Hey Everyone,

Sometimes I have people that walk into my life that just seem to have an impact on me. Today was one of those days, and Aldolfo is one of those people.

I want to share a short part of my day with you and have no idea why, but it is a short newsletter and so I won't waste too much of your time. About two years ago I had a man come to my home and tell me he had TB. He was coughing up blood. He was skin and bones. I told him he needed to go to the TB Asylum in Guatemala City as I did not have the facility nor the meds that he needed. He explained that he did not have any money and had come by dugout canoe up river 4 hours. Then walked to my home as he did not have 50 cents for a bus.

I made sure no other Guatemalans were around and gave him money to get to the city and back, and he left. About 6 weeks later, he returned to my home and said he was doing much better but still was skin and bones and needed vitamins and also he had asthma. So I gave him the medicine he needed and some vitamins and then he asked me, "Docta Bryan, would you come to my village?" He said there were many sick women and children and no one had ever helped them. I said, "Yes but first I will take you home and evaluate the village and the situation."

We set out on the river in my boat that has an 85 hp motor, so to him we were flying over the water like a bird. He said, "Docta we are as light as a feather." (I said, "Yes, everyone tells me that") rolling my eyes. We traveled about 45 minutes up river then turned into a tributary that can only be seen on National Geographic. We traveled slowly another hour up the small winding tributary with trees so thick with vegetation it almost seemed dark. I saw a 3 ft. long Iguana and thought, man would he taste good right now with some hot sauce and tortillas.

We finally got to the village of Calix, where I was greeted by what seemed like every woman and child in the village. He told them who I was and then they relaxed and offered me a drink called Atol. It is a thick warm drink made from corn. Although it is good and sweet, it just does not do the same thing for me as an ice cold Southern Sweet Tea. (You know what I am talking about, huh?) But I had to drink it as it was a gift.

I began to see the kids were full of soars and skin problems and everyone was malnourished and full of worms. I don't know why, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the Mayan people. These people were here because they had to hide for their lives during the civil war. They are not drug addicts or drunks that caused their troubles. They were truly victims of being the wrong race. They truly are the forgotten people.

When I see them work their fingers to the bone planting and harvesting corn to make their only food source, tortillas, then cut wood and carry it on their backs home so they can cook to survive, I just can't help but have compassion on them.

The thing I noticed about these people is that they were not dirty. They were clean and proud of their village. So I told them I would be back in two weeks with a medical team. Since then we have been back many times to do medical and dental clinics in their village and they always insist on taking their only chicken and making soup for our team with (you guessed it) corn tortillas. They have so little and yet give it all.

I go away humbled and asking myself why I was born in the richest nation on earth and have so much? And yet these people give what little they have to me.

This morning I got up and went to find Aldolfo waiting at my ER door. He had gotten up early in the night and come up river by canoe and then walked to my home. He was sitting on the wall and was having difficulty breathing. I brought him in and listened to his lungs. He sounded like Asthma and bronchitis. So I gave him the medicine he needed and asked him how he was surviving. He said that several months ago when I was in his village I had bought a small carved shell of a Kahone nut that he had carved into a turtle.

I had given him 20.00 Quetzals (about $2.50 US). He was able to buy some salt and beans for his family. I told him then that if he made these things I would try and get my teams to buy them from him and he could earn a living since he was too weak to do hard manual labor. So today he took out of his bag two carved Armadillos and a Turtle and two books he had made. The pages were made from banana leaves. They were beautiful. He said he had made them for me. I told him I could not take them but I would be honored to buy them. I gave him 350.00 Quetzals which is about $46.00 dollars US.

It was his first time to have made these crafts and sold them for a wage so high. He straightened up his frail thin frame and held his head up for the first time since I have known him. I saw him receive what he has not had for years. Dignity. He had earned money for his family. As he came to shake my hand and leave I saw his eyes fill with tears and he leaned over and hugged me.

I said, "Aldolfo, make more. God will sell them for you and bless your family." He reached down and picked up his straw hat and as he placed it on his head he tipped it sideways and said. Now I am a Father again. Thank You.

As he walked away I thought, if God did not put people like you in my life, I would not have had $46.00 to buy his goods. I know sometimes we think we have to do all these great things and see 1000 patients to earn our pay but I just have to believe God wants us to stop and help people even in small ways.

I hope that you will think of Aldolfo the next time you see a single mom struggling to make ends meet. Go buy her a bag of groceries and sneak over and leave it on her porch. When she wakes up and goes to feed the kids cereal for the hundredth time she will not be able to believe her eyes when she see a dozen eggs in the bag. Or the guy at church who got laid off because his company is downsizing and he needs gas money to look for work. Slip an envelope in his Bible while no one is watching. Guess who these people will have to thank when they find these gifts? God.

But let me warn you: "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42

Got to go the ambulance just pulled up outside!

God Bless,
In His Service,

Bryan & Riechelle and Kids

Junglemedic Missions
Rio Dulce, Izabal
Guatemala Central America

E-Mail: Bryan@JungleMedicMissions.org
Web Site: http://www.junglemedicmissions.org/
 

 This page was last updated 07/02/07

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