The Blind Can See

January in the clinic was an enjoyable but very hectic month.  There was an ophthalmology group of volunteers from Germany here to operate on eyes and to do consults.  They were able to operate on 172 people and to see over 1000 people for a consult.  Thus they did an incredible amount of work!  The surgeon has been donating his talents and a month of his time every year for 35 years.  Really an incredible example of generosity by sharing his talents, time and money.  The number of people he was able to help over the years is truly a reward in itself.

The four volunteers were all such nice people.  They were so generous with their time and did such a great job of helping all the people they were able to.  The days were long but with such good humor.  Always smiles and openness to everyone.  It was such a privilege to work with them and despite so much work, very enjoyable.

An eye surgeon is able to help the people so much here.  I remember an elderly man who came in with very developed cataracts in both eyes.  He had not been able to see more than shadows for over ten years. He was lead into the clinic with a cane in one hand and his grandson pulling him by the other.  After surgery he returned a week later for his post-op check. He was alone and just walked in and sat down.  The eye surgeon asked if I recognized him.  I said I could not remember him and the surgeon smiled and said he was the blind man!  It was truly remarkable.

As the priest said during Mass, “That just like Jesus cured the blind, the eye surgeon was able to also cure the blind.”  This is so true.

It is such an honor to work with so many generous, wonderful people.  I am blessed to see the benefits of the surgeons in the people who can see again, hear again (the ENT teams) and to be able to work again after hernia surgery.

Ophthalmology Team with Phil Hawley (MDA - 2nd from L) and Amy (3rd from R)

Plastic Surgery Clinic

In November we had a team of seven wonderful people who came to the clinic to perform plastic surgeries.  It is always amazing to me how generous the volunteers are.  They pay their own way, collect supplies for months before their arrival, spend their vacation time and do such fantastic things here in Ecuador.

There was a young boy named Alexander (photo below) who had been burnt with a gasoline fire as a young child.  The scars from this accident prevented him from opening one of his hands, straightening his two arms and lifting his left arm.  The surgeons in a long surgery were able to transplant skin to open up the scars for improved movement.  In just four hours of surgery Alexander regained the use of his hand, arms and his shoulder.  He is such a brave little boy and a few days after surgery, when he was feeling better, he started telling stories.  It was amazing to hear such a young boy tell such good stories.  He had the parents of the other hospitalized children laughing.

I am so grateful for the surgeons  and all the team that came from Austria.  They helped 73 people to regain movement of legs. feet and hands as well as other types of surgeries.    Their generosity with their time and talents helped many people to improve their lives.

Thank you to each and every one of the volunteers who have come to Guadalupe offering so many different types of help.  It has been a pleasure to meet so many amazing people.

Reflections of Being a Missionary

I am very thankful for the opportunity to have been a missionary for over 30 years.  I have been blessed getting to know so many wonderful people of many cultures.  The people I have come to know are poor materially but have often been very rich in generosity and values.  Often they have taught me to improve my own values to things of more importance. 

For example, my next door neighbors in a small village in Guatemala taught me generosity.  The wife had just left the hospital from a difficult miscarriage.  The husband had a hernia that kept him from working in the fields to plant their food crops.  The two eldest children abandoned the farm and went to live in the city to work.  The two older girls were both developmentally disabled with violent tendencies.  The other two children and grandchild that they were raising were all too young to work.  Thus they were very poor and to me needed lots of assistance.  

The wife would offer me dinner with them so I would not have to eat alone, offered me clothes when I got wet from the rain and heated water for me frequently on their fire.  One day they asked if I had any food and if I had time to visit a family with them.  Off we went.  This family that I considered very poor took me to visit what they considered poor.  There was a family of 5 with four of the adult children severally handicapped and unable to walk or even stand up.  The mother of 97 years old who had taken care of them all had recently died so we brought them food and cleaned the house.  My “poor” neighbors went weekly with food and help to this even needier family.

Another example is when an elderly couple in Guatemala taught me the importance of relationships.  I was new to Guatemala and visiting a distant village staying in a home.  When the husband returned from the fields he told his wife all that had happened in the fields and then she told him what she had been doing.  I asked the husband, who had been planting and harvesting a corn crop three times a year for over 60 years, what he thought of his wife’s work.  He said “oh my poor wife.  She works so hard all day long inside the house and never gets to be outside!”  I then asked the wife the same question and she said “Oh my poor husband.  He has to work outside in the sun and rain.”

With my upbringing of constant stimulation and change of pace activities I thought to myself ‘What can they possibly have to talk about doing the same activities for all their lives?’.  They were interested in what the other did and valued what the other did.