Dra. Diane and her anesthesiologist friend Celeste volunteered at Hospitalito this month. It was a pleasure to welcome them and we hope they return.

Marty Yudice is a friend from St. Rita’s Church in Fairfax CA and works for Solar Depot. He arrived at HA this week to work with the electrician and the Hospitalito Board on grants for Solar Energy for the new hospital. Solar Depot donated many components to install parts of the system and we look forward to further collaboration in the future.

It is feria in Santiago Atitlán, July 25^th being the main day. One of the activities leading up to the big parade is the election and crowning of this years queen. Contestants are 18 to 20 years of age, and must have good public speaking skills. In this foto, queens from many other Maya tribes have come for the farewell dance for the outgoing queen. It is a lengthy dance, as she dances several minutes and speaks with each of the other Maya queens.

Dr. Daniel Newman is a second year pediatric resident from Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC. He has been volunteering at HA the month of July seeing many children and assisting during the pediatric surgeries and post-op care. Thank you Dr. Daniel, we hope you return!

Maria Estevez, Yurena Diaz and Aihnoa Fernandez from Madrid are at Hospitalito Atitlán for one month. Maria and Yurena will finish their OB residency at the Clinic San Carlos and Aihonoa is a Gastroenterologist at the General Hospital of the University Gregorio Marañon.

Dr. Heather Pierce is visiting her mother this week and brought a donation of diabetic supplies and nebulizer treatments from Sharon Busken a nurse at her clinic, Callaway Physicians in Fulton Missouri.

Surgeon Luis Felipe Flores and his wife Deborah were at the Hospitalito today for several gall bladder removals and hernia repairs. Dr. Flores currently lives in Austin Texas, but will soon be returning to his homeland to open a clinic in San Pablo la Laguna. 

Ruben Bergstresser and Sameen Nasim Ahmed have been working hard organizing the inventory from the HUGE donation from Medshare International. The full container was funded by the Marin County Guatemalan Mission Program and included hospital beds, an ultrasound machine, surgical microscope, birthing table, exam lights, and 850 boxes of medical supplies. 

Lately the Hospitalito staff has been sharing lunch together, learning from the medical volunteers about “Pot Luck”. Friday, everyone agreed to bring their favorite hierba, or wild plant. We ate Tinej’, Ko’lix, something that grows like a banana, and several salads, plus apple crisp prepared by Sameena Nasim Ahmed, a hard working non-medical volunteer from Minnesota.

The obstetricians with the Saving Mothers group lead a training for the nursing staff in understanding the fetal monitor.

The final section of roof was poured on the new hospital today and the windows were ordered. Floor to be installed in the next weeks!

Felipa, head of nursing, and Bianca are looking for surgical instruments for Saturday. Dr. Cofino is arriving from Guatemala City for pediatric surgeries. Because of the storms and road conditions, this is the first time since Dr. Leiva’s passing that scheduled surgeries will happen. A lunch is planned because the day will be a memorial celebration of Dr. Leiva’s commitment to Hospitalito Atitlán.

Laura Wishik returned to the Hospitalito this week bringing knitted baby caps and her Rotarian friends from Vashon Island. The Rotarians are in Guatemala working on a 3H grant. 

Obstetricians Angela Bianco and Katherine Kohari arrived at Hosptialito Atitlán with Nichole Young-Lin director of Saving Mothers. They delivered birthing kits to the traditional midwives and conducted trainings. 

Last night the back-up power for the new hospital arrived, thanks to the generous support of many Rotary Clubs, especially Club Rotario Guatemala Oeste and East Salem Rotary in Oregon. Wish you could have all been here!

It was a pleasure to welcome representatives one of our largest donors to the construction sitethis week. Carol Davito has been secretary in the Bishops office for more than 30 years. She has traveled many times to Santiago Atitlan, and this time she brought her son, Dr. Mike Davito a physician in Tulsa.  In this photo  of Hospitalito Board members with our guests are Jose Reanda, Juan Tzina, Mike, Karina, Carol and Diego, and Karina’s boadyguard, Bajlam.

ER physician Phillip Mitchell from the Chicago area visited HA today and brought a bag of goodies. Before he and his daughter traveled to Guatemala to volunteer at a Sololá orphanage, he contacted the Hospitalito to see what he could bring. He was directed to the WISH LIST on the website and Rebeca helped with a letter for customs. Thank you Dr. MItchell, your generosity is greatly appreciated.

We hope it was Dra. Louisa’s idea of a good time to watch the Brazil – Chile World Cup game during her going away party. Dra. Louise plans to return to help set up the Emergency Room in the new hospital this fall. It was a good time and a good day. La doctora delivered twins in the morning, lunch was pulik, and Brazil WON!!!

Rains and heavy winds from tropical storm Alex downed the milpa in Atitlán yesterday. This time of year the corn is 12 feet tall, and even with the best care, it doesn’t stand up to this kind of weather. The corn, if mature will have to be eaten immediately, instead of drying on the stalk to be saved for tortillas next year.

