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Surgery at Centro de Salud Barbara, San Juan SacatepéquezThis clinic was built about 4 years ago by a Guatemalan doctor and his family and is a unique in Guatemala. The clinic is bright, airy and spacious and functions mainly as a primary healthcare facility and birthing centre staffed by local Guatemalan nurses and medical students. The clinic has two ORs which were equipped in the fall of 2008 at which point volunteer teams began working there. It is a comfortable place to work and is of an exceptionally high standard for Guatemala. Where we can, we use Guatemalan nurses though at present there are not many trained to work in the OR or post op. We also provide training for student and medical students. Next door to the clinic is the new Albergue Gabriel (also completed in the fall of 2008). This hostal provides accommodation for patients and an accompanying family member and is a very valuable facility as patients often live far away and are not able to return home as soon as would be expected in Canada or the US. |
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Post op patients move to the Albergue once they no longer need nursing care, and stay there until they are able to underatke the journey home. While they are in the hostal our doctors check on them daily, as do the medical students. San Juan is about 1½ hours north east of Antigua or an hour north of Guatemala City. While in San Juan we stay at Casa Damasco, a retreat which is 15 minutes from the clinic. Accommodation is dorm style, and there are showers that produce water of varying temperatures. We eat breakfast and dinner at the retreat and lunch at the clinic, and we arrange a marimba night at the retreat on Friday evening for the entertainment of the team and local staff. THe team usually spends two nights in Antigua before heading to San Juan and one at the end of the trip during which you can explore this beautiful colonial town. |
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