This was a super productive week for me at Hospitalito. I have been outside of the bodega for over a week now! I have mostly wrapped up three small projects I have been working on for the nursing staff. The first, a pocket-sized emergency medication reference guide in Spanish intended to help nurses have quick access to information regarding rescue medications/advanced cardiac life support medications. These are medications administered by nurses but used very infrequently. The information is useful even to the medical providers. Because Hospitalito is the only 24-hour emergency room within three hours for some Guatemalans, it is not uncommon to see patients in grave danger. However, the frequency is still quite low. The second project is a similarly inspired medication reference manual in Spanish. It now resides within the box of all “emergency drugs” and delineates each drug, their intended uses, normal dosages, and what to monitor patients for after giving a particular medication. Lastly, because February is Heart Month (American Heart Association) and my own nursing speciality, I created a power point presentation on cardiovascular health and heart attacks.

         I spent an additional six hours at Hospitalito on Saturday. A group of 15 volunteers – all from the US who here in Guatemala for six months with an organization for future health care professionals – assisted with miscellaneous housekeeping chores. I worked with half of the group in the bodega. They proved to be a huge help cleaning and moving nearly half of the shelving units and supplies into the new bodega. It was an exhausting and dirty day but looking back very satisfying to see how much we accomplished for the hospital. The majority of supplies have been sitting on their respective shelves collecting dust for who knows how long? It was also satisfying knowing more Spanish than the majority of the group and serving as a facilitator to Antonio, who is in charge of the Bodega. 

being present

Aside from feeling what has been missing from being here, so far this volunteer at Hospitalito has been a great cultural experience. The entire team of medical providers, medical students, and nurses seem super happy to have me around. As news spreads quickly around here, everyone when they meet me say’s, “so you’re the ICU nurse”.  They all understand they have the opportunity to learn from the experience that I have. I also find it interesting how the hospital as a system works. It is surprising how political a small charitable hospital can be, and how personalities and cultural differences integrate. Fortunately everyone seems to get a long very well. However, things seem to take a bit longer to get done than you might expect. Being here and having the time to visit has allowed me to realize I have a lot to learn from everyone who is here. Weather people are here for three weeks, three months, or approaching their three-year mark, everyone here is so welcoming. The entire local staff members included. All are super patient and willing to speak with you in Spanish, teach you T’zutujil (native Mayan language), or perfect their own broken English. 

Day Laborer

Thus far volunteering has been far less spectacular than I had previously envisioned. Compared to the internship I had during nursing school, this experience has been far less hands on. As side from caring for patients and working directly with the local staff, the hospital still has many needs and have happily placed my under the direct supervision of Antonio, the supply guy. He heads “the bodega”, or the central supply center for the hospital. Currently, every last supply including shelving units are being moved to their new home inside the new hospital’s second floor. At the end of the day I am covered in years worth of dust and will forever appreciate the “behind the scene” aspect of the hospital. So often I know I take for granted the amount of work needed to keep an entire hospital organized and stocked with supplies.

The mindless but tedious job for a neat freak is rather meditative. I have half the day to practice aloud my new lessons learned in Spanish class the day before, steam All Things Considered” or “Morning Edition” or rock out to my music. Also, with the supplies neatly stacked and labeled, I have something to show for my donated time and energies.

Roasting coffee

         Hand-pick, organic-grown coffee. Dried and 
        husked and ready for roasting.

Roasting beans using the traditional method - the same way ancient Mayan's did eons before. No better way to appreciate your daily dose of Starbucks or Stumptown. OMG a Stumptown soy latte sounds sooo good right now. 

BAM! DRINK UP. 

Hospitalito Atitlan

Learn more about Hospitalito and this amazing organization I am now proud to be apart of. Check out their website http://www.hospitalitoatitlan.org/ and follow there active blog http://blog.hospitalitoatitlan.org/

The new "Bodega" aka central supply. This room was empty when I arrived last week. I love working on a project from scratch. You can always look back to see how much progress has been made. I am still awaiting approval from the medical director to work directly with the local and other international nurses. Until then, I'm good to lift a few boxes. 

                     A snapshot from the front stoop of Hospitalito Atitlan. 

It's the weekend!

Leaving Casa Colina (which you can barely see tucked behind the trees) for the last time. I left in a frenzy and scrambled to take this picture fleeing towards Santiago in a public "lancha".

Mom hard at work. We spent all day Saturday together enjoying the the sun, the lake and each other with a little help from Don Julio and Jalapeño margaritas in glasses rimmed with a mix of salt, sugar, and ground coffee. So tasty!

Dad hard at work either checking the market, checking scores and lately checking his INR results. 

Soy voluntario.

Surprisingly I am surviving the withdrawal from my San Juan Salsa Co. tortilla chip and salsa addiction without to terrible side affects. It’s almost like I’ve quit cold turkey except for the fact that my diet still comprises of a few corn tortillas a weeks. Imagine a typical corn tortilla, only smaller and thicker. Definitely blander BUT everywhere you go in Santiago and the surrounding Atitlan region women are clapping and pumping out thousands if NOT millions of fresh tortillas during all waking hours. The two other most common foods in the region are deep fried chicken and French fries prepared on a cart in the street. After two weeks straight of fried chicken every day, if not multiple times in one day, I am discovering a diet a local fruits and veggies is most satisfying of all – leaving little to be desired beyond occasionally finding myself daydreaming about San Juan Salsa Co..

What’s has been most unusual about this week has been waking up – wide awake – every morning just before 7 a.m. Sometimes it’s the pleasantries of sparrow’s song, a falling avocado on my roof or a faintly distant passenger boat engines roar. Other times it’s a pack of what sounds like 15 dogs barking incessantly. No me gusta. I get the feeling they have terrible owners for every other stray and cachetic dog wondering aimlessly around town is fearful of their own tail. None the less, its feels great to spring to life every morning ambitious and well rested.

Each day I start my day of Volunteering at Hospitalito Atitlan. I have been working with Tono aka Antonio in the hospital’s supply bodega. The hospital is still slowly transitioning into their new space after its construction completion December 2010. My daily tasks have involved physically moving ever shelving unit and piece of medical supply acquired through donations into its new 2^nd floor location.