Medical Missions in the Jungle of Guatemala

This month we had the opportunity to do medical missions for two days. I’d talked to my host at the start of the month and relayed to her that I’m a Physician Assistant. She then set it up so that we could help with a medical mission team that was coming at the end of our stay. This wasn’t in our original plan so it was super kind of her. So, for our last two days of ministry, we went out into the jungle to help with the medical mission. I was nervous but excited to be using my medical skills. I hadn’t ever done a medical mission trip prior (surprising I know) so I wasn’t sure how it worked or what to expect. It ended up that the medical personnel that were supposed to come canceled so there were just two Texan couples coming. They were also doing their own mission with teaching high schoolers in the villages and that was their primary agenda.

So, the first day we sat through a high school class and then the local Guatemalan lady pulled me aside and asked in Spanish if I could start the clinic because the villagers were getting antsy waiting outside the class and some were threatening to leave. I definitely wasn’t in charge and was clueless. And our bilingual leader was translating the class but he ended up going over to help start the clinic and I was left to be the translator (talk about being put on the spot but the students gave me grace). A little bit later, we switched and I went over to the makeshift clinic. It was set up in two rooms and our teammate (previous EMT) Kelly instructed our other teammates on taking blood pressure and they managed the vitals. Through trial and error and some instruction from the Texans, we set it up efficiently so that I was the go-between and I interviewed them in Spanish after they had vitals done and then would send them to the appropriate stations for the medical treatment they needed. We had people manning each station and they instructed the patients on what meds to take and how in Spanish. It was overwhelming with the long line of patients but we all worked together as a team to get it done.

The main complaints were headache, stomachache, vision problems, intestinal worms, requesting vitamins, bone/body pain, fever, and colds. We had medicines that the Texans had carried from the US. We only had basic medicines and didn’t get antiparasitics til the next day. The people drink the local water and so they almost perpetually have intestinal worms. So that was a common complaint. There were lots of children and young adults and a few older adults and they all were so grateful.

The second day, the other couples were busy running the high school ministry so our team of 7, who’d only just learned how to run a medical mission the day before, ran the clinic by ourselves. It was rewarding and fun and our host even brought us lunch that his wife had cooked. We felt accomplished and privileged to help give medical care to these remote villages. We traveled to the first village by boat and the second by truck (some of us in the truck bed) on bumpy roads in the jungle. It’s crazy how these people don’t have access to basic meds like Tylenol, vitamins, and Motrin!

Overall, our team thoroughly enjoyed the medical mission and it was most of our first times doing one and a nice change-up from typical ministry on the Race. You don’t need a medical background to participate but it was rewarding to be using my medical degree on an essentially non-medical mission trip. After a month of manual labor, it was nice to feel like I was really needed and get to do something I was skilled in.

It leaves me with a taste for more. I don’t know my plans for after the Race exactly, but I do want to likely do short or long-term medical missions. I want to use the education and background I have for the good of the Kingdom in whatever way the Lord deems. So, thank you my host Gail for advocating for me to make this happen. Thank you my other host Jungle Jerry for guiding us and having confidence in me that I could oversee the clinic. Thank you our forever friends Pamela and Sheldon for figuring it out alongside us. Thank you my amazing teammates for just stepping up and doing the thing! And thank you Lord for this cherry-on-top experience at the end of our amazing month in the jungle of Guatemala.