Aklaxito (little Nicolas in Tz’utujil) and his father, the popular Hospitalito piloto Aklax, visited the construction site this week. Aklaxito celebrated his fifth birthday last month, easy to keep track of as he was born in the old Hospitalito in Panabaj.

CEDEPCA brought five young people studying to be pharmacists to the Hospitalito this week. They are checking patients for high blood pressure, diabetes, and weight. Shawna King, Steven Hammond, Zubin Bhakta Tyler Sledge and Niambi Horton were happy for the opportunity to be of service at the Hospitalito.

Dra. Louise Kenny and Dra. Mary Cutler are physicians who have returned to volunteer at HA. Dra. Louise spent five months of 2009 as an ER physician. Louise leaves soon to begin a new program in Manchester, England where she will continue her education to become a surgeon.

Dra. Mary and her family spent two months at HA in 2008. She and her physician husband Steve Wells both worked at the Hospitalito and their teenage children volunteered too. Mary is donating two weeks of her time before she returns to Ashland, Oregon. Their children Forrest and Emma will spend the summer in Santiago Atitlán improving the Spanish language skills and volunteering. 

Enclosed is a check derived from the fundraising efforts of our Multicultural Club at Weber High School in Utah.We sold Leppe’s eater ice, hot chocolate and some other items at school and held a dinner and evening of entertainment as means to do this.  We had a lot of fun in the process and hope that we interested a lot of other people in supporting the Hospitalito in the future.We also enjoyed volunteering at the Snowbasin Nordic Challenge ski race for Hospitalito Atitlan this February.We would like our contribution to go to the construction of the new Hospitalito so that it will be eligible for the matching grant.Good luck with your efforts on behalf of the Hospitalito.

Last week government geologists were in Santiago Atitlán investigating risk, and their recommendations have left thousands fearing for their lives and their loved ones.

Canton Panúl, has been condemned. CONRED, the government agency that declared Panabaj uninhabitable, made a survey in Santiago Atitlán after the heavy downpour from Agatha. Their experts concluded that a hill to the east town is very likely to produce landslides as the grounds become more saturated. This would be devastating, as the slides would cover a heavily populated area, including a public school, almost in the center of town. Conred’s recommendations to the mayor include the purchase of land in a safe area for the relocation of people in the slide area. Four of HA’s employees now live in Panúl.

Unfortunately, we know that this is a lengthy process. Most victims of Stan are safe in their new homes, but after nearly five years, some families in Panabaj, are still awaiting their homes in Chuk Muk.

Yesterday afternoon thunderstorms brought torrential rains. Every street became a river and later the clean up began again. Everyone is very worried.

Tropical Storm Agatha has caused death and destruction as mud and swollen rivers have claimed lives in Panabaj near Santiago Atitlán. Record breaking rainfall has forced the evacuation of more than 70,000 people in Guatemala. Thousands are left homeless and many are injured.Many roads in Guatemala are impassable and bridges have been destroyed. Roads near Guatemala City are considered especially dangerous due to the accumulation of volcanic ash from the eruption of the volcano Pacaya.The department of Sololá is the area most affected by mudslides, road and bridge damage in the country.  In Panajachel, several homes left standing after Stan were washed into the San Francisco River.Aurora International airport remains closed to commercial traffic because of the eruption of Pacaya, but helicopters with aid are arriving from the US, Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, Brazil and Cuba.Hospitalito Atitlán is in a state of emergency preparedness and is providing care for the injured. Please support the work with a donation. thank you. 

One of the most complicated parts of planning the new Hospitalito was the design of the electrical system that consists of three components; the electric company, the back up batteries, and the diesel generator. The planning involved the work of many so that future equipment needs would be met.  In this foto, electrician Henry Mendoza and his helper Lupe are finishing up the installation in the machine room.

 Surgeon Fernando Leiva passed away from a heart attack Saturday May 22nd.He was a great supporter of the hospital since our first days in Panabaj. He had done his internship as a doctor there in the 1980s and kept it close to his heart. Dr. Leiva was educated at Harvard and Oxford, where trained with the very best.Since the surgery room opened in 2005, Dr. Leiva has faithfully arrived to Hospitalito Atitlán every five or six weeks for elective surgery, where he offered his services for free. Dr. Leiva served as a member on the Steering Committee of the Captial Campaign, he was also a member of Club Rotario Guatemala Oeste that has offered immense support to the hospital.Dr Fernando Leiva leaves an immense space behind him, both as a personal friend and a friend of Hospitalito Atitlán.

Dr. Brent Burket began his three-year commitment to Hospitalito Atitlán this week when he started seeing patients in the clinics. Dr. Brent came from Ashland Oregon and with the help of Mission Doctors. He is working with Asiha Nnoly of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Today everyone at Hospitalito Atitlán is welcoming a new member to our employee family. Dra. Susana Pajoc Gonzales gave birth this morning to a baby girl. Susana started her maternity leave two weeks ago. Her labor was quick and surprisingly easy, she and husband Pedro Sosof arrived at the Hospitalito, and five minutes later, their daughter was born.