The first song to play on my iPod today: "For Good" from Wicked.

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good"

Truer words could not exist for my final reflections of this trip. Although the cultural experience did not exist in Guatemala like it did in Rwanda, I am certain that a few people on this trip were meant to be in my life and change me for the better. I am feeling sad to leave but excited for my experience, inspired to move forward and work with more developing countries, lucky to have found such amazing souls and committed to my passions.

I am incredibly proud of the work we were able to accomplish to these hospitals in only 3 weeks. The San Juan de Dios team repaired 17 pieces of equipment of the 24 total we attempted. That's about 70%!! This includes anesthesia machines, an infant warmer, ESUs and other imprint machines. Rewarding.

All I have left to say is... Don't worry, this is not my last trip with EWH or traveling to a developing country. I love it! See you in Nepal, friends.

Trust: (n) 
    1. belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc. 
    2. assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or trust of someone or           something
    3. dependance on something future or contingent 

A common theme seen in countries where corruption exists is a lack of trust.  I have been told that this dates because to the Spanish Inquisition for Guatemalans and have never had a real sense of trust since.  It can be seen almost everywhere here in Guatemala.  When shopping for equipment or parts in a store, there are 3 stations: the first is where you can order/ choose what you will be buying, the second is where you pay and the third is where you receive the items.  This may not seem extensive on paper, but this process takes a very long time because the exchange of the goods from one person to another requires an inventory to be taken.  Imagine purchasing 30 small screws at a time... All because there is not trust!

Gaining the trust of the technicians and then the doctors and nurses is absolutely the hardest part of this type of work., and for semi good reason.  Why should these people trust and believe us?  After all, aren't we just a bunch of Americans barging into the technical department of a hospital demanding medical equipment to repair?  Some of the time they are not even fully informed about who are are and what we are there to do! 

San Juan de Dios actually has a really great system of signing out the equipment to the maintenance department... the problem is the doctors do not trust the department enough to even send it down!  There is a story from Roosevelt Hospital about a doctor who signed out and sent many pieces of equipment down to maintenance and never received it back.  When the doctor went to retire, the hospital informed him that he owed for all of the missing equipment which he had seen down YEARS earlier.  I have also observed a lot of uncertainty about the actual capabilities of the maintenance department that I cannot speak to because I am not sure they actually know themselves.  This is the type of need that is not as obvious at a first glance but is so very, very important for success.  I hope that our group is able to pave the way a little bit and create an element of trust between the hospital workers and the maintenance team.  

We had some REALLY great progress in the hospital on equipment this past week thanks to Joe Leir! He is from Canada but has been living in Guatemala for many years with his family.  He started his love for repairing things at a very young age and has all the knowledge and experience to back it up!  I was able to correctly diagnose the problem of the infant warmer as a faulty capacitor which was detected because it was no longer flat on top but a little rounded.  This typically means that it had been blown and will no longer function properly.  Then we cleaned it up really nicely, mostly dirty from all of the pollution in Guatemala City, replaced the light on top and installed new accessories such as a mattress and sides to keep the infant on the table.  Another repair was the last ESU.  The problem was a bug in the machine... no really, a cockroach crawled into the machine and fried to a crisp, requiring all 4 power transistors to be replaced and a few fuses in the process.  This was also interesting because it required the switch in the back to be rewired but was not as easy as it sounds due to the need for a filter to prevent the large voltages from the machine going back into the wall.  Another big fix was a defibrillator which only consisted of swapping out a battery... but how helpful and how fun to play with (hehehe)!!

On Friday, Laura and I made our way through hospital and were able to observe a surgery right in the room with them!! There are no observation decks in these hospitals.  It was very cool and made me realize just how awesome these trips can be in terms of learning in ways that would never be allowed in the USA.  

This weekend we traveled to Monterrico Beach to see the black sand, get flipped over by the waves of the Pacific Ocean and attempt to do some relaxing.  It was SO hot there (not to complain or anything...) and I absolutely burnt the bottoms of my feet on the sand.  The ocean was completely insane and flipped me all over the place.  We woke up for 5 am on Sunday to do a boat ride through the mangroves to watch the sunrise and the animals wake up.  Total serenity.  I like to think of it as Guatemala's version of a gondolier.  Also, our amount of physical activity from last weekend to this weekend only decreased by about 100%!! 

