Nocha Buena!
Christmas is the most important celebration during the year in Peru. Christmas Eve is called Nocha Buena which translates to Good Night in Spanish. And boy do Peruvians have a good night when they celebrate this holiday!
Families gather together on Christmas Eve and celebrate with a meal of pavo (turkey), tamales and fruit cake for dessert. Homes, churches and villages are decorated with nativity scenes. These scenes stay on display until La Bjeda de los Reyes, the arrival of the Wise Men on January 6. Families attend mass together and place a figure of the infant Jesus in the manger scene at midnight. Once the children are off to bed the adults celebrate with dance, salsa dancing the night away.
While children are sleeping on Nocha Buena, Santa Claus fills stockings that have been placed near manger scenes.
Churches often organize Chocolatadas, where poor children and families are treated to a glass of hot chocolate and a small gift. The lines for these Chocolatadas are often very long and are a distinct feature of Peruvian Christmas. The poverty level is quite high.
Christmas was first celebrated in Lima, Peru in 1535. Now the city boasts huge Christmas Day celebrations including a bullfight and a procession celebrating Jesus’ mother, Mary. Parties, dances, and processions continue throughout Peru until January 6 when they celebrate the arrival of the wise men with Rosca de Reyes, a round, sweet bread decorated with candied fruit.
Enjoy this beautiful Peruvian carol: http://youtu.be/gbI_uh6p9aw
You can help the WOGO team as they plan the 2012 medical mission to Peru. Visit www.wogo.org and click the Donate Now tab. There are many ways to support the team, and donations make a great holiday gift.
Happy Holidays!
Give Thanks
Our 2011 trip to Guatemala led me to a quote that I shared on the WOGO page. “Every morning when we wake up we have 24 brand new hours to live, what a precious gift. We have the capacity to live those 24 hours in a way that brings peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.” -Thich Nhat Hann
It makes me think, how do I show my thanks for every special day we have? How do I show appreciation for the blessed life I have? How do I love my family and friends as hard as I can?
I’m lucky to have friends who founded the amazing team of people who make up WOGO. WOGO gives me the opportunity to work hard helping others, experience new things, and meet wonderful giving people. WOGO gives people opportunity to live their lives pain free. The WOGO surgical teams do amazing work repairing joints to give people a new lease on life. I’m thankful to be a part of that.
Next year the WOGO team is embarking on another medical mission, this year to the beautiful country of Peru. It is estimated that more than 50% of all Peruvian families live in poverty. Many do not have access to medical care. I feel blessed that I will be able to support the team giving back during this trip.
We all have much to be thankful for in our lives. In this time of thanksgiving show your support for the WOGO team and the medical mission to Peru by giving a donation to the program. Visit www.wogo.org/html/donate_now_.html to support WOGO. Every dollar helps, and the team will be grateful for your support.
Antigua, Guatemala 9/28/2011 - DAY5
Dancing and Sharing
What a blast! I was able to participate in group physical therapy today and it was great fun.
About 25 of our patients were able to walk, yes WALK, to the atrium of the hospital, some using walkers, some crutches and one or two who took a ride in a wheelchair.
Once everyone was assembled, the music was turned on and we gathered to move our bodies along with the songs of Lady Gaga. Led by the team of Physical Therapists (PT) we tossed beach balls back and forth patient to PT and back all around the circle. Then we kicked the beach balls. Smiles all around and we got our blood flowing.
Watching the patients move their feet to the music brought tears of joy to my eyes. They were determined to move and exercise their new joints. First there was marching while they remained in their seats. Then everyone got up and there was marching and side to side steps while on their feet. Some of the patients got a little boogie going on and gave us some extra wiggle in their dance.
There was laughter and celebration.
At the end of therapy the PT team shared their thanks for the privilege of working with these wonderful people. Seeing how hard these patients want to work to get better is inspirational. The patients had a surprise for us though!
One by one they stood up to thank the PT team, Doctors and WOGO for coming here to Guatemala to provide these surgeries. They shared their hopes that the team will have blessed lives. They thanked us for not discriminating about age, income level. They shared blessings on all of us. And then one final patient said, “God bless the USA”. What a group of people we have here!
So after some sniffles and hugs we helped everyone back to their rooms. I can’t wait to visit with them again tomorrow!
Antigua, Guatemala 9/27/2011 - DAY4
Boats, Buses and Canes
Our first patient is a gentleman who is always smiling, always willing to try a new PT exercise and ready with a kind word for his doctors, nurses and all of the WOGO team. You can tell he feels like a new man with his new joint.
