Day 6 - Thursday, February 23, 2023

Called to serve the Guatemalan people, Team Raymer began the 4th and final day of surgeries. Ivonne from the FIP Board of Directors joined us for breakfast. She shared with us some common language shared amongst Guatemalans. She shared a quote said by many guatemalans, “Dios te lo pague”, or “God will pay you back”. Dr. Bidemans first patient exclaimed this to their surgical team. He had traveled over 2 hours to relieve his care. He had been in a motorcycle accident the previous Saturday. He was overjoyed with emotions and wanted to ensure his surgical team knew of his appreciation for them to leave their homes and provide care for him so he can resume his job to provide for his family.

Dr. Raymer had a patient who worked as a cleaning lady and was so grateful for the surgery, but at the same time wanted to know when she could get back to work. Some people travel for hours to come to Hospital Hilario Galindo, spending all of their hard-earned money for a chance to feel better. Healthcare in Guatemala is a system which is broken. It may be hard to imagine, but the national hospitals that do exist are only open 4 hours a day. Can you imagine your hospital having closed for weeks due to lack of supplies and medications?

A patient of Dr. Nguyen, David, was 8 years old when his mother left him in Guatemala to go to the United States to get a visa – the ontent was to bring him to the States. That was over 30 years ago. David was raised by his grandfather who was a doctor in Guatemala. Growing up, David helped his grandfather at the clinic and has always wanted to get a job in the medical field. He suffered many hardships throughout his life, but David raised his children to give back to their community. David is hoping to be a volunteer for Faith in Practice in the future!

-Tina Trittin

To support this team and their commitment to our patient’s visit:

https://donate.faithinpractice.org/team/455465