Last week!

For some reason, the last week of every trip that I take is always the best. This has been the case for my last week in Guatemala as well. The two main goals that Nueva Vida had for me was: test the hearing of the students/teachers and organize the medical documents into separate folders for each kid. I completed both tasks one week in advance. I didn't want Jennifer to have to think of random busy work for me to do to fill my schedule for the last week and felt that my work at Nueva Vida was done. I called the church that I attend on Sundays in Antigua and asked their staff if they had any work for me to do. They said that there was a group of students from the states coming in that I could join who was doing work around Antigua. On Monday/Tuesday we built a house and on Friday we fed over 400 students at a feeding center in Santa Maria de Jesus and delivered a water filter to a needy family in Santa Maria. The group that I joined was very accepting of me and I now have new friends from various states around the U.S. I am thankful that God gave me this opportunity to continue to serve and the friendships that he brought into my life.

The entire house (a shack in US standards) is the space where we are leveling the ground in this picture. 

Carrying buckets of cement gets you a little dirty...

Thankful for such a fun group and great friends!

This is the first feeding house that we went to. A woman and her husband felt the need to build on a large room on their house and to start a feeding ministry in her town. They learned that many of the children were only receiving a tortilla and a cup of coffee for every meal. The children of this town can now come to this Guatemalan couple's house and be nourished with a meal and the gospel.

This is the woman whom we delivered a water filter to. She was living in Santa Maria de Jesus. She said that she would have not been able to afford a filter (meaning she and her family was drinking the tap water which is very unsanitary in Guatemala). She asked us to pray for her since she is a Christian and her husband is not. Please pray for her family and her living situation!

Her adorable daughter, Dolce-Maria,  giving her puppy some of the filtered water

Dolce-Maria's first drink of filtered water at home!

This is at the large feeding center we went to in Santa Maria de Jesus. Over 400 children get fed on wed/fri. Some of the special needs students from Nueva Vida made an appearance and immediately found me and "gave me some lovin'"

Recap of week 2

I am not the most consistent blogger in the world, so this is a recap of my past week:
1) we finished up hearing testing at Nueva Vida! Many of the teachers asked for us to test their hearing as well and might have some mothers of the children come to the school who have noticed their hearing getting worse.
2) I also finished a huge project of organizing all of the medical/therapy/treatment documents and student information into individual folders for each of the students.

3) I visited the world's fanciest McDonalds.

There was  a guard who was watching over the childrens meal toys...which were in a glass case on display.

                                                    I had hot date with Ronald McDonald!

4) Made new friends from Morningside University in New Jersey

5) Walked in a cloud

Hiking Adventures

I AM SO SORE! I went hiking up to the top of Pacaya, the active volcano that I can see from my bedroom window. Don't worry, Mom and Dad, I went with a group of tourists! :) The hike took about 1.5 hours up and an hour back down. I loved every single moment of it, but the view at the top was absolutely breathtaking! I tried to take pictures, but the cheap iPhone camera that I have with me simply could not capture the entirety of its beauty. When I got home, I was exhausted, took a power nap and then hiked up to Cerra de la Cruz (hill of the cross) that overlooks Antigua. I stayed up there for a considerable amount of time and prayed for the city and its people. Afterwards I strolled around the crowded streets (Saturday is when all the tourists come to Antigua), went to the artisan market, and watched some street performers in the park. I had a great day!

Pacaya last erupted in 2010, shooting ash and debris 1500 meters into the air. The ash rained down on Guatemala City and other cities in the area, causing the international airport to close down. It burned all of the crops in the villages that were located in the skirt of the Volcano and killed a journalist who was trying to cover the story of the eruption.

Don't know how safe this was, but there was a hole in the Volcano that you could get into which they called a "natural sauna". It was pretty warm...

View of Agua and Fuego, two other active valcanos.

Standing on some 3 month old lava...

Hearing Testing

For the past three days, the main project that Jennifer and I have been doing is testing the hearing of all the students at Nueva Vida. To make this project quick and efficient (there are over 100 enrolled students at Nueva Vida), Jennifer and I came up with a rather efficient system that gets each student in and out of the testing room within around 5-7 minutes. While Jennifer is explaining the test to the child and making sure they understand the directions (she is fluent in Spanish), I set up the audiometer for the next test and get the paperwork ready to record the data. I then test the child and record the data. While I am testing the child's hearing, Jennifer analyzes the results of the data coming from the previous test. Since I just had my audiology exam last week, it has been really fun being able to apply what I have learned in a real-life setting. So far, I have tested around 70 children and have about one more day of hearing screening left!

This is Griselda. She might not have been the most cooperative or testable client we had but she sure is cute!!

