Tuesday, March 27, 2007

2007 Day Six: Adios to El Hato

The team’s last full day in Guatemala dawned clear and sunny. For the last time, the majority of the team gathered outside the Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua and piled into the two vans that would make the trip through the winding mountain roads to El Hato.

Only those working with the medical and dental clinics returned to El Hato for the final day; the electrical team would travel independently and finally get to try their hands at working on wiring a home, after spending the bulk of the week trying to restore the power to the Vuelta Grande buildings. The water project was effectively on hold for this particular trip – this being an election year in Guatemala, the government is showing increased interest in rural projects. Kathy Futornick, leader of the water project, found she could do little more than simply survey the progress of her water improvement and purification efforts, as even taking samples was made more difficult under the government’s watchful eye.

But the medical and dental clinics carried on. The courtyard was a flurry of children, some awaiting time with a doctor or dentist, but all hoping desperately for a gift.

Maureen Gonzales and Jill Methven did not join the team in El Hato. The previous day Maureen, a physical therapist, had stayed in Antigua to go to Transitions and offer some physical therapy. Transitions is an organization offering rehabilitation to disabled Guatemalans by providing wheelchairs and prosthetics. The organization also provides education and vocational training, and has worked closely with the Newberg Noon Rotary’s projects to make them possible.

Last year the Rotary team offered a dental clinic at the Transitions facility for one day, and Maureen found herself providing physical therapy to a handful of participants. This year, Maureen returned to Transitions independent of the Rotary dental clinic to provide more therapy.

And so while the medical and dental clinics were wrapping up in El Hato, Maureen opted to continue providing physical therapy. She and Jill went to a small school for disabled children in a neighboring village – which they learned of through Transitions, but is not formally connected.

“The kids were there for everything from spina bifida, polio, blindness, attention deficit, and cerebral palsy,” Maureen wrote in an e-mail home. She worked with the kids to find specific exercise programs for them, for example, doing yoga with four little girls to help them calm down.

“There was a lot of giggling but they were very eager to cooperate,” Maureen wrote. “It was very cute.”

Maureen also worked with a young polio patient who was walking using Lofstrand crutches, the kind that brace around a patient’s forearms. She found his strength was fine, but his balance was making the crutches necessary. Maureen ran him through a gamut of exercises, including work on a floor mat and “stepping strategies.”

“Finally we walked without the crutches,” but with some physical contact from someone to help maintain his balance, Maureen wrote. “His father was at the classroom, and he was so excited for his son. It was really wonderful.”

While Maureen stretched and rolled her patients around on floor mats, Jill performed a manual therapy technique called a nerve assist. The process works much like a massage and aims at smoothing out pent-up waves of energy in the body’s nervous system. Working along the spine and the major branches off the spinal column, the nerve assist can alleviate problems with the spine as well as joints.

Jill had been performing the nerve assists to a variety of patients all week long, and had taught the technique to a few of the other team members – including Alia Paquette, who had performed an assist on Antigua Rotary member Jacques Dallies when he’d visited in Vuelta Grande (pictured).

Back up in El Hato the medical and dental clinics saw a steady stream of patients, more than the day before. The dental students, Ben Gonzales and Mike Harper, had both been performing extractions throughout the week, but on this the last day they also got to try their hands at fillings.

“I’m a man now,” Ben announced after filling his first cavity.
By three o’clock in the afternoon both the medical and dental clinics started packing up all their supplies into heavy duty plastic tote boxes, and within an hour the school rooms were emptied. Team members lingered in the courtyard to say “adios” and snap a few last pictures of their young Guatemalan friends before piling once again into the vans and returning for the final time to Antigua.

Monday, March 26, 2007

2007 Day Five: Making a Difference

Something amazing happened today, Dr. Allen Methven told anyone who would listen.

“We’re making a difference.”

After wrapping up the clinics in Vuelta Grande the Rotary team moved its attention to the nearby village of El Hato. This is the fourth year for the dental clinic in El Hato – the second year for the medical – and this time the dentists really saw the impact of their service.