Only one week lefftttttt don't make me leaveee !!
xox

The last three days in Guatemala have been exciting, inspiring and productive! Saturday morning we woke up bright and early for a downhill mountain bike ride through the mountains for 4 hours.  It was just as intense and scary as it sounds--you should see the bruises all over my legs. The worst part was riding back to Antigua over the cobblestone uphill for about an hour.  BUT it was an awesome time and I am so glad I was able to be pushed outside of my comfort zone by some really great people.  We had a bit if time to run to Rony's Taco's on the corner by our home stay for the best 9 tacos for 35 Quetzales (~$5) I'll ever eat.  Then we were off to hike Volcan de Pacaya! Pacaya erupted violently in 1965 and has been active (not technically an eruption) daily ever since.  It took about an hour and a half to get to the top where we spent some time taking photos before heading down into a crater to roast marshmallows on the rocks still hot from the most recent eruption's lava.  The sun was setting over 3 other volcanoes as we were making our way back down... what a dream! Yet again, hiking is something I have never done before but will ABSOLUTELY try again. Also, I have never been so dirty in my life. All clean now :)

Sunday we planned a trip to Lago de Atitlan but I was just not really feeling doing anything touristy.  One of the girls on the trip, Laura, had some connections to an orphanage to a neighboring town near the lake and was visiting on Sunday.  A group of 6 of us decided to go with her and I think it was one of the best decisions of my life.  This orphanage was absolutely phenomenal! The woman we met, Dawn, is only 23 years old and yet has already established an amazing life in Guatemala working (and living) with abused teenage girls and their babies.  Dawn started in Guatemala working at the orphanage across the street that currently houses 30 young children, a young couple and their 3 biological children.  Dawn lives across the street with her biological parents, her 3 kids and 3 or 4 young teenage girls with their babies.  Dawn operates under the the organization established by the other couple's parents many years ago.  She is currently trying to expand by purchasing land, building a home and taking in more children.  I was so inspired by her happy-go-lucky demeanor and willpower to be so influential at the age of 23.  There is so much more to say about this day that I cannot put into words that will mean even half of what I am feeling.  Love is all you need. Thank you Laura for the amazing experience!!! But not for the most insane boat ride of my life... 

Today at the hospital was quite successful in my opinion. I was able to help (first blow a couple fuses) repair a photo machine for the Gynecology ward by replacing the broken switch that was NOT easy to get to.  We were also able to return a fully functional ESU to the floor and make some advancements on the other 2. We will get them back into use soon!! The centrifuge we are working on seems to need a bit more attention until we can fully diagnose a problem.  

Then we started working on an infant warmer that looks so so bad and is so dusty it smells like it is burning when we turn it on.. yikes! I will post before and after pictures tomorrow after we get it all cleaned up.  The problem seems to be with the temperature probe of the heater.  We came to this conclusion because an alarm keeps sounding when the skin probe reads a temperature increasing too fast even though it is not yet at baby cooking temperature of 40 degree C (haha).  I am very excited about this one! I love to be a part of diagnosing the problems.  One of the boys on the team and I did some snooping around and found a lot of other equipment in the hallways that is probably not of use and needs to be repaired.  We will have plenty of work these next 2 weeks!

Shout out to my dad (Joe D) for giving me some inspiration and reminding me why I do what I do--to love life. 


xox

Now that I am in the airport waiting for my flight, I finally have some time to write about this trip! I will be traveling to Guatemala for 3 weeks, returning home in mid January. I am an on-the-ground-assistant this trip, which means I am more of an aid/ teacher this time around. I'm excited for the opportunity to work more with people in the hospitals than the equipment!

I am feeling really great about this trip for a few reasons. First of all, inventories have already been completed for some of the hospitals we are staying in. This will totallt cut down on work and give more time to focus on repairing the problem than finding the problem. The second item that made me excited was a penny heads up I found in the suitcase I am taking. Sure sign of good luck. And the third is a quote my grandma sent me that both supports my efforts and makes me want to do more. Sometimes we need a little push, no matter how small, to get us motivated.

I am incredibly excited to do this again. I have steak, Gobbs, strawberries and a grapefruit packed in my bag for good measure. Who's up for round 2?!

XOX