Jennifer and Griselda

This is the test result of a student named Ronald. He grew up blind and deaf. According to the faculty at Nueva Vida, he was miraculously healed by God when he was 2 years old. Unfortunately, after the miracle, he never stepped foot into a school until much later in life and has some major language and learning delays. I had the privilege of testing his hearing - the numbers written in the column are the decibals that he can hear the various frequencies at. Normal decibal levels for hearing range from -10-15 dB. As you can see, his hearing is beautifully within the range of normal hearing.  Knowing that he was once deaf and personally being able to test him and get results that are completely normal was just...awesome. Praise God!

First Day On The Job!

Monday was my first day "on the job" at Nueva Vida. I have to honestly say that I was a little bit nervous, considering I had just met the Speech Pathologist that I was to work with the day before (she is great, by the way), I can't speak Spanish, and I have little experience with children who have disabilities. However, as soon as I walked into the school, I was greeted by 4-5 students who all just wanted to hug me and hold my hand. Jennifer showed me around Nueva Vida and introduced me to the faculty who is mainly comprised of Guatemalan teachers, a few American missionaries, and some special needs students who graduated from the school and are now employed by the school. The school day began with a large group assembly where the children sang songs, watched a puppet show, and were introduced to the Bible verse of the week. The assembly ended in the children dividing up into groups with their classes and the teachers praying over them. I spent most of the day assisting Jennifer with speech therapy sessions, besides recess time where I excused myself to go play on the playground with the kids (no shame) :D The children loved to have their picture taken - here are a few of my favorites. 


All the students gathered in the court yard for their assembly

Puppet show during the Assembly

Cute girls!

The ladies' man with his cute girls!

These three precious girls are not only adorable but also deaf! They are signing "I love you"

This is Kaela. She is the sister of one of the students who comes in for therapy. She is also my personal Spanish tutor. During her brother's session, I was given the task of keeping her entertained. During that time, she helped me build up my Spanish vocabulary. I would point or hold up an object, ask "Que es eso? (what is this?) and she would give me the Spanish word.

I Have Arrived!

Last Sunday, I finally arrived in Guatemala City, Guatemala! After arriving 45 minutes behind schedule, my plane finally landed in Guatemala City where my contact, Jennifer Giesemann, was thankfully patient enough to wait for me at the pickup area outside of the airport exit. We went out to lunch in Guatemala City and then drove down to Antigua where she introduced me to the family with whom I will be staying with for the next month. An elderly woman runs the home with the help of her granddaughter and a few other family members. Besides me, there are two other guests: one from Korea and the other from Guatemala City. Everyone in the home is great and we have had a lot of fun trying to communicate with each other (I don't speak Spanish and only the guest from Guatemala City can speak English). Usually conversations at the dinner table are made up of  a mixture of Spanish, English, and our own version of sign language. The house is beautiful, decorated in a traditional, Guatemalan design and is conveniently located in walking distance to all of the tourist hot spots of Antigua. I thank God that he has provided me with safety to Antigua and for a great housing situation!

This is the view from my bedroom window. Very faintly, you can see what looks like a mountain. But that, my friends is no mountain. It is an active Volcano!

What am I doing in Guatemala?

Many of you know that I am an undergraduate student at the University of Georgia studying Speech-Language Pathology (SLP). Months ago, one of my professors sent out the blog of a former graduate and SLP who volunteers full-time at "Nueva Vida" Christian School - a special needs school in Santa-Maria de Jesus, Guatemala. In Guatemala, children with disabilities are often left confined to their homes if not completely rejected since they "bring shame to their families". In 2000, a Christian nurse felt led to open a school where these children who were hidden, looked down upon, and seen as shameful, would not only become educated and learn how to become members of society, but also learn how to become members of God's kingdom. After reading the blog of this SLP and building up a curiosity, I emailed her to find out more. Not only did she give me more information, but she invited me to come during my summer vacation to assist her in her ministry!
I have decided to spend May 11-June 3 volunteering at "Nueva Vida" Christian School and hope to use this blog as a way for friends, family, and anyone who is interested to keep up with what God is doing through the Nueva Vida Christian School in Santa Maria de Jesus. While I am volunteering at this school, I will be assisting in daily speech-therapy sessions, participate in sign-language courses, and helping with hearing screenings on all of the students as well as doing any other odd jobs that the school may have for me to do.
While the thought of flying alone to a country that I know little about and where I don't speak the language is intimidating, I am very excited about this opportunity that God has put ahead of me. I know my knowledge of speech pathology may be furthered through this trip, but I am more excited of learning how I can practically morph my future career into a ministry.
I hope that you will support this trip by praying in the following ways:

•  For the students and families of the students- that they would be influenced by the gospel delivered to them through Nueva Vida School.
• That God would be glorified by every aspect of the trip.
• For protection and safety while I travel and during my stay in Guatemala.
• That I would remain encouraged and motivated during difficult times of the trip.
• That God would give me wisdom and keep me humble during all tasks that are given to me.