The Sad Truth About Guatemala´s Healthcare

We were
there to do a massive clean up of the hospital. One by one the 5 of us had the mother’s take their children outside to
the courtyard so we could scrub down the cribs, floors, and chairs. There was not much medical equipment so speak
of, but what we saw we also cleaned. Everything was completely covered in dirt. There were tons of bugs crawling about on the
floor and we actually found a massive green toad in one of the corners
underneath a crib. It was the biggest
toad I’ve ever seen in my life. 

The doctor
that came in to give us the tour told us that this was a “government sponsored”
children’s clinic. Which of course means
that they receive very little funds and supplies for the hundreds of children
that come in and out of the doors every day. Apparently some of the supplies and medicine that medical teams bring in
to help the thousands of clinics like this one get stopped at the airport in
Guatemala City and is taken from the teams and resold to the people to make a
profit for the government instead of being given to those who really need it
for free. So the pharmacy that sees
about 150 kids a day each month runs out of medicine in about 15 days, so for
the rest of the month they just have to do with out the medicine that these
kids so desperately need because the government only gives medicine / money
once a month. 

Walking
through the different areas of this little clinic we saw their “lab”, where all
we saw was a very old microscope and lots of slides with blood smears lined up
on a table. Across the room was the sink
where I saw a water basin which they use to wash the used slides with soap and
water and then reuse them for the next patient. In the middle of the courtyard where the children can play is a large
stack of cardboard boxes that are covered in dirt and grime and have tons and
tons of bugs crawling around them. I
asked what the boxes were full of and the doctor looked at me and told me that
they keep all their old used needles and syringes in them. I couldn’t believe it. These medical professionals were allowing
children to play around boxes of exposed used needles that were falling out of
some of the boxes. 

They don’t
even have enough supplies for their dentist to do all the things she is
actually trained for. So if there is any
problems with your teeth, no matter what it is, the only solution is to just
pull the tooth out. That is the only
procedure she actually has equipment to perform. They only have one ultrasound machine which
is completely ancient and can only be used on pregnant women. It is not strong enough for anything else and
apparently can barely even perform those ultrasounds well enough to just barely
see if the fetus is still moving or not. 

These kids
who are so precious and so loved by God were just rotting in this place. It was so difficult for me to stomach the
situation before me. I couldn’t imagine
that people were given this type of healthcare and it be thought of as a great
thing. The doctor’s and nurses there do
the very best they can with what they are given, but it’s not enough. Something must be done to give these children
what they so desperately need and deserve.