Two years ago there was only one little boy who came through the dental clinic with perfect teeth; everyone else needed work. This year there were over two dozen kids, on the first day alone, with great teeth and who asked simply for a cleaning – in hopes of getting a regalo, or gift.

“This is the first time that I’ve seen that many children with that little tooth decay,” said Dr. Allen with a smile.

The clinics took place in the town’s school, which is essentially a square of buildings with a cement courtyard in the middle. While the dental clinic occupied the whole of one building – which the Rotary had wired for electricity two years ago – the medical clinic set up in the classrooms across the courtyard. Chairs lined the wall in front of the clinic and were almost perpetually full of waiting patients.

John Paquette spent some time outside where he performed the heart screenings for the dental clinic, ensuring that anyone suspected of having a heart problem was treated with antibiotics before visiting the dentist. Because individuals with heart problems may have irregularities in the surfaces or texture of their heart or valves, they face a greater risk of developing a potentially fatal infection if bacteria is introduced to their system during procedures that may expose their blood vessels to bacteria – such as dental procedures that cause them to bleed.

The medical clinic had found an unusually high occurrence of heart murmurs – abnormal sounding heart beats that may indicate problems – in Vuelta Grande. In El Hato, John noted, there seemed to be fewer. But he did have one interesting patient:

“I found a boy who had dextrocardia,” John said. Dextrocardia is when the heart is on the right side of the chest instead of the left. “There’re no bad effects,” John added, but it was noteworthy.

Out on the courtyard the children played throughout the day with the new toys they’d received from the Rotary team, and with team members. While the children in Vuelta Grande seemed wary of the Americans milling about, the children in El Hato seem to have come to accept them, almost like some rich extended family members that come once a year and bring presents.

Over lunch a group of four to five El Hato kids took on Brad Richards, Gavin VanHouten and Casey Winder in a game of futbol. When Brad, Gavin and Casey were worn out, Matt Welsh stepped in, to then be relieved by Dr. Jim and Kyle Hoffer. On both sides of the courtyard the Americans, breaking for lunch, cheered the game while heckling their fellow Americans for getting “schooled” by the Guatemalan boys half their age, who danced around the soccer ball as well as their opponents without breaking into a sweat.






The soccer game gradually dwindled to a stop, though the Guatemalan boys played on for a while. Later in the afternoon, some of the Americans would again break from their work to play with the kids, this time teaching the art of jump-roping. The little girls were particularly taken with the sport, and were especially thrilled when Alia Paquette, Maggie Manly, Gavin and Casey twirled the rope for them. The sound of their feet pounding the cement mingled with the sound of their laughter, and everyone looking on wore a bemused smile.




Behind the walls surrounding the courtyard the clinics kept up a steady pace. The medical team had fairly stream-lined their operation with medicines supplies organized in a fashion that would rival many established clinics. Everything is separated into labeled Ziplock bags, creating the effect of a table lined with pharmaceutical grab-bags.

The dental clinic functioned in greater disarray, but functioned nonetheless. Among the sets of healthy teeth were some that needed extractions, and among the patients were some returning for a second visit.

“Do you know who this is?” Amy Caruso called out to Dr. Allen after he’d finished working on a quiet little boy.

This boy was Gustavo, who visited the clinic last year (see “2006 Day Two”). Amy, who worked as a translator for the dental clinic, repeated the story his mother told:

Last year Gustavo was 5 years old when he came to the dental clinic set up by the Rotary in El Hato. His tooth hurt, but after the dentist numbed his mouth, he became terrified and started to cry. His mother brought him back in the afternoon, but the same thing happened, and Gustavo never did get his tooth fixed.

In the year since then, whenever Gustavo complained about his tooth hurting, his mother would admonish him that he should have let the dentist work on him.

So this year, Gustavo marched into the dental clinic, up to the dental chair and got his tooth fixed without so much as a peep.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

2007 Day Four: Passion Sunday in Antigua

If there is one thing the city of Antigua is known for, it is the town’s celebration of the Easter holiday.

Semana Santa – Holy Week – is celebrated with a series of elaborate processions that last nearly the whole day and weave throughout the town. And the most remarkable thing about the processions is the ground on which they tread.

