FEATURES: Lending a helping hand

Annual trip by local church groups assists youngsters, families in Guatemala.

By: Jeffrey McLaughlin
   Many people have asked me what it was like in Guatemala so I am writing this little note to you all. I’m sorry that I don’t have the time to write to you all personally. I thank you for all of your support, particularly those of you who have provided direct assistance to The Manantial de Esperanza and the medical program.
   The Allentown Presbyterian Church and the Cranbury Presbyterian Church spent a month in Guatemala, returning June 30. This year’s participants were: Doug Dent, Patricia Heran, Alfred Mottola, Jimmy Wilson, Sandra Agostinelli, Jem Heinzel-Nelson, Maria Labassi, Art Bokor, Rob Hulit, Gary Klein, Hal Boston, Chris Heran, Joe Sabo, Al Chech, Hal Boston Jr., Stephen Heinzel-Nelson, Geo Conley IV, Geo Conley V, Lia Hulit and myself.
   So, did you know that in my other life I am an uncertified dental technician? Three years ago, I got tired of seeing all the butchery that was involved with removing teeth in the field under the worst of circumstances. Our dentist is so good and it hurts him so much to be reduced to extraction as the "best method."
   I told him that I wanted to do something proactive rather than reactive and he said if I could figure out what that was he’d help me set it up. By serendipity, I ran across an article in The New York Times about a rural nurse and her efforts to bring a fluoride treatment for the prevention of cavities to the children who were in her caseload.
   We sought out that company and obtained a gift from it of 120 doses of a fluoride varnish that was easy to apply, fast to set up and tastes awful. I went through the fluoride in a day and a half.
   This year we received a larger gift of fluoride from a different company. It was not in measured doses and that was terrific because I could control the application and not cross-contaminate the working system. We figured maybe we could do double what we did before. Boy were we wrong! We quadrupled what we did, and then some.
   In four days, in two villages, we made more than 600 applications. The last day in the village of Xequistel, I had to deputize two other clinic workers to help me keep up with the children who wanted(!) this program. It was a real blessing.
   Next year, I hope to have the same folks who helped me set up with me again and maybe we can see everyone we saw this year and do even more. (Every child receives a new toothbrush and toothpaste from me at the end of the application).
   The Republic of Guatemala was even more beautiful this year than in the past. We are there during the rainy season and this year, for whatever reason, we got deluged by the rain only once, and that was traveling to San Lucas Toliman, our base of operations. So everything around Lake Attilan was lush and green. The stars at night were incredible and we would climb up to the roof of where we were staying and be awestruck. (We know why the Maya were such great astronomers. You can almost touch the stars!)
   The weather was hot. Too hot for "The Land of Eternal Spring" and we did have some severe dehydration among the team. Of course, traveling with doctors and nurses means your medical care is top notch, and if you’re going to be sick these are the people to be sick with. Everybody bounced back pretty quick.
   The down side of the trip was the fact that a major prison break had happened nine days prior to our arrival. Seventy-eight really bad guys made a massive escape from the major prison and were loose in the countryside. The presence of the army, national police, civil police, militias and paras was just like during the bad days of the war in ’92 and ’93.
   The folks in the countryside were on edge, the army was on edge, and the police were locked and loaded. We traveled with a police escort front and back and we still got stopped and looked over. The scary thing was the guys in camo in the bushes with the big automatic guns aimed at your vehicle. Most of my gang missed seeing them because they were distracted by the presence in front of them. Count your blessings you don’t live in a police state.
   This is our sixth year in San Lucas Toliman. (We’ve been going to Guatemala for nine years, and I’ve made seven of those nine trips). We built a Mission House — El Manantial de Esperanza — or the Spring of Hope — and provide school and food (two meals) to 70 children four days a week.
   When I say "we," I mean the Allentown Presbyterian Church with the Cranbury Presbyterian Church (we’re partners) and the Waynesboro (Va.) Presbyterian church. We have added assistance and teams from Presbyterian churches in Media, Pa.; Norfolk, Va.; and Anniston, Ala.
