Our trip to Esquipulas

Así es la vida of Esquipulas.

Two and a half hours outside of Zacapa lies Esquipulas.  A group of us traveled by bus to a new rehabilitation center nestled into the cobblestone streets of the city.

Hearts in Motion recently put its hand into the community of Esquipulas and so this expansion of H.I.M.'s work was new and exciting.  The bus towed dentists, speech therapists, nurses and student volunteers over the mountains to reach the people.

Así es la vida of Carlos Enrique Olmedo Ceron.  Carlos was not always disabled.  It wasn't until a motorcycle accident that put him into a wheelchair.  His disability opened his eyes to his community and the needs of the people and, therefore, he sold his car and other belongings to buy physical therapy equipment and opened the rehabilitation center.  Karen met Carlos only last year so his relationship with Hearts in Motion is young and full of potential.

Needless to say, what he has done on his own is already heartwarming and impressive.  By the time the bus arrived, a large group of people sat waiting for H.I.M.'s arrival, hoping for answers and treatment they wouldn't normally be able to afford.


We split into three rooms, the first was for speech therapy and
 hearing exams, the second general medicine and the third dentistry.  Bringing their own sterile equipment, dentists for the most part pulled teeth.  In fact, the majority of the people were looking to have a tooth pulled by the 4 or 5 dentists that came.  Translators stood by to tell people that the dentist was about to administer an injection and that it would pinch.  The dentist chair is naturally and intimidating and frightening place and you could see the ease on the people's face as the process was explained to them in their own language.  WSU foreign language professor and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Ana-María Rodriguez Vivaldi, walked around calling people "generals" for their bravery in the dentist chair.

My own personal perspective of today was shaped by the speech therapy group.  Signed on as a stand-in translator for them, I got a unique look into their specialty and how they help people.  One station took the patient through a hearing test, the same one you may have experienced in elementary school, raising your hand when you heard the beep.  Another station had the patient repeat simple words to test how they pronounce the normal trouble sounds like "r", "s", "k" and "g".

The patient I had the most experience with was this beautiful girl
 named Marileny.  Her grandmother brought her to the clinic explaining she could understand, read and associate words but could not say them.  We sat down and began various exams testing structural movements like moving her jaw from side to side and touching her tongue to a popsicle stick on all sides of her mouth.  It was immediately apparent that she had trouble getting her tongue to the stick, especially at the sides of her mouth.  Dr. Amy Meredith of WSU Spokane had me explain to the grandmother that Marileny is trying her hardest with the muscles she has, meaning that her muscles are so stiff it is hard for her to relax and she lacks complete control of her motor skills.  Dr. Meredith and the students diagnosed it as cerebral palsy and had me explain to the grandmother that Marileny is trying very hard and she just needs practice.  As we sounded out words like "gato", "sol", "hola" and so forth, she improved as she mimicked the movements of our mouths.  It was obvious that she would only get better with practice and time.

Another girl, Judith, had quite a different story.  Sitting down with the students, they immediately noticed she had a hypernasal voice, or seemed to speak through her nose.  They checked the inside of her mouth and found a cleft palate.  A van returned for her and brought her to Zacapa and she now sits in our hotel waiting to be put on the surgery list.

Having no experience with medicine myself, it was incredibly eye-opening to watch my colleagues in action.  They took small voice abnormalities and diagnosed them to greater causes.  Judith's family had no idea that her palette was split until today.

After the rehabilitation center we quickly visited the local orphanage that various patients had walked from that day.  As soon as we walked through the grounds, children ran to us with hugs and smiles, and it was once again hard to believe the hardships they had already experienced at such a young age. One nun held a small baby, Rafael Antonio, that had been turned into the orphanage after being found in a cardboard box behind a bus station.  The nun of the orphanage also told us their greatest need was personal toiletries like soap, shampoo and toothpaste, explaining that they use the money they receive for food.


The people here inside and outside of Hearts in Motion continue to amaze me.  Their lives, stories, experiences and talent open your eyes to just what people are capable of.  I have met various children throughout this trip, living in garbage, not able to speak, and abandoned, but the most powerful and humbling thing is that no matter what, they smile.