Both Sides of the COTA Fence

The Children of the Americas volunteers and patients have all returned to their respective homes, are settled into our routines and have tucked the memories of our Team 2016 experiences into the place where we mentally wander during quiet times. COTA board members and long-term volunteers sometimes find ourselves blending the different team trips into snatches of experiences that meld into memories which are difficult to differentiate: 

• Which team out of the last fifteen was the year we were treated to the Mayan dancing ceremony?
• What hospital was it that didn't allow parents to stay with their post-operative babies, which made for a chaotic ward of upset children and tired nurses?
• What team consistently ranks as a favorite? (hint: we slept in army barracks)
• And who remembers the team site where the number of bug bites on COTA volunteer's legs outnumbered the clinic patients?

The years blend, the patient's faces blur, the preparation for yet another team comes sooner than we thought it could possibly be time for. 

So it is always refreshing to hear from those new volunteers and patients who bring a fresh perspective to what we have long known as a special experience spent with extraordinary people. 

Here are the personal experiences of two people new to COTA in 2016. Hearing the stories of both women help us remember that years of team trips may seem ordinary to us, but are extraordinary for completely different reasons, to them.

"I remember that I said it a few times when we were at Salamá, but I wanted to make sure you really understand how deep I mean it, and how great this experience was for me. I sincerely tell you I loved everything about this trip: the nights at different restaurants to try different kinds of food, your "everything is going to be fine" hugs that really comforted me at night when we were all tired and gave me the strength for a fresh start in the mornings; the different clinics that we worked in; all the patients' stories that we shared; all the amazing people and team that we got to know and the incredible experience to go for my first time in the OR. So dear sister Bernice thank you for making all this possible, this experience truly changed and enlarged my vision of medicine and the real meaning of becoming a good doctor.
I hope that we made you feel proud of our work last week, because when we talked with the girls believe me it was great to know that the COTA Staff appreciated what we were doing."
 Paula Galán Sancé
4th year Guatemalan medical student

"I was told years ago by local doctors that I needed a complicated surgery but I have been scared. My family and friends in my village were nervous for me to have an operation in our local hospital; the supplies are scarce and if I had complications my family could not afford the cost of the blood donations or the medications. I had a friend in my village who told me about COTA doctors and how they had helped her mother and sisters and had operated on members of her family with good results. They are all healthy so I decided to trust her words. Early this morning I got a bus and traveled for six hours to get here and I got scared when I saw the long line outside of the hospital gate. I was worried that I had put my trust in a situation that would not work out for me. I am so grateful to God for this opportunity and although I am nervous, I have trust that the COTA surgeon has the skills to help me return to health. Please tell the Children of the Americas volunteers that I feel blessed to be one of the thousands of clinic patients who was allowed the gift of a surgery."
Ana, Team 2016 Surgery patient.

Our Wish for 2016

If there were one thing that Children of the Americas volunteers could wish for in this brand new year, it would be this: We wish we no longer had work awaiting us in Guatemala.
Don't be mistaken: we love our adopted country. Some of us are so fond of it that we winter there, or have moved there full-time. Others find ourselves dreaming of the "Land of Eternal Spring" during our dreary stateside winters. When our feet are not firmly planted on "terra Guatemala", we miss the warmth of the climate and of the people. Wouldn't it be nice, we sometimes think, to just be able to go to Guatemala to soak in the culture, to visit with long-time friends and former foster children and to relax on black beaches or on verandas overlooking ancient volcanoes. 

The reality is that the need for donated medical care in Central America is just as pervasive as it was in 1986 when Children of the Americas was founded. Maternal and pediatric statistical parameters for longevity and all that encompasses a life of full capacity are improving thanks to concerted efforts and focus from organizations like ours. But the stark reality is that access to healthcare, no matter what developing country one lives in, is more difficult when financial means are meager. The poor are marginalized in all aspects of life, but the inability to acquire quality medical care is life hampering. 

This is where we shine. 
We receive, pack, organize and categorize supplies throughout the year. Our board meets, plans, communicates and strategizes weekly. COTA volunteers tweak budgets, work schedules and plan flights months ahead of time. All of this so that once a year, we can bring donated medical,surgical,dental and pharmaceutical care to our Guatemalan patients. 
Our methodology and the need for it speaks for itself. Last month we operated on 131 Guatemala women and children, saw 2,364 clinic patients and over 200 dental patients. Seventy-four Guatemalan citizens needed the expertise of our orthotics and prosthetics volunteers and our ultrasound specialist performed 226 scans for diagnostic workups. Prescriptions? The need was seemingly endless: 5,375 packets of medication donated.
Until the basic human need of health and well-being is available to all rural Guatemalans, Children of the Americas will continue do what we have done for thirty years:improving access to healthcare.