Before the procession makes its way down a particular street, the road is covered in a series of ornate carpets made of flowers and pine-needles or colored sawdust (such as the carpets pictured). The carpets range in size, but are all brightly colored works of art.

Today was the Rotary team’s free day from their work on the mountain, and was also Passion Sunday. Most team members had a chance to see the carpets and parts or all of the procession as it wound its way around town.


The procession consists of various costumed groups – there were men dressed as Roman soldiers, women dressed as shepherds – and a few floats bearing religious scenes, such as Jesus carrying his cross with hell before him and heaven behind. This float was carried on the shoulders of nearly 100 men dressed in purple robes; the float featuring the Virgin Mary was carried by women dressed entirely in black. Both floats are so heavy that they must be traded off from one group of processors to another frequently, and the result of needing so many participants meant that the town was full of men in purple robes.

The procession lasted all day, but no one from the Rotary trip stayed with it for that long. Many of the team members spent the day milling about town through its various markets. A small, adventurous group – Dr. Allen Methven, Dr. Jim Ransom, Ben Gonzales, Laura Gonzales and Kyle Hoffer – spent the afternoon hiking a nearby volcano (though not one of the three surrounding Antigua). They got to poke lava with sticks.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

2007 Day Three: Wrapping Up Vuelta Grande

The issue with the electricity remained the top concern on Saturday as the Rotary team returned to Vuelta Grande for the final day of offering clinics.

“This trip has been the most challenging of any that I’ve come on,” said Walter Want, leader of the electrical project; this is his fourth trip.

The presence of a generator made it possible for the dental clinic to operate the sterilization instrument as well as the air compressor necessary for suction, but the sterilizer and the air compressor couldn’t be run at the same time for fear of overloading the system. This required someone to run outside the clinic to either turn the air compressor on or off, depending on whether the next few moments were to be dedicated to suction (generally necessary for cavity filling) or sterilization (necessary to clean the instruments the dentists use).

While the clinics continued seeing patients, the electrical team, who had initially hoped to spend their time in Vuelta Grande wiring at least one of the homes in the village, pressed on with their work at the school even after the arrival of the generator.

Young boys from the villages typically join their fathers in the fields after they reach the age of about 10 years, and, in doing so, terminate their education. However, Ervin Aspuac, a teacher from El Hato, had arranged to teach classes at night for these boys. Without electricity to run the lights, this would be impossible. And so even after the rest of the Rotary team members had packed up and left, the electrical team remained at work.

The only project that the electricity issue didn’t complicate was the water project, which got its start today. Kathi Futornick lead the way to check on the status of this endeavor with Trista Whitehurst and Antigua Rotary member Jacques Dallies.

The day ended early for the clinics, which had to begin the process of packing up by about two-thirty in the afternoon. Today was the final day in Vuelta Grande; they begin working in El Hato on Monday.

Friday, March 23, 2007

2007 Day Two: Return to Vuelta Grande

The day began with:

1. Expectations that this day would be better and more productive than the last; rumors of generators buoyed hopes that the dental team would be able to do more than just extractions.

2. A larger team due to the arrival of four more bodies. A few team members had arrived early on in the week, but the largest contingency made the trek from Portland to Antigua on Wednesday. On Thursday the remaining team members arrived and were ready to work on Friday – Asher Paquette and Casey joined the medical team and Ben Gonzales and Mike Harper bolstered the ranks of the dental team.

3. An excellent breakfast of mixed fruit, followed by a ham-and-cheese omelet.

Up on the hillside in Vuelta Grande, the situation had little changed. There were a few villagers milling about the school yard when the team arrived, but there were still problems with the electricity.

Nevertheless the clinics swung into gear.

The dental clinic started in on extractions again, the only procedures they could comfortably do under, in Dr. Allen Methven’s words, “flashlight dentistry” conditions. Typically the dentists’ work in the village consists of either pulling teeth or filling cavities; the latter requires drills, suction and the water sprayer – staples in dental work that require power. The school’s power finally steadied out by three o’clock in the afternoon, allowing the dentists to fill cavities, but until then they stuck to pulling teeth.