His joy is contagious and even though I speak very little (VERY LITTLE) Spanish, we greet each other like old friends each day. Sitting with him and one of our interpreters his story began to emerge.
This dear man lives near the border of Honduras. In order to come to Antigua to receive his surgery he traveled for 3 hours in a small boat. Then he transferred to a bus, which he road through the mountains for 8 hours. Finally he reached Guatemala City where he boarded a bus for Antigua, which can be anywhere from an hour to a 2 hour trip. Now that is resilience.
He’s been a model patient and a good example to others. But thinking of his trip to the hospital, without a guarantee of surgery, merely a hope of a better life, makes me really grateful to be a part of the team that was able to provide life changing joint surgery for him. He will go home, by 2 buses and a small boat, and his life will be forever changed because he will be able to get around better, do his job without pain and enjoy his life.
What a blessing to be a part of his experience.
Antigua, Guatemala 9/26/2011 - DAY3
There is nothing more uplifting than seeing the smiling faces of patients just one day after surgery. I walked into the hospital this morning and was greeted by a broad smiles of patients who were walking for the first time.
Our physical therapists work with patients and their families, teaching them exercises and strategies for walking, stair climbing and even simply standing up.
The patients are on their feet just hours after their surgery is completed. After their surgeons have done a follow up check up the physical therapy team moves in, armed with beach balls, walkers, canes and a whole lot of love.
Knees are bent, straightened out, bent again. Bounced on beach balls (carefully of course). Knees are used to stand up, and then take a first step, and then a stroll across the ward. Patients, families and WOGO staffers cheer everyone on.
An afternoon PT class featuring the musical encouragement of Salsa was very successful today. We watched an army of patients stand and step forward and back, and lift their feet to the music. Family members were treated to a simple floor show of joint replacement patients exercising their new parts. Smiles all around, and they are contagious!
And then the dreaded stairs which I am sure look daunting. The stairs in the hospital are steep and look scary to me and I haven’t just had joint replacement surgery. After salsa dance lessons one of our beautiful ladies tackled the stairs with ease. She went up and down like a pro. Not to be outdone, one of the gentlemen quickly followed suit. A bit of competition never hurt anyone!
BRAVO to this amazing group! You make me smile.
Also check out these Zimmer videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YKeHVON78k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJztw0g62Qc
Antigua, Guatemala 9/25/2011 - DAY 2
Today lots of different things were happening at the hospital. We arrived early in the morning to be greeted by more than 50 hopeful patients and their families. The doctors screened every hopeful patient, watching them walk when possible, looking at X-rays and medical charts and asking countless questions about mobility, pain and lifestyle. Then the team moved to conference where each case was discussed in detail and decisions are made about which patients are good candidates for surgery. Keeping things moving smoothly and all of the patients organized, WOGO National Team logistics leader, Vandana Patel, OCS, kept everyone marching forward at a steady pace.
While patient screening is taking place many other things are happening. The OR team worked hard to get the rooms ready for surgery to start in the afternoon. Leading the team, National Surgical Logistics Leader, Jaquelyn Tyo, PA, made sure everything was ready for the afternoon of knee replacements.
Together Vandana and Jacquelyn do the impossible. They direct a team of sixty-plus individuals to make sure the patients have the safest and smoothest experience possible. Between them they are directing many strong personalities. It is amazing to watch their patience and strength as they guide the team through the activities that need to take place in order to complete a surgery. There are a lot of steps.
- Working with the warehouse team to organize supplies, medicines, PT equipment, surgical supplies and even drinking water for the WOGO team
- Working with the hotel on logistical things like hotel reservations, meals and meeting space
- Organizing medical charts
- Working with local doctors, nurses and translators
- Managing hospital logistics
- Getting photos of every patient
- Setting up pre-screening rooms
- Patient Conference
- Surgical OR scheduling
- Team work schedules
- Pre-Op and Post-Op teams
- Physical Therapy Scheduling
- Setting up the Women’s and Men’s wards
- Managing patient charts
- Setting up classes for the patients and their families
- Scheduling meals at the hospital
- And SO MUCH MORE!
And these are just the things that happen when we’re in country, don’t forget all the pre-trip logistics! Bravo ladies! These two impressive women help the surgeons get the job done and WOGO to be successful. We thank them, every day.
