días cuatro, cinco y seis

I think the title says days four, five and six, but Google translate hasn't always pulled through for me.

Day five we found a church and had an easy day of resting and relaxing planned. This was lucky for me, and a few others, because we got sick:( We have decided that it was a bacteria or a parasite.

Days five and six I was feeling better and was able to work on the legs. It was a busy two days to get those things finished. The process was simple enough, but we all wanted each prosthetic to be perfect. Each mold was filled with plaster and sanded to the exact dimensions of the patient's stub. Certain areas required building up and reshaping to give more comfort. After this was finished, plastic was heated and basically shrunk over the mold. Next we chipped away the plaster from the inside and cut the plastic to size for the opening. We sanded them and made them as close to perfect as they come. The foot part was a process, because the have very thin PVC pipe in Guatemala. We cut, heated, re-cut, glued, sanded, measured, and painted the PVC. The assembly took place the next day when the patients came back. To be honest, some of the painting didn't happen until the morning of the fittings because we were running so far behind. These were the most stressful days for me. I felt like I had a lot of responsibility to the amputees to do a really good job. I was horrified that I would make a mistake. Many times Lucky, Eddie's sister, asked me, "What did you just do?" and had to fix my work. I was happy that she was there to do that.

I was very glad when day six was over. It felt like the longest day, and it didn't help that many of us were sick. The work, however, really paid off on day seven!

Day 3

Today was Saturday, the big day, the day we fit 13 people with prosthetic legs. Today the prosthetist, Eddie, decided that he wanted to marry me because I was always cleaning. I am confident saying that I was his favorite. Our clients were the best people and I remember them all, I think:) There was Brenda and Jose Luis, Eddy and Carlos F, Catalina, Melvin, Maynor, Noel, Blanca, Liliana, Luiz, Carlos N, and Maria.

One of my favorite things is when they spoke English like Luiz. I loved just sitting with him and talking about his daily life and his accident. He was in a school bus when he was ten and got ejected out. The bus then ran him over, taking his leg, and kept going. He told me of his efforts to get them to pay for his injuries, but he had no such luck. The court system there is really awful. He has the best attitude and was so grateful for our help.

I honestly could go on and on about each of the clients, but I will finish this post with Carlos Fernando. He is the little boy missing two legs. He was in a truck with his dad driving, his mom in the middle seat, and he was riding shotgun. There was a semi in front of them that was taking and exit right, making it impossible to see that traffic was stopped in front of them. His dad tried to avert traffic, but the accident hit right in front of Carlos, eventually causing him to loose both legs. The worst part of the story is that his dad left his family shortly after. I can't imagine losing that much in a short period of time. It must have been awful. His mom had to get a job, and luckily got a good job with Walmart. This good job only pays about $200 each month. It is obvious to me why she is unable to buy prosthesis for her son when the least expensive you can find in Guatemala is $750. Multiply that by 2 for both legs, $1500, and that is 7 1/2 months of her pay. Carlos will grow out of his legs fairly quickly because of his age. He is so young that his bones also keep growing. This causes a lot of pain and requires surgery. He was able to get one leg operated on in Antigua and the hospital we visited. He didn't understand English, so usually when I was with him I just held his hand. He really was the coolest little guy.

Many of the amputations were caused my car accidents. There was also one from lightening, one from a train, four from diabetes, and one from cancer. It really was so great to get to know and help these people. This day was so fulfilling and humbling. I can't believe that only days earlier I sat in my air conditioned apartment, drank my tap water and felt over burdened by school. I am so very VERY lucky to have the life that I do. My troubles don't compare to the trials I have seen in Guatemala. I hope I always remember that.