The addition of Ben and Mike to the dental team quickly turned the atmosphere into that of a teaching clinic; both Ben and Mike are second-year dental students at the Oregon Health Science University and were eager to practice their skills. Under the watch of Dr. Allen and Dr. Jim Ransom, the two were allowed to help with administering anesthesia and even performed the simpler extractions – a first-time experience for both.

For most cases, particularly in the afternoon when the cavity-filling began, the dental students acted as assistants. Both Dr. Allen and Dr. Jim would talk through their processes with the students, offering tips on everything from the procedure itself to how to most efficiently pass instruments from assistant to dentist.

The environment is an ideal one for learning. Not only are the students able to work with experienced dentists, but the villagers are model patients. The Guatemalans sit quietly in their dental chair and, no matter their age, scarcely whimper and rarely cry out. Their stoicism is remarkable.

Their silence may be in part a result of the language barrier between them and the dentists. For as much as this barrier becomes a challenge in communicating when and where the pain is, which tooth is irritated, or how to follow post-procedural care, the barrier became something of an asset in the teaching environment. The dentists were able to offer candid advice – like how to prepare a syringe out of the patient’s sight to keep them from getting nervous – and the students were able to ask frank questions and call for assistance without making their patient nervous.

While the students were getting hands-on experience, Maureen Gonzales, who usually assists in the dental clinic, went down the hall to the medical clinic to offer some of her own hands-on experience. Maureen is a physical therapist and was able to spend some time working with a woman who had come in to the clinic complaining of muscle stiffness.

Maureen speculated that the 43-year-old woman was simply feeling the effects of carrying heavy loads on top of her head while carrying children on her back and spending much of her time hunched over at her work, be it making tortillas or doing the laundry.

“Her daily workload over the years is taking a toll on her body,” Maureen said.

Maureen did some massage work as well as some “joint mobilization” and stretching with the woman, as well as teaching her some exercises she can do at home.

“She was uncomfortable with the idea of doing exercises,” Maureen noted. She added that because the idea of physical therapy and proper ergonomics are largely foreign to this woman and that “they have to see that there’s a benefit to it.”

Because there is no real opportunity for follow-up or to continue working with the woman, it will be hard to know what will really help her. Nevertheless, Maureen’s efforts seemed to make a difference.

“She felt better at the end of the therapy,” Maureen said.

The clinics began to wrap up around four o’clock, driven by the need to make the drive through the winding mountain roads while there was still daylight. There is one main road that leads through Vuelta Grande and goes down to Antigua; it’s paved, but is almost impossibly steep and consists of several harrowing switchbacks, all of which are unlit. But the trip also offers incredible views of the fields etched into the mountainside and of the nearby volcanoes, crowned with thick white clouds.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

2007 Day One: Vuelta Grande

The first working day in Guatemala for the Rotary team began with sunshine and a pancake breakfast.

Energized by anticipation, the group made their way to the village of Vuelta Grande, a small village in the mountain outside of Antigua. Supplies had been delivered the previous day so when the team arrived they launched immediately into setting up the dental and medical clinics in the village’s school house.

But just as boxes were being unpacked and the portable dental chairs assembled, a problem began to arise.

“The first report I got was the teacher told me the lights didn’t work,” said Walter Want, one of the leaders for the electrical team.

Walter and Orvin Erickson began working on the lights in the classroom and soon realized the problem was far more complex than simply lights not working.

The electrical team has spent time working in Vuelta Grande before, and late last year wired both the school and the near-by community center for power. As it happened, the wiring went from the town’s major power source directly to the community center and then over to the school; the wiring connecting the community center to the school was buried in a trench that the team enlisted the help of locals to dig.

“We had about a dozen guys, thirteen, who did it in two hours,” recalled LeRoy Benham.

But in the time since the electrical team’s visit in November and the present, a second school building began construction in the space between the community center and the present school building.

That’s where things went wrong.

Somewhere in the construction of the new building, the line got severed at two ends – up by the community center and down the hill by the school. The line in the trench had been pulled out of its protective tubing and simply strung across the new building; the ends were crudely reconnected, twisted together and covered with small bits of a plastic bag.

The exposed ends and rudimentary patches spelled big trouble in the school house, where the voltage was irregular and wildly out of range for the dental team’s instruments. Left without power for the lamps, the suction equipment or the sterilization instrument, there was little the dentist’s could do.

Down the hall the medical team’s work was less interrupted by the electrical problem. Dr. Jan Paquette’s lighted scope for viewing into eyes and ears and noses was without juice, but the impact was minimal and the clinic saw a steady stream of patients.

One of Dr. Jan’s objectives with the medical clinic this year was to screen all dental patients, before their procedures, for heart problems. Individuals with heart problems are prone to infections of the heart valves when bacteria enters their bloodstream during dental procedures; the infection can be fatal, so heart patients typically take an antibiotic before visiting the dentist.

Dr. Jan’s screening process was as simple as listening to the patient’s heart for any sounds of a murmur, or a “swishing” sound in the heart-beat. Murmurs may be totally benign or they may indicate more serious problems. And in Vuelta Grande, Dr. Jan found them in over half a dozen patients she examined.

Most cases were fairly mild, Dr. Jan said, but there was one that was “really big. I’m kind-of concerned.” This young patient was referred to a cardiologist for further examination.

Once screened the patients had a small heart drawn on their hand and were sent over to the dentists who, by two o’clock, had gotten antsy.

Despite having no power, Dr. Allen Methven and Dr. Jim Ransom decided to go ahead and see what they could do.

The first patient was a 60-year-old man. With Mike Caruso and Kyle Hoffer pointing flashlights into his mouth, Dr. Allen and Dr. Jim extracted seven teeth. Dr. Jim pulled out six, and Dr. Allen reached in and pulled one out with his fingers. From then out the dentists kept a tally of their extractions, and when the day was over they’d pulled nearly thirty teeth between them.

Finding they could manage extractions, the dental clinic quickly jumped into gear with patients following in quick succession. The fourth patient was also the first child of the day.

“He looks so happy,” observed Kyle.

“Remember that,” responded Dr. Allen and Dr. Jim in unison.

The boy’s cheerful expression gave way to whimpers as the dentists dug in, and his whimpers subsided just as a rain began to fall outside. The room was filled with the cacophony of the rain on the tin roof and the air became thick with the moisture, but the rain passes as quickly as it came, just as the room fills with the sound of the little boy’s cries.

The dentists moved quickly and soon the boy was on his way, clutching his toy-bag reward.

By then the day was nearly over and the team packed up. Despite the group’s dedication to helping the people of Vuelta Grande and the community’s warm reception, there remains an underlying mistrust of the villagers – particularly after an incident last year wherein someone apparently snuck into the dental clinic one night and stole some of the soccer balls the team had brought to hand out to courageous patients. The equipment is locked in the classroom and two security guards are hired to stay the night at the school.

The electrical problem remains an issue; neither the dental team nor the electrical team was able to make the progress they’d anticipated. Yet the team has two more days in Vuelta Grande before moving on to El Hato and remains optimistic.

In the words of project leader Mike Caruso, “This is kind-of a third-world first day.”

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The 2007 Team

LeRoy Benham
As the co-chair of the World Community Service committee of the Newberg Rotary Club, LeRoy acts as the primary project organizer and leader for the Guatemala service trip. He describes his role as planning “logistics” and setting up and maintaining dental equipment, but this belies the complexity of his job; in short, LeRoy is the go-to man who keeps the whole thing together. His Rotary involvement has also gotten him knee-deep in the Roto-dent organization, which has provided much of the dental equipment used in the El Hato and Vuelta Grande clinics. LeRoy’s previous Rotary service has lead him to Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica; beyond that he’s traveled throughout Europe, to South America, the Middle East and Japan. In preparation for this particular trip, LeRoy offers this simple advice: “Make an effort to relate to the people even if you don’t speak their language.”

Paula Benham
Two years in a row Paula has acted as a dental assistant during the Rotary dental clinics. She has traveled with husband LeRoy throughout Latin America.

Amy Caruso
Her role as primary translator for the dental clinic has made Amy one of the most popular figures in the Guatemala clinics, where she also acts as general manager, taking medical histories, ushering patients in, describing post-treatment care, and – most importantly – handing out gifts.

