April, 2018

Good News from Health Talents International

"God had a son. He was a missionary and a physician” David Livingston

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"THE BLIND SEE" "I left part of my heart in Guatemala this year with 3-year-old David (born blind with congenital cataracts. First eye was operated on in November) Our youngest cataract patient in 16 years of trips and by far the absolute sweetest. He stole all of our hearts with his outgoing personality and generous smile. Gloria á Dios (praise be to God) that he who once was blind now can see." by Amy Coleman note: Dr. Lee Coleman has been a valuable, consistent volunteer with HTI for many years. This year he was assisted by wife, Amy and two of their children, Claire and Walker. Truly a family with hearts to serve!

WHO KEPT THE FEBRUARY TEAM BUSY?

What big eyes you have Nelson! He is 11 months old and had his lip repaired this February.  He will return next year for his palate repair.

This is Brayan. He is 18 months. We have been following him for awhile, but he needed to gain a little weight before he could have his surgery.  He is finally big enough!

This little charmer is Dillon. He won the hearts of our nurses with his brave face and constant smile. He was our youngest this surgical week at only 6 months.

Santiago is the only child that is on his return visit. He had his lip surgery done in August of 2016. Doesn’t he look amazing? He is already working with Sharon VanCleave, Speech Therapist, to help him develop his speech skills.

GIVING HOPE TO THE HELPLESS As always, there are patients who touch us in a special way. In February, we had the opportunity to meet Esperanza, who is thirty-nine years old. Esperanza has suffered a great deal this last year. While having a seizure, she fell into a fire and was severely burned on her face, neck, arms and chest. It was an event that caused her life to be forever changed.  Plastic Surgeons Michael Hueneke, Philip Strawther, and Dwayne Fulks realized that this was going to be a multi-step process but first, they wanted to give her more mobility in her neck area by removing some of the scar tissue. As she waited for her surgery, Susan Thomas sat and held her hand so she did not have to wait alone. Susan Easterling is pictured here, helping Esperanza with her dinner. It is almost impossible for Esperanza to chew, so Susan helps her with a syringe of a high protein pudding. In Spanish, Esperanza means “hope”. we thank God for our talented surgeons who gave Esperanza her esperanza..

Service Spotlight: "CLINIC VITALS" There's an App for That! It doesn't seem that hard...until you're the one doing it! That is the consensus of many of the University students who volunteer to help weigh, measure, record blood pressure and temperature for the nearly 800 ABC students' well child checkups in Guatemala. When first time HTI volunteer Landon Hester , Oklahoma Christian University, was faced with this task, he realized there should be "an app for that". So, along with buddy Fiker Desalegn they called in resources. Not financial resources,they found friends who would donate their time to create a free app to enable almost anyone to become proficient at taking vital statistics. There were nursing majors who gave accurate instructions, graphic designers who made the instructions into simple to understand pictures and a computer programmer who made it all come to life in a free app. So, next time you come to Guatemala, download the app! You'll be an expert in no time. Download for Apple

Landon Hester, co-creator of the Clinic Vitals app Download for Android

CRITICAL NEED FOR NURSES THIS SPRING May 5-12 :  OR - 2 Scrub and/or Circulator Recovery Ward -5 RN's June 23-30:  OR- 4 Scrub and/or Circulator,  Recovery Ward- 1 3 RN's Our June 23-30 trip is also in need of anesthesia providers