Saturday we headed out of Gualan. We bussed past Guatemala City on the way to visit a clinic on Lake Amatitlan. The clinic itself was very nice, but it was in an unsafe place, at least, that's what they told us. The neighborhood was built up around the railroad tracks . Apparently, the local government had an agreement with whatever railway company it is up in Canada that the railway would own all of their own property as well as 100 feet on either side of the tracks for 30 years (I think they were in year 20 or 25). The railway hasn't been kept up so people have built up what would have been called "shanty towns" in the 30s. It was incredibly heartbreaking to see such poverty. It's one of those things that I know exists, but I'd rather not think abuot it. And here we were, confronted with it. One of the families we met had a little boy named Isaiah and he was more or less shunned because he had a cleft palate. Along with polydatyly (extra fingers and toes), cleft palates are the biggest genetic problem that occurs in Guatemala. We asked the doctor from the clinic if he knew about the program that was going on in Zapata. He had no clue but, luckily, one of our ladies had a brochure. Less than a week after we left, Isaiah had surgery. It's frustrating to know that there are so many relief missions occuring in Guatemala (probably all over the world) that could do so much more good if they knew what the other mission groups were doing. If we hadn't just happened to visit both places, this poor kid might not even have survived.
Finally, it was time to go back and hang out at the hotel where Jane and I were going to sleep. For about two hours, the group just hung out and recounted the details of our trip to each other. It was so much fun and all too soon, we had to say goodbye.
It was an awesome trip. If I can swing the time and money, this is definitely something I'd like to try again.
On Sunday, Jane and I flew back to Tampa. I got to stay with Grandma Byrnes at her super fancy apartment and even got a glimpse of the Yankees player (whose name I will never remember) who was staying down there for spring training.
I went out with Susan and Kaylyn for the latter's birthday party and felt just ancient since all of their friends were in their early- to mid-twenties. It's only 5 years but I just felt out of sync. Anyway, got to sleep in an absolutely lovely bed and finally, after another 7 hours of uneventful travel, made it back to Bozeman.