Mike Caruso
As co-organizer for the Rotary Guatemala project, Mike shares LeRoy’s job as go-to guy keeping the clinics in operation. From transporting and setting up equipment to running errands for supplies, it’s Mike’s behind-the-scenes efforts that make everyone else’s jobs possible.

Orvin Erickson
Orvin’s Rotary involvement has brought him to Guatemala before, where he worked with a team bringing electrical wiring to the schools and homes in El Hato and Vuelta Grande. Though now enjoying retirement, Orvin spent years in the bank business; based on this experience, he offers the following investment advice: “Save lots and spend little.”

Kathi Futornick
Two years ago Kathi, an environmental scientist, spear-headed a project investigating, and improving, the accessibility and quality of the water available to the residents of El Hato and Vuelta Grande. She trekked all over the mountain-side looking at water sources and various states of piping. Her findings (high levels of bacteria in the water) led to the Rotary’s water-quality improvement project, which she will lead on this trip. She's been with the Guatemala project for three years and can't imagine a year without working on an international water project.

Auggie Gonzales
Auggie’s role as interpreter in Guatemala keeps him hopping all day long. Auggie enjoys a unique popularity among the village school children, who he says remain at the heart of his fondest memories of his service travels and “are so open and full of love.” Scarcely a lunch break goes by without a little girl (or two or three) working up the courage to approach and tease Auggie, and their peals of delighted laughter are enough to brighten anyone’s day.

Auggie got involved with the Guatemala project early on and remains integral to the planning, coordinating and execution of the work. This will be his fifth trip to Antigua, and he says he is “still highly moved by the work our club supports.”

Ben Gonzales
Ben is a dental student at Oregon Health Science University. This will be his first trip with the Rotary Guatemala team.

Laura Gonzales
A Communications major at Portland State University and daughter of Auggie and Maureen, Laura is finally getting the opportunity to partake in the Guatemala projects she’s heard about for years. Previous travels have taken her throughout Western Europe, and she’s even studied in Barcelona, Spain, as well as Germany. Here at home Laura is a member of an indoor soccer team, which should make her quite popular among the village children.

Maureen Gonzales
Physical therapist by day and superhero by night, Maureen has kindly offered skills from both occupations during previous travels in Guatemala. While she has mostly participated as the cheerful dental assistant to Dr. Allen, Maureen also rolled up her sleeves and gave some physical therapy to several residents at Transitions last year.

Mike Harper
This will be Mike’s first trip with the Rotary Guatemala team.

Kyle Hoffer
As a pre-dental senior at the University of Oregon, Kyle is hoping to get some valuable hands-on experience on this, his first trip to Guatemala. He became connected with the project through family-friend Auggie Gonzales. Past travels have taken him to Europe, Morocco and the US Virgin Islands, and he uses his infrequent spare time to ski and whitewater kayak.

Maggie Manly
This will be Maggie's first trip with the Rotary Guatemala team.

Renae Merle
Renae was a student in Antigua during the last Rotary trip to Guatemala; she was studying Spanish there at the behest of her employer, the Washington Post. After meeting Auggie and Maureen Gonzales and learning about the project, she joined the team for a day at the El Hato clinic and lent her freshly-honed language skills. This year she’ll be joining the team for the whole week.

Dr. Allen Methven
The boisterous backbone of the dental team keeps patients moving through the clinic in quick succession with his deft dentistry. Quick with a hearty laugh, or an extraction, Dr. Allen has been with the Rotary project since its inception. Outside of the clinics he knows how to find and enjoy the finer foods and wines Antigua has to offer.

Jill Methven
After hosting the post-Guatemala-trip party in her home for the past two years and seeing the pictures and hearing the stories, Jill will finally be making the trip herself. Her being married to Dr. Allen speaks volumes of her good humor, patience and ability to handle childlike adults, characteristics that will make her a strong asset to the team.

Andrea Olson
Andrea’s short career working for a non-profit organization has sparked an interest in investing, fueled largely by solicitations for advice. Over the past two years Andrea has mastered the art of managing the sterilization of the dental equipment; this year she returns in that capacity. She is also the project’s blogger.

