Dental Screening at a Municipalidad elementary school

Tuesday Feb 25th, 2020:  A fun morning today as we went to a local elementary school to screen the "Patitos" Little Ducklings.  As you can see, this group of students looks much younger than you would expect in American schools.  We did see older groups but these little ones were SO cute. Only one little girl cried but she came to us with open arms for a hug as she was crying.  Of course, she got a huge hug and big portions of our hearts.  We screened about 120 of these little ones and will begin treating them according to the severity of their condition. I don't know what to expect when they arrive at the clinic but based on their good behavior today, I am hopeful they can tolerate well their upcoming treatments. Grandma Johnson would have said, They are "cute as a button." Although they are groomed, evidently here at the school, they come from the notorious Zona 18, which the health nurse at the school said was the bottom of the bottom of the socio-economic areas of the capital. There will be a great deal of dentistry required for these little Ducklings. This is what we pray about each night.

Elder (Dr) Fisher, a retired army colonel, and Sister Fisher screen a "Patito" at the Municipalidad. 

After the screening, a group of the older elementary students performed a couple of numbers for us on the marimba, an instrument developed in Guatemala and Mexico.  It is the "National" instrument of Guatemala.

A couple of weeks ago we saw this interesting and beautiful sister from the Western highlands of Guatemala.  She is a member of one of the several distinct native Mayan cultures (K'icke)) here in Guatemala.  She didn't speak one word of Spanish...(or English), They speak their own language. So, we had very little verbal conversations.  She came to the clinic to get two prosthetic front teeth and fill out her mission dental application.
We were surprised to see her arrive in such a beautiful dress, which she and her mother made by hand. It is probably the only nice piece of clothing she has as her area is steeped in poverty.  If you can, blow up the photo and get a good look at the pattern on the dress, all hand woven. The kingdom of God will go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples. How beautiful it is and what a blessing to see it and be part of it.

Breakfast Volcano watching

We live in a 5 story apartment building surrounded by many 20-30 story apartment buildings.  As today was Saturday we thought we'd go up to our rooftop patio for a glass of orange juice and cinnamon toast.  The atmosphere was clear and we could see areas of the horizon between the tall buildings.

Here is a "foto" taken from our rooftop of two volcanoes.  The distant one which vents a plume of smoke and steam about every 10-15 minutes is called volcan Fuego (fire).  The closer and visually larger one is inactive and named volcan Agua (water)

Screening at Villa de Los Ninos Catholic school

The young men waited so patiently for an hour and a half to
complete the screening.  So polite and respectful!

Sister and Elder Spendlove getting ready for the screening

After the dental screening of over 200 young men ages 12-15, the Ville de Los Ninos Catholic school provided us with a nice lunch.  The children in the younger classes gave us the wooden toys you can see on the table

February 11, 2020, the Tio Juan Dental office together with John Wetterer, (blue shirt in back) who is the Tio Juan/ Mi Casa Foundation Director went to the Villa de Los Ninos Catholic school to do dental screenings.  The student body of this school is comprised of orphans and/or very needy children from across Guatemala.  They are chosen on grounds of showing scholastic or other aptitudes. Fishers are lower left, Sister Spendlove behind them, John Wetterer, opposite John are three older young men from Tio Juan, Donny in white is the Villa de Los Ninos nurse, and Leity, the office manager of Tio Juan.
A little over 200 boys were screened. (Total student body of the boy's section of the school is 1,200) We were so impressed with their comportment and good manners. Generally, their teeth were in pretty good condition considering their backgrounds.  We graded their condition on urgent, moderate, or good and we will see them all in our clinic.
This is when we are so grateful to have extra help from our dental friends back home who are willing to provide humanitarian service by offering their time and talents with assistance from some of their office personnel.  Next week two dentists with their sons will be with us at the clinic for two days. We hope to work long and hard and put a big dent into the mountain of treatment that needs to be accomplished.

We have seen other instances of missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints working with other faith groups in serving the Guatemalan people.  A couple of weeks ago the missionaries were providing translation services for a non-Spanish speaking medical team from another faith near the town of Cuilapa.

This work pays handsome wages, none of which are monetary.

Clinica Dental de Hogar Tio Juan

   As you pass through the outside Wall door you come down a narrow cement walk into a semi-enclosed "reception" area.  The clinic office and chair are beyond this area through another iron exterior door. And finally into a nice 5 chair facility. there is Anita at the back.

Sister Spendlove setting up for the day.  Through the windows are some plants in a very narrow  "garden" walkway open to the sky but enclosed by the inside of the outer Snowwhite wall. You want windows for daylight but not to the street. The walkway is covered by  a chainlink covering. Cement walls and tile floors give a good echo to the whine of the dental drills all day. ouch

Outside view of Clinica Tio Juan

I'm the one on the left.  

       This was early one morning before the arrival of the patients.  Welcome to my world

Street view .  The orphanage/clinic, like many homes & businesses in Latin American cities, is surrounded by walls and gates. 

We drive thru the gates and park inside the inner courtyard of the orphanage which is surrounded by the clinic, office, dorms, and classrooms all of which are very basic construction.

Walking into our apartment

         It’s been almost 3 weeks since our arrival in Guatemala City.  We arrived nearly at 10:00 pm after being on the go since 4:30 am.  Elder and Sister Lippincott and Fisher met us at the airport.  Since we received our calls six months previously, we had been in email contact with them and it felt like we were meeting old friends.  There is a community of senior service missionaries and church employees working at the Central America Area headquarters here in Guatemala.  They had all helped in preparing our apartment with furnishings, fresh linens, decorations, flowers and most importantly, food in the fridge and on the shelves. How delightful to step into this setting.  In the last 2 weeks, we have had family home evenings, movie nights, temple night, and break-the-fast dinner with this wonderful group.

Kids, this was Not your father's mission apartment ......wait a minute!  IT IS your father's mission apartment.

MTC, now a distant (3 wks) memory

This is one of several huge back-lit  murals at the Provo MTC depicting the Land of Nephi. Looks exactly like Guatemala.

T

Can not leave the MTC without the iconic map picture. Jan 19, 2020