Wednesday in Guatemala

On Wednesday we traveled to the beautiful city of Antigua. We spent the afternoon there exploring and shopping among the vendors who all have a "special price, just for you" (and everyone else)! But, first, we spent the morning at the special needs hospital.

This hospital is home to over two hundred people with special needs, from children to senior citizens. Since I've worked with people with special needs in several capacities, I was curious to see how the facility functions. It is funded completely by donations and while the environment is sparse and reminiscent of the mental wards portrayed in old movies, it was obvious that the caring staff and volunteers did all they could with what they had.

We were there during Holy Week, so the people who were at the hospital were those whose family could not afford to come get them or who had no family at all. For a while, I hung out with Jessica, a young teenage girl with a beautiful smile. I pushed her wheelchair around the courtyard for a while and then we played catch with a ball. Jessica smiled and laughed from time to time, occasionally focusing her eyes on my face.

When she had to go with one of the nurses, I wandered over to visit with Andrea and her new friend Roberto. When Roberto tried to scratch his head but had trouble reaching, I scratched it for him, and in the process discovered that he loved to have his head rubbed. Everytime I stopped, he would grin and lean his head towards me until I started again.

Andrea also introduced me to Lionel, a 14 year old boy who weighed only 40 lbs. He looked only ten or so and had severe physical disabilities. He was brought to the hospital from a rural area by one if the volunteers. His family could not feed him and was under pressure to let him die because the other people in the area did not understand what was wrong with him. Like many of the others, he would not have a home, the care he needs or possibly even his life if it were not for the hospital and the dedicated people who keep it running.

Matthew 25:40 ESV
"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "