Erica Main endured a painful tetanus shot as well as shots to protect her from hepatitis A and typhoid, but still found herself unprepared for what she would find in Guatemala.
‘I had no idea what I was getting into,? said the Goodrich High School senior, who traveled to Antigua, Guatemala with friend Chynna Blaker, also a GHS senior, and Blaker’s parents, Darlene and Brad, as part of a medical mission from March 14-22.
Brad Blaker is an emergency room physician at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital and for the past few years, he, Darlene and Chynna have accompanied a group from Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills to the developing country in Central America to provide medical assistance. This was Erica’s first time going.
‘I thought I would be in some deserted, dry-looking country, but it wasn’t like that at all,? said Erica, who had a view of a smoking volcano from her hotel room. ‘I saw people with BMWs and then there were really old cars. It was really mixed. Most memorable was the little kids. They don’t have anything, yet they’re the happiest kids I’ve ever seen. They don’t know what they’re missing out on.?
During their stay, Erica, Chynna and Darlene escorted patients to different doctors, which besides Brad, an attending physician, included those specializing in orthopedics and pediatrics. They were also allowed to sit in on medical cases. The worst one, they all agreed, came the last day of clinicals when a mother brought in an ill baby.
‘We all thought he was premature, but the translator said the baby was 15-months-old,? recalls Erica. ‘It was the most horrible sight I have ever seen. When he cried, you could see his veins, he was just bones.?
The mother told doctors that when she nursed the child, he would choke and stop. They learned she had smoked and drank alcohol while pregnant. When the translator asked if she had taken drugs while pregnant, Darlene said the woman saw the look of horror on their faces and denied everything. She left with the baby, saying she had to talk to her husband. They do not know what happened to the baby.
But there were happy stories, too. Darlene remembers the 87-year-old woman who was treated for her cracked and calloused feet, on which she had never worn shoes. Volunteers gave her a pedicure, then chipped in to buy her three pairs of shoes. Only one pair, child-size Barbie sandals with a single wide strap across, fit properly due to the wideness of the woman’s feet from never having worn shoes.
‘She didn’t know what to think of them,? said Darlene. ‘She didn’t know how to walk in them, so she didn’t keep them on. She was more excited about the sweaters we bought her. She lit up at those sweaters.?
The woman told the volunteers through a translator that growing up, her parents couldn’t afford to buy her shoes. When she was older, she bought shoes for her children and then became used to not wearing them. Now she cares for her husband, who was attacked many years ago during a revolutionary war in Guatemala, losing his eyesight and use of one arm.
While they spent most of their days in clinics, Chynna and Erica were able to have some fun, too. They learned salsa dancing, had what they describe as the best nachos they’ve ever had at a restaurant called Mono Loco’s and on their last day, went shopping and got manicures and pedicures.
The clinicals were practical lessons for Chynna, who wants to be an emergency room physician and Erica, who will pursue a career as a registered nurse, but they learned even more valuable lessons than the medical ones.
‘I’ve learned to settle with what I have, rather than spend all my time wanting,? said Chynna.
Erica agreed.
‘I’ve learned not to take the things from my parents, my car, my education, friends and family that I have for granted. The kids and families there don’t have the opportunity to experience these things.?