Rubber Meets Road

We read the story of Jonah recently—it’s a weird one. Unlike Jonah, I wanted to come here. But kind of like Jonah, I’m learning that it’s not all about seeing God work the way I would design. It’s about what God is doing in those around us, and how He wants us to be a part of that. And in the meantime He’s working in us. Things haven’t been as dramatic as the big fish here, but we’re seeing God at work.

While doing a clinic in the village of El Gorrión I met Rosa, a woman of 25 with a few health concerns. Rosa asked if we could see her brother Carlos who had been in bed since being struck by a car over two weeks ago. Earlier this week Tori and I had the opportunity to go with clinic staff to another very poor area, to visit Carlos. In bed with Carlos we found his nine-month-old granddaughter Marixa, coughing harshly from a combination of a lung infection and billowing smoke from the cook fire.

I’m not really sure where the baby’s 13 year old mother was. The father didn’t want anything to do with the child. Carlos’ wife of course was out trying to earn something to keep the family going. This family (and many others like them) need our prayers—please remember them. I hope to visit them again, perhaps with pastor Mario. He told me that in that area, the large majority of girls, and boys, follow tradition by getting married (or at least getting together) and having children around 13 or 14 years of age!

...This is one reason so many C-sections are done here. Also, many women only arrive at the hospital after being in obstructed labor for some time. Many deliver at home with madronas, kind-of midwives who don’t really have any training. (Still, I don’t think that accounts for the 42% C-section rate I saw on the stats from the national hospital we visited.) Sadly, the infant mortality rate here is very high as well. How do you improve things like that? Well, for starters we can help look after baby Marixa, and we can help educate the people we meet about basic health care principles.

I have also been to an asilo, or home for the elderly. Some are funded with a bit of private money, but this was a welfare home. Many of the clients are so sweet, but are cared for rather poorly by a very small number of nurses with inadequate support and almost no supplies except basic food and bedding. We helped with bed sore dressings and teaching, and attended to some of their medical concerns. I felt these precious, neglected people are particularly close to the heart of God.

Thanks for your prayers for us in general. I did a quick scan of what everybody is missing back home: Friends came up number one, big time. After that, our house came up pretty often. Matt misses watching the Canucks (so do I!) and especially our cat Louie. So does Hannah, and almost everyone. Some of us may miss our dog Charlie more. Aaron misses his electric guitar, and his iPod since it recently got laundered (oops). Bonnie would love a hot bath (bathtubs are rare here), and her kitchen. I miss the hot-tub and good Canadian activities like hockey and snowboarding. Tori misses everything.

Our little pet turtles Sam & Ella helped a bit, at least for a couple days. (You can get Salmonella from turtles you know.) We love the weather here, and the interesting and/or fun outings. We love being able to pick up wonderful fresh stuffed or savoury breads from the nearby bakery! Getting 16 hot fresh tortillas for about 75¢ is sweet. Pineapples at that same price are really sweet. Having cousin Austin here for a week was a great diversion and encouragement. We got to have some great adventures, like injecting baby goats and cows and squealing pigs, doing a house call for a family looking after their ailing father, trying to roast marshmallows by the heat of flowing lava, and fighting beastly waves on a black-sand Pacific beach. We celebrated Hannah's birthday there, and Bonnie's is coming up too. The Cuaresma (lent, pre-Easter) activities here keep ramping up, and are very impressive to say the least. For a good primer, check out: http://www.questconnect.org/guat_semana_santa.htm . (I plan to post some more info on that as well.) Once again, there are plenty of pics on at http://picasaweb.google.com/jkornelsen --check the last four albums for recent stuff.

Thank you for the encouraging communications, and again for your prayers. With some of the funds donated we have done some lab tests on baby Marixa and will provide her with some formula. We are also providing some vitamins for two young brothers living in El Gorrión with muscular dystrophy, amongst other things.

Car documents

Our 2001 Mitsubishi Montero

(note: this is extra reading. if you want the important stuff skip to the last posting)

Many people here buy cars without ever bothering to get the title in their name. After looking at the options and listening to some advice, we thought it would be best to get this done. Usually you just send in your paperwork, including your passport, and eight days later it’s all done. Aaron, a staff member here, lost his passport during this process, so upon his advice I preferred to do it in person. Seth (also SI staff) graciously agreed to accompany me to the city. Sergio the car agent (car dealers here just sell on consignment) said, yes, you can get that done, but it’s a lot of work, not to mention the previous owner lives a day away in the northern part of the country. He had me sign my name on the old title as the buyer of the vehicle, and gave us contact information for Delores* the tramitador. As far as I can tell, that’s a notary in our country. I wasn’t sure what needed to be done, but we were assured it would get taken care of. So Seth and I set off to find Delores’ office in downtown Guatemala City, “Zona 1”. If you have a travel guide handy, it’ll tell you not to venture into Zona 1.

