Friends and Family!
This Saturday I will leave for Guatemala city with the Ophthamologists. Times on the road are still very difficult due to continued rains and landslides, bridges out. I will stay in city for rest, errands and to visit a few friends before I leave on vacation on TUESDAY; I am off to New York and to Ireland. I am excited and happy to travel. I have all my first cousins in the EMERALD ISLE so it will be fun. I also will visit with Irish and English former missionaries and visit also CSJP in Rearsby, England. I am an associate of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace, CSJP, and prior there was an English Province; now we are one Congregation. On return I will go to New Jersey and to the CSJP assembly in October. Visit our CSJP web site to know a little of that part of my life and committment. I am bringing some Guatemalan crafts to sell at the assembly and I hope also to visit the Irish Catholic Relief to look for support for our clinic.
Emergencies and surgeries for the POOR are an necessary expense for the clinic. We all have the same human rights and dignity as human beings. As an American I have always enjoyed excellent health care. It is impossible at times to send a child to the government hospital, when it is a matter of life and death. Yesterday, a two month old infant, who has been to consult here with a hernia, arrived with the hernia strangulated. We had anticipated that this infant would have surgery at the Minnesota mission in their surgeries by volunteer american surgeons in October. Now it was an emergency. We knew it was high risk to send this baby to the national hospital; the availability of Pediatric anesthesiologist is rare. His surgery is less than one thousand dollars. The surgery was performed last night in a private hospital. His dad is an unemployed construction worker. The mission has much work in maintenance that is pending so the clinic contracted the father to work in the clinic maintenance and he will pay this debt gradually by work. Last week we also paid the surgery of an 80 year old woman who needed urgently the intervention of a urologist. We have also asked the son to do garden work at the mission to pay some of this debt to the clinic. Last nite a family arrived at my door. Their 13 year old son fell carrying fire wood. He is in the government hospital with a fractured thigh and the family has to pay for the orthopedic pin and a special powder needed for healing of the bone. Again the cost is over one thousand dollars and this is in the government hospital where one expects the care to be free for the POOR, but not reality. Our Doctor Ever works tonite at the government hospital and he will investigate this need and see how we can help this poor family with this health crisis.
We are grateful to friends who make occassional contributions to help our budget. Many of the eye surgeries are done without cost. Others do pay less than one hundred dollars for Cataract surgery, so there is a little extra income to the clinic this week. Most of all thank you for your prayers and accompaniement to the Mayan people of Guatemala. We are all GOD´s CHILDREN!!!
Enclosed photo of Manuela, 80 year old patient with her daughter, at clinic for check up. Also a photo of infant Diego, post op emergency hernia operation, being examined by Ever, our clinic doctor as his mom looks on.
You can donate to help our patients of the Clinica Maxeña at web page
www.helenadiocese.org Note it is for the Clinic
Thank You! and blessings from GUATEMALA.
