These past few weeks have been packed with all sorts of new experiences, and I am finally learning my way around and learning about the type of work that goes on with Hope Haven (Refugio de Esperanza). It is truly an incredible place for so many reasons. (Photos below)
Hope Haven is a factory (and a ministry) that assembles wheelchairs for children, teenagers, and some adults with disabilities or special needs. It also gives out crutches, walkers, and canes for the blind. Wheelchairs are not accessible to the Guatemalan people as they are in the US, and so if families have members that are in need of one, they must apply to receive one (for example, they will apply to Hope Haven). In order for Hope Haven to be able to distribute chairs, each chair must be sponsored financially and paid for. The need for wheelchairs is huge; sometimes families are still carrying older children around, and lifting teenagers from one place to the next. Once they are approved to receive a chair, a distribution is done in that area. Each distribution takes a day of 10-15 people. Each person is fitted specifically to the chair based on his or her needs. It may take 30 minutes to fit a person, or it could take up to 4 hours! It is also the opportunity to talk with the families about ways to improve the lives of their children; independence is always something to be encouraged.
Last week I spent time in the factory learning how to do all of this! The people that work there are experts and are amazing people. All of them, too, use wheelchairs. I was involved in my first distribution last week and am always learning more! This past week has been spent with a small team of OT and PT students from the University of South Dakota. We spent Sunday through Wednesday in a town called Santiago on Lake Atitlan. We started off the week with two days of distributions, along with a small health check done by two medical students. Many of these families were from very Indigenous Mayan communities; some had traveled 3 hours to get there. There are many languages and dialects spoken among those villages, so we were also using some translators to translate from English to Spanish, and then into their Native languages! For some of the children, it was the first wheelchair they had ever had. It was one of the most special experiences I have ever had, to be a part of that process and to see them leave with a new freedom. (Some of the children are able to use their hands and get themselves around in the chairs). On Wednesday morning, we spent time in a home for the elderly. We spent time washing and cleaning their feet; another special experience. To hear some of their stories was a time I will not forget.
We got back to Antigua late Wednesday evening, and had a distribution at the factory yesterday and today. I will also begin working with a friend of mine named Lisa at a large ministry here in Antigua that is called Hermano Pedro. It consists of 5 “homes”, one of them being an orphanage for children with special needs. We visited there last week, and were overwhelmed by a large outside yard area filled with around 60 children. We are hoping to visit there at least a couple times each week to assist the nurses with feeding, general care, and to simply be able to love on these children.
That is a general summary of the work that is going on here! I have a wonderful sense of joy and peace in these ministries, the opportunity to serve the Lord and the Guatemalan people is great. I am once again reminded how blessed my life is, and that God does care for each one of His children. I thank you all for giving me the chance to be here!
The families waiting for fittings to begin and receiving information.
A wheelchair being fitted for a 21 year old named Oscar. He was very intelligent and his brother told us that he beats him while playing Nintendo!
A bus picked up these families from a remote village. They have no other way of transportation, they put the wheelchairs on the top of the van. You can see the children on their backs; that is most times how small children are carried from one place to the next.
A 14 year old named Diego who received a new cane.
A boy named Ellie who recieved a chair after a team had noticed that he needed one when working on houses in his community.
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