Part of Zone 1 reminded me of East Hastings, Vancouver, except more colourful and more crowded, and sunnier yet "shadier". The little streetfront office we found was simply a copy centre also housing a couple extra desks with people at typewriters. Up the steep little stairs at the back was a small, dark office where we found Delores sitting at her desk. At the other desk was a typewriter older than me. After answering a few questions, and producing my passport, I chatted with Seth and commented that the soap playing on Delores’ TV proved that they’re the same in any language. Perhaps 25 minutes later, after she clackity-clacked out something on her typewriter and disappeared down the stairs for a while, she was all finished. “Ciento viente cinco quetzales.” As I paid her Q125, I looked over her work—the title had been updated. A strange feeling came over me as I realized I just paid someone less than $20 Cdn to forge a document for me. It looked perfect. Bienvenidos a Guatemala.

Delores' Office

Next we headed for Finanzas, the big government taxation/financial building a block away. The sidewalk was littered with venders and shops, and people at typewriters on crates, filling out forms. On our way through the crowded plaza and lobby, we received at least a half dozen offers of help, but we were pretty independent ...until after our first cola (line-up). And that was just to get a paper that listed the eight or ten requirements we would have to fulfill to obtain my tarjeta de circulacion (circulation card) and titulo (title). We would have to start at the Muni building nearby. How many hours (days?) would this take? Seth needed to get back to his other responsibilities but didn’t say anything. I assured him a couple of times I didn’t mind paying for a “helper” if he thought it would be worthwhile and safe. So we headed back into Finanzas and engaged the services of Claudia*. For only Q100 (about $16 Cdn) she would have us on our way in less than an hour. She quickly started on my forms, sent me to pay a tax in a nearby line-up, got one of her associates to get the Muni paperwork going, and got to the front of another line via another associate. Things were moving fast now. I had to pay Q387 here, another Q30 there, and Claudia needed another Q300 for something over here. It appears these folks have someone in every cola, waiting to allow them to jump right to the front. They also have “connections”, apparently to get electronic paperwork going (?), or to fix documents... which is where the stumbling block was dropping in front of us an hour later. Now you'll need a factura (official bill of sale) signed by the original owner. No problem, we have connections... But wait, I don’t want more forged documents, and I don’t think the list says we need one, and by the way, what was that Q300 for?? Claudia started sounding more slippery now, and even Seth—a gringo but totally fluent in Guatemalan Spanish—was having a hard time understanding what she was meaning. Come, I’ll show you, she was leading us to a new part of the building now. I was getting very uncomfortable, and didn’t want to get into a pickle where only Claudia could save us... “¡Espere (wait) un momento, por favor!” I was saying for at least the second or third time, but more forcibly now and pulling her back out of the room by the arm. A security guard was taking note. Just then Bonnie rang my phone to see how we were doing. Please pray for us Hunny, we think we’re getting taken but don’t know what to do. Bonnie and the kids prayed, while down in the lobby I told Seth, that’s it, let’s give her her Q100 and go, never mind the Q300 propina (tip) I think she helped herself to.

That’s what we did. And then we headed back up to the third floor where I would need to submit the paperwork solo. This line was surprisingly short, and the fellow on the other side of the glass either took pity on the poor gringo, or enjoyed being expedient more than meticulous. He stamped up all my stuff as he looked elsewhere and chatted with the woman at the next booth. Moments later I was walking away with a note stapled to my circulation card, inviting me back in three days to pick up my documents.
Yes, I think it was a miracle. No, I didn’t have to leave my original passport.

We stopped at Wendy’s on the way home to take a break from our cultural experience.

By the way, to finish the story: Three days later on Friday I spent the day with Fernando—our SI director and a Guatemalan thank God. We drove into the capital to fetch my new title and card, and to get supplies from PriceSmart—translates Costco! Within an hour we were in and out of Finanzas, having hired the services of Jorge* to have yet another form notarized by a lawyer. After originally offering the service for Q50, he ended up asking for Q70. Fine, take your extra three bucks. After finally succeeding, having spent a grand total of around $175—I’m outa here!

(*I don’t remember their real names)

Cultural Experiences

We just returned from a two-day home stay with Pastor Mario and his wife Ingrid and family (7 children & one grandchild). The food was all really great, except our kids weren’t crazy about frijoles (free-hole-ays=beans) and fried bananas for breakfast. It was fun to live with the people of Magdalena, but the gallos (guy-oh’s=roosters) don’t wait until morning to crow! Instead, they tend to announce the passage of every hour or so throughout the night. The one particularly vociferous fellow living below our bedroom window, like Mario himself, is quite a community leader and I think started most of the night-time community gallo forums. God has really used Mario in the community since he gave his life to Jesus 12 years ago; he has helped so many people in very practical ways particularly with animal-farming. Take a moment to thank God for them, and pray for them and their church.

On Wednesday Tori and Hannah and I went to the small school in Magdalena to help the students read English. The students were quite excited to practice English with us in the classroom as well. They loved the attention of an adult male; apparently they don’t normally get much (not to mention they all wanted to wish me Feliz Cumpleaños when they found out I had a birthday coming up). Bonnie went with Aaron and Matt to the art school to do some Antigua-style oil painting which apparently was pretty impressive (hopefully I’ll get pics later!). This morning they all traded places while I was at the clinic in Magdalena.

