Wonderful work in Guatemala

Today was a very full day, and very inspiring!  First we visited Westmont Bethel Hospital here in Guatemala City.  Our hosts, the Hernandez family, have basically created this hospital out of nothing, and it is very impressive.  A four story building, which they built, this hospital has an emergency room, x-rays, ultrasounds, examination rooms, surgical rooms, post-op rooms, a nursery for newborns - in short it is a full-blown hospital that serves the poor here in Guatemala City.  About 40% of its expenses are paid for by people paying for their services here, and about 60% are paid for by donations, mainly from people and groups from the states.  A high percentage of their clients are indigenous people, who are on the lowest rung of society here, and face a lot of discrimination.  There is no health insurance here, and if you cannot pay, you simply go without medical care.  So this hospital is doing a wonderful work, and seeing 1000 patients a month!  The eldest of the Hernandez family are Salomon and Mery, who Jenni and I know, and who do a lot of fundraising with people in the States.  Their son, Danny, is one of the 5 doctors on staff at the hospital.  Their daughter, Shelly, who we are staying with, is the head administrator on the personnel side.  It is amazing how this vision has sprouted and grown over 20 years!  It is inspiring for our group to see people dedicate their lives to helping the poor, and provide an opportunity for those who have a lot in terms of resources to be able to give back.

After touring the hospital, talking with patients, and seeing a newborn baby, it was off to Antigua.  Antigua is a beautiful old colonial city surrounded by hills and volcanoes, and it has lots of language schools and tourists!  But, it is so beautiful and charming - it is easy to see why people love to come and visit!  The three girls in our group absolutely loved shopping there!  It was hard to pull them away!  They felt they could stay there for a lot longer!

For dinner, we returned to Guatemala City for dinner with Rob Cahill, who works with the indigenous Mayan people as well near a city called Coban.  Rob and his wife Tara are doing some amazing work in educating girls.  Many indigenous girls are married by 14 or 15, and then become pregnant soon after.  Rob and Tara are working with @150 young girls, teaching them life skills, and providing scholarships for their schooling.  Many girls stop going to school because of the prohibitive cost, which is around $100 a year.  Rob and Tara are also building a fruit and coffee plant, which will bring food from indigenous farmers directly to consumers here in the US and elsewhere.  They are doing awe-inspiring holistic work with the poorest of the poor by giving them opportunities educationally, economically, and socially.  Our group was so impressed by them.  They are the ones with the bird-watching program and the Cloud Forest, which we unfortunately cannot visit because the road is washed out and we simply don´t have the time to go all the way around to see their wonderful work.  Next time, the group says, we need to go there for a week!

Now we are back home in Guatemala City.  We are worn out, but full of inspiration and potentiality as we see what good-hearted people are accomplishing around the world!