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| Aerial view of San Cristobal church |
A week from today, I board my first flight from our very own
little Santa Rosa airport to LAX, where I will meet up with my fellow
interpreter and dear friend Katharine Allen and the rest of the Mammoth Medical Missions team. Next day we board our flight to Mexico City, followed by another
flight to Tuxtla, a drive to San Cristobal Las Casas and one more drive to our final
destination, the highland village of San Andrés Larráinzar. In case you are wondering what this is all about, check out my post here.
It’s Saturday – my very favorite day of the week and I’m gathering
my camping gear, making my lists, and checking them twice. So much fun!!
I’m also madly translating the handouts and Power Point
presentations for the teaching week, and brushing up on my emergency room, physical
therapy and obstetrical terminology. Talk about a crash course!
I am so grateful to all my friends and family around the
world who have made it possible for me to join this event through their
generous donations. I am also so grateful
to all the wonderful folks I have yet to meet, who have converged in their
intention to bring some healing and training assistance to this village.
It’s amazing what goes into a medical mission. The hours and
hours of planning. Fund raising. Sterilizing and packing medical equipment.
Gathering supplies. Coordinating. Communicating. And countless other behind the
scenes activities, all to make it possible.
It’s a global network of caring hearts, who are giving of
their time, energy, money, resources, know-how and expertise to make it happen.
This particular configuration of Western medical providers,
interpreters and support staff are about to converge and meet with a whole
other world: the indigenous villagers of San Andrés Larráinzar, the local
medical staff, the traditional birth attendants and local support staff.
It is always an unknown when such divergent world views come
together…
Who knows what challenges we will face, what cultural bumps
will present themselves? And who knows
what magic we will create together?
Who knows what the power of such shared intentions can bring
about – besides the obvious benefits of the no-cost elective surgeries, and the
intensive skills training in maternal health, rural ER skills and physical
therapy for local medical providers?
I can’t wait to find out!
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