A Whole New World!

H. nano -

H. nano is a very common parasite here. It eventually becomes a tape worm, so we prefer to find it quick and give it a good old dose of Metronidazole. Still works like a charm here.



Whipworm -

Whipworm is usually not found in Xela, but closer to the coast. One particular school had many students infected by this parasite. Most had taken a beach trip about a week or two before we collected their stool samples.



Mystery Parasite -

Zach found this parasite a while ago and had no idea what it was. He even described it in detail to our sister labratory, but they had no idea either. If any of you who are reading this know, please comment!!



Blastocyst hominis - the only pathological amoeba



Cryptosporidium

Some sources say crypto is pathologic and needs treatment whereas others say no. The sources that sat to treat describe a bad, giardia-like diarrhea that crypto can cause. We usually treat if there are a lot of them. Crypto is smaller than the other parasites (only 5um). It's the tiny ball of balls in the center of the slide.


Ascaris

This is one of the parasites we can see with a microsope. The ovum of ascaris is swallowed by someone and then develops into larva in the gut. The larva gets coughed up and then swallowed again. Once back in the guy, the larva turns into the lovely worm blow he microscopic ascaris ovum pic. The worms can perforate the intestines, causing peritonitis, or travel up into the lungs or stomachat which point the patient coughs them out. Aspiration is a major concern...but if we see them in time, the little guys are super easy to treat! Just a round of metronidazole does the trick just fine.

Pasillo de la Clinica

La Biblioteca de la Clinica

El Laboratorio

La Sale de Clase

La Area para Esperar

A Tour of Primeros Pasos

Primeros Pasos

La Farmacia

El Cuarto para Pacientes

La Oficina para Entrar

Oakhurst Wrap-Up III

Ruins

Oakhurst Wrap-Up II

Quick Reflection Moment

Last night during reflection, Emerson, our guide for the week from Cedepco, shared something I would like to always remember. One of the Oakhurst youths was crying in memory of her grandmother who recently passed. I don't often know what to do when people cry. Sometimes I want to hug them, sometimes I want to talk to them or pray with them, sometimes I think it's best to just sit with them and be present. Regardless, I've never felt comfortable around someone crying. Emerson, who seems completely at ease with any emotion, began to tell a story. He said that his friend's uncle one day received a phone call and found out that he was a new grandfather. And so he was overjoyed and crying with happiness. Then, another phone call interrupted his celebration, and he found that his father had just died. He was crushed. His tears were now tears of pain and grief. Emerson concluded the story saying that we must always remember that we all have two hands: one is for receiving and taking, while the other is for giving and letting go. I am very thankful to have received this story.

A Week with Oakhurst's Youth, Wrap-Up

The day after visiting the dump in Guatemala City, we woke up bright and early in order to help serve breakfast to the students at Mi Refugio. In 1987, a woman named Karen Engen opened Mi Refugio, a school for children who work in the dump or whose families work in the dump. Out of all the schools I've seen in Guatemala, this school is the most beautiful. Set against beautiful rolling hills with rich foilage, animals, gardens, and wooden buildings, the school provides the children an opportunity to study outside of the city, away from the dump. When I asked Karen how the school stayed afloat financially, she replied simply, "faith." For its complete 20 years of operation, Mi Refugio has been entirely funded by volunteers.

Catching up on Guatemalan history and art, we were amazed by the many different showings at the Museo Popol Vuh.

A Week with Oakhurst's Youth, Day #3

The Dump in Guatemala City
People Unloading at the Dump

Graves of the Wealthy

Graves of the Poor

At the end of this day, I found myself stuck in a familiar trap of thinking. This trap is a sandpit of doubt and incomprehension regarding the division between the rich and the poor. I know it never does me any good to stay stuck here long, but still I return frequently, especially when I'm traveling and when I'm just observing rather than doing something to help the situation. Part of my love for volunteering stems from this sometimes unconscious but always present knowing that the tremendous gap between the rich and the poor is wrong.

Several events led to this discomfort. We eat at very nice restaurants, averaging about Q80-100 (the current conversion rate between dollars and quetzals is $1 : Q8), or about the price of an average U.S. meal. To put things in perspective, it's possible to buy a huge street meal here for Q15. On the way to the restaurants we pass beggars. Children, adults, blind, singing, crying, sleeping. Also this afternoon, we drove through a graveyard to the dump. At the the graveyard, the wealthiest graves are right next to the poorest. Is social class asserted even in death? What does it mean that the rich and the poor are both buried in the same place instead of separate graveyards?

Probably the event that was most uncomfortable, yet heavily important, was our trip to the largest landfill in Guatemala City, where children and adults work, trying to find the salvageable items in hopes of a future sale. The dump was littered with vultures, a bird often considered dirty and foul because it searches through waste to find it's food. In the dump, children picked through the waste along side of the vultures. I think about the Bible and the verse that says God will clothe and feed the birds and even the least of these. And God has provided us with more than enough for everyone in this world. It's up to us humans to redistribute all God has given more properly. For me, an overwhelming and seemingly unmanageable question is how? One of the youth hit the nail on the head of the answer. During our nightly reflection, he said that he no longer want to make a ton of money if it means that other people will have to live like those in the garbage dump. We all have the power to do just that, to live sustainably and responsibility and if we happen to gain more than we need, we know how to give it away. It's so easy to say that there are so many other things to be done, but that though is a vacuum for action. One simple focus at a time. Small step with a lot of love, as Margaret Mead said in so many words.