2011 SAGE Mission to Uspantan

Saturday and Sunday

Our SAGE Mission team of 75 travels from different parts of the U.S. to Guatemala City the main airport in Guatemala. It takes two days of travel to get to the hospital that is the base of operations for the team. Six members of the team came down on Wednesday to get a jump start on the process of setting up the hospital. The rest of the team traveled on Saturday, July 9^th We carry 60 plus bags of medical supplies as part of our checked luggage. Sixteen of these along with 12 personal bags missed the connection in Dallas.

We spend the night in Guatemala City and get up early on Sunday to drive eight hours up into the mountains to the hospital in Uspantan. Trust me you have to want to get to the little community in the mountains. As the crow flies it is only about 100 miles from Guatemala City but the road winds through the mountains making it more like 250 miles. When we arrive the scramble begins; everyone grabs their luggage and finds a cot to call home for the next eight days. Then we find our team captain and finish the job, started by our advance team, of setting up the hospital. The kitchen has to be set so that the kitchen crew can keep us well fed, because just like the army this team moves on its stomach. To keep the team healthy we establish a protocol for entering the cafeteria/kitchen. Everyone must wash their hands and then dip them in a mild bleach solution. Even the food that we eat is dipped in this solution all in an effort to keep the team healthy.

The OR, Post-Op and recovery areas are set up centered around the OR for efficient patient flow. Some of the surgeons go and begin seeing prospective surgery patients so that surgeries can begin first thing in the morning. The pharmacy, eye clinic and clinic areas also have to be set up and it takes everyone well into the night to get things setup. Those who could paused about 9pm for evening devotional where we pray, sing and share about the day.