Extremely busy day with 14 surgeries completed. It’s an impressive experience to see a medical all star team like this in full flight. You have probably witnessed a parallel phenomena to this team process in the natural world called murmuration. Birds, sometimes hundreds at a time, moving in perfect synchronicity with one another.
Patient Highlights
Irma
Irma received care at the Faith In Practice surgery clinic and shared a fascinating life story a day after her surgery. Irma is 45 years-old and mother to 6 children, 5 girls and one boy. She had 5 children by age 25. Three of her daughters and their children share a household with Irma and her husband. Irma and her family live 10 hours by bus ride away from the clinic. Interestingly, Irma has been a volunteer with Faith In Practice for 10 years before herself becoming a surgery patient. Irma’s first exposure to Faith In Practice was years ago while searching for care for a daughter who had ear problems. In her search, she heard many good things about Faith In Practice in talking with people in her community and decided based on that to become a volunteer. She was first referred to Faith In Practice for medical care back in March 2020, unfortunately the same day the Village team was evacuated from Guatemala. In fact, she helped the team pack their things as they exited. Irma is very impressed with the quality of the Faith In Practice staff and the life-changing difference they’ve made not only in her own life but those of others she’s encountered as a volunteer.
Mario
Mario is 23 years old, the oldest of 5 children. He lives at home with his mother & father and 4 siblings, the youngest is 8 years old. Mario’s father is disabled and his mother takes care of their home. The family lives about an hour outside of Reu. Mario has been the breadwinner of the family, mostly working in the corn and sugarcane fields. He has suffered from pain from an injury for the past two years. While working he was averaging about one dollar an hour. Mario is a cheerful young man, anxious to get back home. He’s delighted that he can finally begin feeling better. He’s asked his uncles to help as best they can while he recovers from surgery.
