Volunteer service in Guatemala has deep impact on DWC provider |
Issue 13 Aug 2011 |
Bryan VanMeter, PA-C, works with Docs Who Care predominantly in Western Kansas. In June 2011, he served with Heart to Heart International in the Solala region of Guatemala, Central America. Guatemala is home to 14 million people and is ranked as the poorest country in Central America. Here is Bryan’s account of his trip:
Approximately two years ago, several MidAmerica Nazarene University students were serving with Heart to Heart International’s Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Initiative (WASH) in the Solala region when it became apparent that besides the need for safe drinking water and proper sanitation/sewage needs, there was no access to basic dental/ health care in the mountainous communities. This basic need motivated the students at one small Christian college in Olathe, Kansas, to raise almost $60,000 to fund the materials to build a community center, medical/dental/obstetric clinic and housing for the locum doctors and volunteers in Patanatic. This monumental accomplishment has been the direct result of a joint effort between Heart to Heart International, Rotary International, Engineers Without Borders, and MidAmerica Nazarene University.
Our particular mission involved waking up around 6:30 a.m. and meeting for a team breakfast in the hotel in Panahachel. We were then transported to a different small community each morning where we traveled door to door (accompanied by translators as well as 6th grade student volunteers) evaluating the maintenance and cleanliness of previously installed water filtration systems. We also evaluated every home’s bathroom facilities, or lack thereof, and determined if they had a cook stove and whether it was adequately vented to the outside.
Most days we engaged the 3rd-6th grade students in a game of “futboll.” Needless to say, our limited experience playing soccer didn’t fare well against these youth; I blamed our lack of success on physical exhaustion from traversing the mountainous terrain all morning.
Afternoons were spent preparing the medical clinic for its opening which occurred the week after I left. The first floor community center and the second floor medical clinic were completed and ready to start serving the community. The third floor (which will eventually house volunteers and locum doctors) is slowly being completed as additional funding arrives.
My mission also involved providing medical care when needed, as I was the only practitioner present during my stay, working with 2 RN’s and a Med Tech. I traveled daily with a well-packed medical kit that I brought with me which included a Sa02 monitor, stethoscope, BP cuff, glucometer, a multitude of essential medications, suturing/bandaging supplies, and an I-STAT machine that had been donated to the new clinic. We experienced a variety of medical conditions, most of which are common in the United States. However, we saw a significant amount of Diabetes Mellitus (very common among the Mayan Population), inflammatory diarrhea, abdominal pain, scabies, and dental problems.
I went to Guatemala with a mission to help others but left feeling that my life and daily practice as a Physician Assistant had benefited far more than those I served. I was physically exhausted and suffered from severe nausea/vomiting/diarrhea within 2 hours of landing back in Kansas City. In spite of all this, it was one of the best weeks of my life.
Most of what I learned wasn’t the direct result of practicing medicine; it was from working alongside six amazing Christian students from MidAmerica Nazarene University and seeing the happiness and faith exhibited by the Guatemalan people in spite of their significant poverty. I am already making plans to return to serve in Guatemala with Heart to Heart International in October.
Bryan VanMeter, PA-C
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