   The Spring of Hope was gorgeous this year. We have part of our wall up, our driveway and parking area graveled, a little lawn, beautiful coleus plants ablaze with color all over the place and the friendliest interior for children in all of Guatemala. It’s a big building by village standards, about 20 by 60 feet and has plumbing, cold running water with a water tower to maintain pressure, boys and girls bathrooms, and electric lights.
   We have four teachers: George and Demaris and Fausto and Sandra. Both couples are young and have babies. Miguel takes care of the place and sleeps there at night to ensure its safety.
   We brought shoes for the children in our program and the children of the villages and churches we visit and know. Boy did we bring shoes! Twenty-one duffel bags weighing more than 80 pounds apiece. Great shoes. Many thanks to all of the people who helped there: The Upper Freehold Elementary School first- and second-grade classes, our congregations, our friends at the Baptist, Methodist and Catholic churches, and people of the community. Not a clunky shoe in the bunch.
   The sewing machines we brought down as hand luggage were greatly appreciated by the ladies of the sewing co-op. They were these wonderful steel constructed "vikings" that some school had put out years ago. Dave Schaefer found them and my wife, Vickie, repaired and overhauled them. They are producing "cash income" right now for the co-op.
   There is always a sad story from the medical clinics. These folks are so poor and care, even in Guatemala, costs so much. We had a little boy of about 7 years of age whose ear canals were filled with parasites. They had invaded and perforated through the eardrums.
   We "passed the hat" and took him into the General Hospital in Solola for help. But he will be deaf.
   We visited the "new" 24/7 emergency clinic that the Media Church financially supports. Our good friend Dr. Anabelly is running it currently. Dr. Anabelly’s father was a great admirer of Edgar Allen Poe, the American author and poet of the 19th century, and named her after "the beautiful Anna Belle Lee." Unfortunately, no one knew how to spell the name at the Register’s Office.
   While we were there one of the women "laying in" had her baby and we all came to visit her and wish her luck. The 24/7 clinic will be a blessing to the people of San Lucas Toliman and the surrounding area. Pray for it because it is terribly expensive to keep open — $50,000 U.S. a year! It’s a "pay what you can" clinic and that means vegetables and coffee.
   The construction team labored mightily on Eva’s house, but it was not able to finish the whole thing. As you know, concrete has to dry and even with the optimal conditions we had it dries slowly. They finished the walls up to the roof so the windows, doors, and roof will be put up by village labor that we hired under the observation of Pastor Henarro of San Lucas Tolliman.
   Eva and her three girls were well cared for but had to move in with relatives once we tore down her house. They came every day and looked on and touched their walls. Once it is done, it will be a great blessing for them. They were living in hard-scrabble poverty. I have seen animal cages that were better than the house they lived in.
   The three little girls are enrolled in the Manantial de Esperanza project. Addendum: I received a beautiful weaving from Guatemala that was done by Eva and her daughter, Abigail, Sept. 6, thanking us for our help. The house is done. They are delighted.
   Next year is our 10th anniversary in Guatemala. When I despair, I feel like we have our fingers in a dike that is leaking. But I am most upbeat when I am with the children who are being helped to gain an education and a healthy body.
   This country has gone from a nasty civil war ( 30 years!) to a democracy that is just beginning. The economy is infantile. The mood of the country is patient right now. We’ll be back next year.
Jeffrey McLaughlin lives and works in Allentown. He is married to Vickie Esposito and they have one son, Sean. Mr. McLaughlin is chairman of the Planning and Zoning Board in Allentown. He has served on the Historical Preservation Review Commission for Allentown, is a past president of the Allentown-Upper Freehold Historical Society, has served on the Allentown Library Board and is active at the Allentown Presbyterian Church, where he serves as an ordained elder on the Board of Session. He hopes that 2002 will find him on his 10th mission trip to Guatemala.