Antigua, Guatemala 9/24/2011 - Arrival
The WOGO team has arrived in Guatemala and has hit the ground running. Working with the Pedro Bethancourt school the team built out a brand new computer lab, painted and decorated a playground and got the kids up and running on Skype. With the help of Jerseys from Jersey, the school was provided with teams of soccer jerseys. The WOGO crew installed basketball hoops and soccer goals. And joining the fun, Soles 4 Souls outfitted the 400 students with new athletic shoes. The team has been busy.
The first day included visits with old friends and the making of new ones. The team walked over to tour the hospital and meet with the staff who will be a part of the team this week.
The hospital is amazing and I am sure I will write much more about it. It is run by Franciscans and operates on donations. It is clean, bright and cheerful. There are many permanent residents who have severe disabilities. But the patients are smiley and happy to see guests. Hopefully this week I will get to visit with the babies and little ones again. All of the team was touched by the faces of the residents and we’re all ready to help the people here.
The Operating Rooms are set up and tomorrow morning we start bright and early screening patients. Time for bed so we’re all well rested for a big day tomorrow.
Reflections - It’s the Bees Knees!
Knee – Nepali pronunciation – ghΰ-dah and now I’ve learned that in Guatemala it’s rodilla in Spanish.
The knee is “the largest and most complicated joint in the human body.[2] … Since in humans the knee supports nearly the whole weight of the body, it is the joint most vulnerable both to acute injury and the development of osteoarthritis.” Thank goodness for amazing doctors who can repair the damage of osteoarthritis and rebuild knees as needed. In Guatemala there is less than 1 doctor per 1000 people, so our team will bring much needed help to people suffering from this terrible disease.
Our WOGO surgeons have two main goals for this, and every, trip. To transform lives in under-served global communities by reducing the chronic burden of arthritis and disability through total joint reconstruction and to leave the communities we visit healthier, more knowledgeable and inspired to reach beyond prior limits. The surgery, medical care and therapy the team provides are really the bee’s knees!
The bee’s knees is a phrase adopted by the 1920’s flappers (fabulous women in their own right) and meant to express that something was excellent and of the highest quality, which is exactly how I feel about the WOGO team. Interestingly there is another connection between a powerful lady and the phrase. Bee Jackson was a dancer in 1920s New York and is credited by some historians as bringing the Charleston to Broadway. She was a World Champion Charleston dancer and used those knees of hers constantly and in outstanding fashion (funny how it all connects back to knees…).
The team is most definitely the bee’s knees. And our female surgeons who lead our team – absolutely.
Of course, I have wandered about learning about more “knee phrases” because what could be more helpful on a mission trip to repair knees than to know as many “knee phrases” as possible? Right? Right!Don’t have a knee-jerk reaction to this activity of mine – I like to be prepared! This phrase comes to us from the 1920s and refers to the reaction a knee has when the patella (I think) is tapped. And it means having an automatic response to something. Frankly I hate when my doctor checks this. I don’t really know why I dislike it, I just do.
The results of our trip already appear to be Knee-high by the Fourth of July. Which means things are looking good, just like crops turn out that at July 4 are knee-high. And no one on the trip is knee-high to a grasshopper because we don’t bring small children along for the adventure (you’ve got to be at least 18).
So you can try to bring me to my knees, bend on one knee, or even take a knee but just don’t send any knee-biters my way.
Looking forward to learning at the knee of the team members and from the new friends we’re sure to make in Guatemala. It should be the bee’s knees for sure – and that’s not a knee-jerk reaction!
I Mayan be a little excited about Guatemala
The next WOGO mission is less than 2 months away and excitement is building. Team leaders are booking travel. Hotel and hospital plans are in place. Medical supplies are being gathered. Donations are being requested and fund-raisers are being held.
Guatemala lies between Mexico, Belize and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the 10 poorest countries in Latin America with more than half the national population below poverty level. While about 90% of the population speaks Spanish, twenty-one Mayan languages are spoken, especially among the elderly and in rural areas.
The Maya is a designation which includes the people who share some cultural and linguistic heritage, and there are several distinct populations of Maya in Latin America. Each of these has their own traditions and culture.
The Mayan people have the most beautiful colored textiles worn as dresses, capes and shirts. The colors are woven into intricate patterns, each village having their own traditional pattern. You can actually tell a person’s home village based on their pattern of fabric. That’s pretty neat.
I’ve experienced some Mayan culture on visits to Mexico. During one trip I visited Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Peninsula. The ruins are a fascinating place with great stories about the sports-like games played there and the way the building line up to capture the sunlight.