Bradley, Daniel J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 33 | Number 1 Article 18February 1966Guatemala HolidayDaniel J. BradleyFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationBradley, Daniel J. (1966) "Guatemala Holiday," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 33 : No. 1 , Article 18.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol33/iss1/18GUATEMALA HOLi DANIEL J. BRADLEY, M.D. Stimulated by the "Holida f H . ,, ys or umamty program, my wife and I and two of our daughters, volun­teered to spend the month of Feb­ruary working at the Clinic of the �aryknoll Fathers in San Pedro N ectha, Dept. of Huehuetengango ort West Guatemala. ' Guatemala is the Northernmost tuntry in Cen tral America. Aside rom the coastal plains of each ocean, �he country is made up of mountamous highlands from 4 000 to 12,000 _fe:t, with many volcan'oes. At the clmrc location of 6200 f th 1· . eet, e c rmate rs spring-like - warm in the day and_ 2-3 blankets at n ight. The population consists of two basic t�i:11c groups, the indigenous Mayan n ran, and the Ladinos, who are �escendants of the Spaniards. There rs. a large intermixture but the indi­viduals tend to attach themselves to one class or another. The Ladinos make up about 40o/c of the population but rule the coun� try and a few of them control thewealth. They speak Spanish. The '."1ayan Indian makes up the labor­mg an� servant class. Priests were re-admitted to Guatemala less than 2f years ago and there is no nativec ergy. They are sent from Spain and some are American Maryknoll Fadthe1:. They constitute the clergy an episcopacy. · The . two Sisters of the clinic who are registered nurses alerted us about what drugs were in short supply. gr. Bradley is a member of the Rockville entre, N. Y. Catholic Physicians' Guild. 52 We accumul as possible , remainder,' a; Our trip real degree s trating. It w we had a first rural, Centra_ It was satisfyi many sick rphysicians to arriving in ( some problerr, and a tempor medicine. I , . as many supplies rnsed many of the ,.1en we were off. enlightening, to a ·ing, but also frus-1lightening in that ::id look at a typical nerican community. because we treated le who have no re for them. On ,emala there were 1 obtaining a visa license to practice requested to take an examinati , it this was circum· vented by the an of the Medical School who ar-, .1ted me an Intern for the month · r'ebruary. Finally, after an exhau 1g trip over a tor· tuous jeep tra we arrived at the Mission. Our ,ise was of adobe, two rooms a1 one win:low, the price, 5 quetzal J,5.00), per month, and not wortl it. The so-called window was a ton-glazed hole in the mud wall. ·1ie floor was mud. Sanitary facilit, , were  in tbe back ·yard. One fc,, · me that w·as not obvious at first v as the fleas. Thrse we had with 1,-: in great numbers constantly. D.D. f'. only made the� more aggressive. This was a bit more than we bargained for butsince we had come to work for God and humanity, we tried to offer it up. As soon as we starte:l working,we were ashamed of ourselves for even thinking of complaining. Weaveraged 74 patients a day. Thepeak load was 120 patients. TheLINACRE QUARTERLYof our patients was piti­Those with anemias of unbe­severity came complaininge and inability to climb the tain. Patients walked 8 to 10&om their mountain hamlets.were carried for hours on theof friends and relatives bystraps. How they stood upus. Hemoglobin levels ofgmns are not uncommon . Beri­kwashikor and general suscep­ty to respiratory infections were · ant. The "snotty" nose isuniversal badge, and the localof wiping it on the clothing hard to get used to. In numbers of � worms and other infectionsthe list; various forms of arth­and muscle involveme nt are � Every male has a callous without a "shot." The lver se side of this is their tend enc_ to think that pneumonia can be cured with011c shot of pen icillin and not bothertc <'.,ct the succeeding injections. Bathing is looked upon with dis­favor. Personal hygiene and localsanitation is deplorable. There wasa sense of frustration on re alizingthat most of the patients would be right back where we found themsince their trouble stems from mal­nutrition, universal worm infestationand deplorable sanitation . We t�iedto reverse this trend by education.We made friends with all the school teachers and enlisted their sup­port. We also had the good fortuneof meeting two wonderful Pea�e Corps Amer icans and they he�pe� mpreaching t he gospel of san1tat10�­We received permission to speak mthe church at all the Masses on Sunday on personal hygiene and itsconnection with improve d  health and growth. the 1st lumbar vertebra; the blen's shoulders give them trou -lie &om grinding the corn withllartar and pestle. There is much eye Inflammation, both mechanical 111d Infectious. This comes generally from smoke which also contributes "bronchial irritation. The natives lalld their houses without chimneys ID that smoke from the fire goes up ilto r afters to cure the corn. �y:,les, (black beans), and tor-(fried pancake), of coarsely pwnd horse com meal with occa­llanal eggs, oranges, avocados and lllllle meat, make up the standard lltlve diet. The Maryknoll Fathers_ have builta 17 bed hospital, but equippingthe hospital is the contin�ing sto�y.Import restrictions and high tar_iffsmake th is terrifically expensive.Things simply cannot be bought locally. Drugs come under the same restrictions as instruments, genera­tors, beds and even linen. It willbe a long process; but if we are toaid the people, they must be healthyenough to help themselves. One might feel it impossible _toovercome the ignorance and dis­ease; but when you see the patience and grati tude of these poor souls,you know that you cannot give u�.One happy note was that the 5-rs had immunized practically � youngster in the district with and Salk vaccine and also '-inated them against small pox. � patients loved "shots" and you a hard time getting rid of themJlaauuy, 1966 It will be slow. It can be done 1f we stick with it, and we must. 53 

Guatemala Holiday

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Guatemala Holiday

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