Alia Paquette
The medical team determined to keep files on the patients that came through the clinic last year, and to provide a copy to the patients, and the job of keeping those charts fell to Alia, who also learned to take medical histories.

Asher Paquette
This will be Asher's first trip with the Rotary Guatemala team.

Dr. Jan Paquette
Last year Dr. Jan headed up the medical clinic facet of the Rotary project in Guatemala and found herself doing everything from providing pain medicine to performing surgery. This year she’s eager to return more fully prepared and hopes to, if possible, integrate the medical and dental clinics and streamline the flow of patients through both.

John Paquette
John’s military medic training served him well last year when he took on the task of triage and preliminary examination in the medical clinic.

Dr. Jim Ransom
This will be Dr. Jim’s second trip to Guatemala. Last year he proved indispensable to the dental team after demonstrating proficiency in both dentistry and Spanish. This time around he’s looking forward to wandering the streets and open air markets of Antigua, and particularly in figuring out the recipe for the “cojito’s” offered at the Sky Bar. Dr. Jim has taken full advantage of his Hood River home location, partaking in everything from snowboarding to windsurfing.

Bradley Richards
Bradley started working with the Mentor Network just over a year ago, and currently serves people with Acquired Brain Injury and Developmental Disability. Through this work he became connected with Maureen and Matt Welsh, who told him about the trip to Guatemala. He "was elated" and signed on. Bradley's previous travels have taken him to the mountain regions above Hiroshima, Japan, wherein he "discovered quickly I wanted to see more of the world." In his spare time, he enjoys outdoor sports -- from climbing to sledding -- as well as beer brewing, philosophy, classical guitar and Frank Zappa.

Gavin VanHouten
This will be Gavin's first trip with the Rotary Guatemala team.

Walter Want
Spanish-speaking Walter heads up the electrical team for the Rotary project. Like Auggie, Walter enjoys a particular popularity among the children who are an eager audience for his easy-going, goof-ball manner.

Matt Welsh
Matt first went to Guatemala two years ago with his mother, Maureen, to visit Transitions, which the two became involved with a few years ago. They have opened their home to two young Transitions patients recovering from surgeries here in Portland. When not working as a courtesy clerk at the Westmoreland QFC, Matt enjoys bowling, music, video games and movies.

Maureen Welsh
As a registered nurse working in outpatient orthopedics, Maureen has worked with the Antigua-based organization Transitions, organizing and facilitating surgeries. It was through this work with Transitions leader John Bell that she became connected with LeRoy and the Rotary Guatemala project. This will be her second trip to Guatemala, her first with the Rotary project, and she will be working with the medical clinic.

Trista Whitehurst
After a year-long exchange program to Brazil sponsored by Rotary, Trista became connected with the Newberg Noon Rotary Club and learned about the clinic projects in Guatemala. When she then became employed by the Newberg Graphic, the two organizations converged to provide her the opportunity to join the Guatemala team as the official reporter for the Graphic. Outside of work, Trista plays the piano and enjoys hiking and camping.

Casey Winder
This will be Casey's first trip with the Rotary Guatemala team.


Other VIP's without whom the project would be impossible:

Ervin Aspuac is a school teacher in El Hato. The Rotary assisted Ervin in pursuing his teacher’s education and he has returned the favor by helping support and organize the Guatemala projects.

John Bell is the master and commander of the Antigua-based Transitions organization, which provides wheelchairs to Guatemalans. In addition to the chairs, the organization provides additional medical care, therapy and often educational opportunities or technical training. John and his organization have been highly valuable assets to the Rotary Guatemala project, offering their knowledge, physical help and even storage space.

Flor Caniz is a member of the Antigua Rotary club who has worked closely with the Newberg Rotary in managing the Guatemala project. She also works with Transitions.

Alma Olson is the president of the Antigua Rotary club and, as such, has been tremendously helpful in the preparations for this trip. Alma had a career in education, but now she and her husband work in real estate developing up-scale homes in Antigua.

This list is by no means complete; the Rotary project is the result of the work of many, many people and each contribution is a valuable one. Thank you to each and every person, named or un-named, who has made this trip possible.