Hospitalito Atitlán Blog

Monday June 26th, Bishop Anthony Taylor of Arkansas and Father Albert Bruecken of Missouri visited Hospitalito Atitlán. They are in Guatemala to interview people as part of the canonization process for Father Stanely Rother, who was murdered in the rectory of Santiago Atitlán´s Catholic Church in 1981.

Bishop Taylor previously worked for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City that built the first hospital, which was destroyed during the mudslides in Panabaj in 2005. The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has since been the most faithful and humble supporters of the new hospital. It fully funded the construction of the medical storage building and has donated $100,000 towards the new hospital building. Of course, that donation has been doubled through the generous support from the Kendeda Fund.

The town of Atitlán and the Archdiocese of OC have been partners for almost 50 years, and the ties continue to be very strong.

Dr. Gary Knaus (back row, right) a family practice physician in Carbondale CO, brought his whole family to Santiago Atitlán so that he and his son Gary a third year resident, his daughter Megan, a lab tech, and his wife Jill an English second language teacher, could all volunteer at the Hospitalito. They were eleven in all, counting grandchildren and extended family. They stayed in a large house at the Posada de Santiago, and the children studied Spanish two hours everyday. They are already thinking about next time. They were a huge help in many many ways. Thank you all.

“Super UTZ” says Cristobal about his new microscope donated by Greg Arcidino at Visual Instruments Products in Springfield, Missouri.

Many medical volunteers have enjoyed the rustic cabins, lovely gardens, shared meals and late night talks in Las Milpas. Some have fantasized about going together to purchase the property. Recently there were rumors that it had sold and would no longer be available for use by medical volunteers. In late May, the owner arrived, and confirmed that the property is not for sale. So…  it is continues to be the responsibility of the Hospitalito to take care of the upkeep.

Today, much needed shelving units were built for three of the rooms. Charles Whitmore, the priest of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gus Hodge, both from Bellingham WA worked with Gaspar, Domingo and Salvador.

If you happen to move into Cabaña II, the apartment, or the small upstairs room, we hope you enjoy their work. Dr. Gus plans to return to work IN the Hospitalito. Thanks!

The Youth Group from the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bellingham Washington is working hard to see that the new Hospitalito is built. In the months before their work trip to Guatemala, they mowed lawns and did landscaping to raise money to donate towards the construction. They also collected toothbrushes to give to the students of a local school. In this photo they are presenting a check for $1000 to Dr. Juan Manuel Chuc. Today, in the rain, they carried buckets of gravel and sand. Thank you to the hard working young people and to the adults traveling with the group who are working equally hard.

The husband of a recovering surgical patient showed his appreciation to Dr. Jaime and the Hospitalito staff by bringing a load of coconuts from his coastal home in Patulul.

June 9^th, in Guatemala City, the Board of Directors of Hospitalito Atitlán was invited to present the story of HA to a group of individuals who own homes on the shores of Lake Atitlán. The event was held in the conference center of a Zone 10 office building. Everyone enjoyed the film, the Life and Birth of Hospitalito Atitlán, and a power point presentation of medical statistics and the construction progress.  In this photo are Lyn Dickey, K’aslimaal treasurer, Fernando Arguedas, Enrique Neutze, who graciously provided the conference center, Christian Klose organizer of the event and Veronica Zachrisson, Director of Amigos del Lago. More than $30,000 towards construction was raised at the event, with the promise of more to come.

Dr. Jaime Perea an obstetrician from the Los Angeles area has returned to HA to volunteer. Originally from Columbia, he has worked in the US for more than 35 years. Dr. Jaime stays in one of the small green cabins on the property and enjoys the meals prepared by Ingrid in the staff kitchen. The staff really enjoys seeing friends return. Thank you Dr. Jaime!

Heart to Heart is a large US NGO that sends disaster relief and medicines around the world.  Jorge Coromac returned to Hospitalito Atitlán today with medical students and support staff who are doing well child check-ups at schools around the lake. They came to Santiago Atitlán to check up on the Hospitalito and the construction progress.  Here they are relaxing in the “green area” above the construction.

Another despidida… this time with pizza, thanks to Dra. María del Carmen Sanchez, a Spanish ER physician who volunteered at HA for a month. Also leaving is Kathleen Wilder an OB from Portland Oregon. Both plan to return in 2010. Maltiox!!

Pouring a foundation is traditionally done by hand in Santiago Atitlán, with the concrete mixed by hand and a bucket brigade to pass the heavy gallon buckets to the roof. Hospitalito Atitlán’s construction commission purchased two concrete mixers when the work began to insure quality, and the compression tests of the samples sent to the lab, prove that the work is going well. The architect and structural engineers recommended a concrete pump for the pour of the second floor.

The work was scheduled to begin at 5 AM, and 35 construction workers and MANY local volunteers arrived at that hour. Unfortunately, the start was delayed by protestors who blocked the roads the day before and delayed the arrival of the pump. So at 8 AM, all was ready. There were many other problemitas, that were handled as they came up. Electricity in the town went off (the water too) so the Bomberos made many trips filling the tanks of water. The pump developed problems that were corrected. Mid-morning snack of chuchitas was served as was pulik at lunch and tamales at 4:30 PM. Thankfully reinforcements arrived at 4 in the afternoon. The work was incredibly hard. It finished at 7 PM and the rains held off.  Everyone is exhausted and pleased. Thanks so much to the many volunteers in the community. 

Dr. Juan Manuel Chuc, Aklax, and Dr. Kent Bream from the University of Pennsylvania all loaded buckets of gravel to fill the cement mixers.

Austin Kilaru, Sourav Bose, David Lewis and Matt Deng worked harder than they ever have in their lives yesterday. Beginning at 8 AM, they joined 35 construction workers and 15 other volunteers from Santiago Atitlán for the tremendous task of mixing and pouring concrete for the second floor of the new Hospitalito Atitlán.