in the Community of San Francisco el Alto. Paul Hauraney drove the bus from Cantel, through Cuatro Caminos, then up the mountain (3,400m above sea level) to San Francisco El Alto where our volunteers had already built over 30 new stoves in the previous few days. The Mobile Clinic was handed over the week before to Jose Yac, director of CEDEC, who was very pleased to receive it on behalf of the medical teams and their indigenous patients.

	Tom Clarke, José Yac and Dr Andrea discuss the use of the Mobile Medical Clinic
	The GSP Mobile Medical Clinic arrives in the mountain town of Rancho de Teja, north of the city of Quetzeltenango
	The Mobile Clinic drives down the dusty roads of Rancho de Teja past a local man carrying a load of cornstalks
	GSP Volunteers - Dr Lyall Black, Dr. Andrea Vital, two CEDEC health workers, Juli Heney and Vivienne Rotondo
	GSP volunteers prepare the steps for patients to enter the examining room of the Mobile Medical Clinic. Line-ups for appointments start as soon as the bus arrives.

On Friday, February 8th, I spent the day on the Mobile Medical Clinic with Dr. Andrea Vital and Dr. Lyall Black in the village of San Francisco el Alto. Felisa Utuy Alvarez spent the day with us interpreting from the Kiche Maya language into Spanish. She had her happy 7 month old boy, Sergio with her. When I commented on his disposition, Dr Vital replied that he was happy because he was healthy. Unlike this bubbly infant, many children are under-nourished, their sad eyes and listlessness telling of their hardships. Approximately 60 villagers visited the bus presenting with a variety of health problems, most of them directly related to extreme poverty and poor living conditions.

	Felisa Utuy Alvarez provides translation services from Kiche to Spanish
	A woman carrying a heavy load of wood for cooking fuel walks past Clinic Lineups
	Cuban trained Doctor Andrea Vital with local children and their "Izzy dolls"
	Curious children take a peek at the visiting "Gringas"

"Izzy Dolls " were given out to all young patients on the Clinic. Over 500 of these dolls were donated by women from the Perth and Smiths Falls area.

Scabies were extremely common – the worst case, a 2 month old boy whose chest and back were covered with scabies. Not only did this baby have scabies, they were infected. The clinic could only treat the infection as the scabies treatment was not available. GSP provided some funds and the scabies treatments was purchased and arrived in the afternoon. Sore backs and shoulders, headaches, stiff necks and arthritis are very common among adult men and women, again related to the hardships of daily life. Women carry babies and children on their backs, most of the day as they work. Both men and women carry loads that are unbelievably heavy. Think of carrying a third of a face cord of wood on your back.

Patients presenting with swollen abdomens and diarrhea were treated for parasites, an on-going problem. A 30 year old female epileptic visiting the clinic was returning for follow-up of an extensive facial burn. Drugs to control her epilepsy were not available to her and she’d fallen into a fire during a seizure. The wound was healing well considering the limited resources available to Dr. Vital.

Respiratory problems continue to be a major issue. Many still do not have stoves and continue to cook on open fires in their homes. The environment is extremely dusty; most homes have dirt floors and the dust stirred up from the fields and roads is continuous.

It became clear as the day progressed how difficult life is in the village of San Francisco el Alto. Still these people complain little and are always very polite and grateful.

	Dr Vital cleanses an infected wound
	A child's foot with infected scabies
	A case of scabies in a small child
	A man works to clear a field for replanting - a never-ending, back-breaking job