While there I reviewed a 32 year old fellow whom I met on our clinic day in El Gorrión. He has been having recurrent debilitating attacks since he was 12. He has seen specialists and had tests including CT, MRI, etc., but nobody has been able to help him. I think he is suffering from complex migraine (or possibly seizure disorder), and have started him on some preventative medicine. Please pray for his healing.

Incidentally, I have found that antibiotics are used very liberally here, either on a doctor’s advice or simply purchased over the counter.

Earlier this week I went to the capital (Guatemala city) to obtain the title and circulation card for our newly purchased 2001 Mitsubishi Montero. I thought the cultural experience was very interesting... deserving its own blog entry—see below. On the same day I accompanied my friend Seth (assistant SI director) to an orthopedic surgeon’s office, after looking at his wrist Xray. I couldn’t see the fracture he was told he had, at an ER 3 weeks earlier, but I was suspicious of a scaphoid fracture. Those of you who are medically inclined will know the importance of the correct management of this injury! He came away with the proper cast.

I appreciate your ongoing prayer for me in my role here. I feel God has given me a vision to have a holistic approach to health care, particularly in the community of El Gorrión, and exemplify Spirit-lead practice of medicine to the people and students here. This is in keeping with the overall mission and vision of Students International. But how to actually make this happen is a bit of a mystery.

PS: Yesterday (March 13) I had a great day with Fernando, the SI director, retreiving my car paperwork and getting supplies in the city. I already have a clearer sense of moving ahead. For the most part it will mean teaching by doing.

(I'm still working on the vehicle title story...)

PPS: In the market yesterday I experienced something we have heard about. We have been told to keep our backpacks in front of us, or they may get sliced open for thieves to access their contents. Well, I was doing that. But while paying for our frutas y vegetales I noticed a little feeling on the side of my shorts. There were a number of people around, all girls/women I think. It was subtle, quick, and confusing, but when I put my hand on the pocket outside the side of my shorts, I could feel the inside of my pocket, where I had my Palm Pilot. (Some of you know that half my life and most of my brains are kept in that Palm.) I thanked Jesus it was still there! I had noticed and turned just in time! Wow. Bienvenidos a Guatemala.

Settling in

pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jkornelsen/200902MagdalenaElGorrion?feat=directlink
It’s a little easier here to spend quiet time with God; I’m appreciating that. This morning I realized I’m pretty sure He has me where He wants me: totally dependent on Him! The role I’m going to be playing here is rather different: At home, my focus is direct patient care, but here I will be more of an overseer, to ensure the health care needs of the people of El Gorrion are going to be met, amongst other things.

I have great respect for the way Students International wants to do medical outreach. There is a benefit that comes from simply doing a clinic “blitz” in an area—perhaps the biggest is that you show love and care for individuals, in addition to meeting some immediate medical concerns. However, that kind of outreach has often left me wondering whether we have touched the real health care needs the people have. I understand the most common causes of death in Guatemala are still diarrhea and pneumonia. (Our friends Phil & Judy of Love Guatemala recently encountered an “unnecessary death” of a 15 year old boy, possibly related to anemia or pneumonia?).

Yesterday afternoon I was in a meeting with SI staff, who wish to coordinate a holistic approach to help the community of El Gorrion by attending to their needs for clean water, healthy food, safer housing, education, and spiritual care. We want to bring the life of Jesus in a loving and practical way. Please pray for direction and wisdom and love from God’s Spirit!


Thursday, February 26
I helped a womens’ SI team hold a clinic in El Gorrion, in Doña Myra’s 3-room home. They had been doing a survey of needs during the week. It was good to be introduced to the area and people we’ll be working with, and to see what a lot of the health issues are. Many of their concerns are similar to those encountered back home, but weighted heavier on basic musculoskeletal symptoms stemming from hard work and poor conditions, and upper respiratory ailments related to their living situation and proximity to one another.

Friday, February 27
Our family joined the team for a tour of the various SI ministry sites. At the small private elementary school in the town of Magdalena (their resources don’t come close to the poorest public schools in Canada), our kids quickly joined in with “PE” activities. The children’s art school is another site they could get involved in over the next weeks. There are some children who, with the proceeds of the paintings they sell, are already earning as much as their parents. After a long day of walking in the heat and dust, we were bushed. We decided to become a real Guatemalan family and all ride in one tuk-tuk, which normally would fit about three North Americans.

Sunday, March 1
Because this was the first Sunday of lent, there were more festivities than usual, including the cohetes, or firecrackers, at all hours—particularly late into the evening (and sometimes early enough to beat the chicken buses in the morning). There was an extravagant parade, but apparently it’s nothing compared to what we’ll see around Easter! You'd probably enjoy some of the images:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jkornelsen/200903InAntigua?feat=directlink