Chicabracan Clinic

After months of talking about accompanying our friends Dr. Heidi and Matt Bell to one of the many medical clinics they host through their mission Agape in Action, we were finally able to travel with Heidi to the nearby village of Chicabracan to help her do her thing. One might not think that there would be much to do to help Heidi, being that we aren't doctors, yet she put us to work right quick. Our presence also meant that Matt could stay home with their 9 month old baby boy Isaac instead of coming along to help Heidi. Things were a tad less chaotic for Heidi and also turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Isaac had a severe case of vomiting while we were off at clinic. Had he been there, it definitely would have been a worse situation. The clinic was a good chance for us to see all the crazy stories that Matt and Heidi tell us, firsthand. It was about a half hour from Quiché so we left around 7:30, riding in style in the newer Toyota truck their organization had just purchased.

When we arrived around 8:00am, the line was already pretty long so we didn't waste time setting up the supplies. The clinic is located in a small teacher storage room at the village’s school. Heidi has everything down to a science with all her equipment packed perfectly in four giant plastic toughboxes. In addition to those things we also brought a portable ultrasound machine and a laptop for keeping records. After getting all of our stuff set up, Heidi saw a patient out of order, something she rarely does, to hopefully acquire a key to the small room where they hold their clinic. It seems the man was the head of the Comité or leadership group of the town and had the ability to get them a key so they could have access to the clinic room in case someone else wasn’t there to let them in. After that, Heidi spoke to the group of patients waiting and explained to them the system of numbers that they could purchase to be seen by the doctor, one number per patient. Often the patients will try to buy one number and have Heidi treat both them and usually a child. Sure enough, one woman tried to do just this during our clinic, but Heidi wouldn’t back down and made her cough up the two quetzals (30 cents) which she had conveniently ready in the pocket of her apron. Overall the clinic was fairly routine by Heidi’s standards, with numerous patients complaining of abdominal pain (heartburn) and many with very high blood sugar. Heidi has mastered a speech explaining the two types of sugar, sugar and “white foods” (aka carbs) such as corn, rice, potato, tortillas, and bread, so that the Mayan patients can understand the concept. It was clear that like in the U.S. many of the ailments could have easily been treated with a better diet. With such a high number of patients with high blood sugar, Heidi, an excellent teacher, quickly taught Toby how to measure blood sugar and blood pressures and put him to work for the rest of the day. While Toby was pricking fingers for blood sugar, Brittany was manning the computer and quickly learned not only the records system, but also many medical abbreviations and terms.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the clinic was all the pregnant women and using the ultrasound to determine an approximate birth date for the children. It seems that as more people in the town hear about the clinics, the more people are beginning to trust Heidi, coming to see her and let her examine the condition and health of their unborn children. Seeing that she is an OB/GYN, that is a very good thing. Heidi also believes that having the portable ultrasound is a big draw to the residents of this village that likely didn’t know such a machine existed. Of the 35 patients we saw on Monday, about half were regulars while the other half new patients. We had the opportunity to tell three women that they were pregnant, one of whom was having her 5^th child and another that for some reason didn’t look very happy at all to hear the news. We handed out plenty of vitamins, Tylenol for pain, Tums for heartburn, pre-natal vitamins for the pregnant mothers, a few toothbrushes and a few other random medications. The highlight cases of the day were one woman that had no control over her motor movements on her right side, explaining to us that while she was making tortillas she simply couldn’t make the necessary motion; and a little girl that had worms that tickled her when they came out of her culo, which Brittany had to explain to Heidi was a crude word for anus. Overall the experience was awesome and we are hoping to go back with Heidi in two weeks right before we leave Guatemala.

It is very important to mention that all of these clinics are possible due to the sacrifice that Heidi and her husband Matt have made to be down here. Rather than taking a much higher paying job, they are essentially donating their time to help the people of Guatemala and spread the love and word of Jesus Christ. It also would not be possible without help from their sponsoring organization Agape in Action, that not only pays for her to be here, but provide her with the medications and supplies she needs to help some of the poorest people in Guatemala. Please visit their website to read about their organization and should you feel inclined to donate, do so.