WE ARE FAMILY
Team Thompson has arrived in Petén from across the country with what feels like a family reunion vibe. A year ago, during COVID protocols, our team was split in half and served in two different Guatemalan communities during consecutive weeks. This year we’re back to a team of 30 and many of us are reconnecting with team members whom we haven’t seen since March of 2019, pre-pandemic. Not only does the team feel like family, nearly half of the team members are traveling with family members on this trip to Petén.
Stephanie & Racheal Cortner
Stephanie Cortner was approached about joining Team Thompson for last year’s trip to Totonicapán, to serve as an Ultrasound Technician. After returning home and sharing her experience and stories of the week with her sister Racheal, they recounted that it was an easy sell to convince Racheal to join the team this year. Stephanie felt a part of the Faith in Practice team immediately and emphasized how much it felt like family to serve with the other volunteers. Racheal will be supporting the team as a Pharmacy assistant.
Irina DeFischer & Scott Sinnott
Irina and Scott are one of three married couples on Team Thompson and both are doctors. Irina always knew that upon retirement she would want to travel while also practicing medicine in underserved communities. This is her fourth mission, and Scott – who retired a few months after Irina – joined his wife one year later and is here for his third year.
Peggy, Pedro, and Ines Lizaur
The Lizaur family is the trifecta of Interpreters. Peggy is with Team Thompson for her third mission and is joined by her Spanish born husband Pedro and daughter Ines for the week. All are of course fluent in Spanish and will be a huge asset to the team. Ines is a young professional, but the timing was right to take a bit of time off to travel with her parents to Guatemala, so jumped at the opportunity. Pedro’s first visit to Guatemala was 50 years ago as a young man, traveling by “chicken bus”. This week should be an entirely different experience for him!
Betsy Haas-Beckert & Spencer Beckert
When I asked Betsy how many years she’s volunteered with Faith in Practice, she didn’t know the exact amount, but guessed it was around 13. That’s service! She’ll be working in our laboratory once again. Her young adult son Spencer has been on one other trip and said that volunteering on the team gives him a good opportunity to spend quality time with his mother. Spencer will be in the mobility clinic helping with Wheelchair assembly.
Bruce & Sarah Beekley
Sarah Beekley is one of our pediatric doctors and joins us for her 8th year. She’s also volunteered to mentor Team Thompson in our individual fundraising for Faith in Practice. This year, she’s joined by her older brother Bruce who says he’s been hearing fantastic stories of Sarah’s trips for years, and as he’s now retired asked if he could join his sister. Not only does Bruce bring a fantastic skill set to our team as a Physical Therapist, but he was the top fundraiser of 1st year volunteers, tapping into his large network of friends. Both Bruce and Sarah acknowledge how important their mother was in instilling philanthropy and volunteering into their family.
Felicity Thompson & Richard Rosenthal
No family is complete without a matriarch and patriarch. Our team leaders are midwife Felicity and electrician and jack of all trades Richard. As Felicity stated so succinctly, “Family is everything.” And there’s nothing that this family – Team Thompson – can’t accomplish this week.
The anticipation of clinic day one is upon us. We hope you follow along with our blog this week.
To support this team and their commitment to our patient’s visit:
