I have written a number of times about our friend, Dr. Jose. In truth, one of my favorite places to go is to visit him. He is so enthusiastic about his difficult work that he energizes me.
Our last visit here was to bring some Kids Against Hunger food packets and some donated medications and supplies which different teams have brought down for the clinic. (Thank you, Westside Church and Vicki Schurmer for your donations to the clinic. You can see how appreciated your help is!)
This past trip we got to spend more time with him than usual, as he made a few home visits with us. I learned that he sees an average of 60 patients each day in his tiny clinic. He works here with just an office manager and psychologist—no nurse. He described one of his greatest frustrations is the limited evaluations he is able to provide for each patient due to the heavy demand.
He said he feels like he operates more like an emergency room triage than a traditional clinic. If someone comes in with a belly ache, that is what he checks an treats. Not because he is incompetent but because if he didn’t focus this way, he would be working 24 hours a day, rather than his sun-up to sun-down current schedule. For all this he earns a whopping 7000 quetzales (less than $1000) a month. Could he make more working in the city? You betcha. But he loves the people in this very poor rural area on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, so he stays.
If any doctors or nurses who are reading this feel like they would benefit from the experience of spending a week in a rural Guatemala clinic, Dr. Jose is the guy to work with. And he is ready and willing to accept any help he can get. Email me for more information.
This clinic is funded by through the wife of the mayor of the area, and is trying to focus on prevention as well as treatment of disease. This area is extremely poor, and Dr. Jose has identified malnutrition of young children and the elderly as the number one issue.
In response to this, the mayor’s wife has helped them prepare space for a malnutrition day care project. Doctor Jose and the staff couldn’t wait to show me around.
The children will come in during the day, while their mothers receive education and training right here at the clinic. The goal is to fatten up the children and educate the mothers as to how best to care for and feed their child. Once a child has gained sufficient weight, they will leave the program to make room for a new child.
I have been invited to come and spend a week here, helping the staff develop curriculum for the center and create materials for the children to use to assist their development. I am so excited to get to work with these extremely dedicated and talented people. I will be going down to spend a week at the coast when I return from the US in October. (Isn’t it just like our God to locate the clinic within walking distance from the hotel in which we stay when we go to the coast?)
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