Day 3 - April 23, 2015

¡Hola! 

Greetings from Guatemala! Today we began our day with a full morning at Las Obras. While one group ventured to the young adults to work with some of the residents, another group spent some time with the abuelas (the grandmothers). A large group of us also headed to pediatrics for a morning of playing and lots of therapy. The morning concluded with a wonderful presentation by our faculty on proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) as a way to increase range of motion. This presentation focused on strategies to gain more movement in joints and strengthen muscles through stretching and active techniques. Great interactions took place between physical therapy students from UNC, Duke, and the local Universidad Rafael Landívar as well as the faculty and staff from UNC and Las Obras.

 

After our morning of many unique experiences and opportunities to learn we left on another adventure to Enseñame a Pescar which is the school we have the opportunity to work with while in Guatemala. The school is for children with special needs including cerebral palsy, down syndrome, autism, and other developmental delays. When we arrived, a couple of us had the opportunity to visit one of the families in their home while the rest of the group began setting up and running a community health fair at the school. At the health fair we were able to provide information on back pain and proper lifting techniques, nutrition, blood pressure, the importance of hand washing, and tummy-time for babies. Overall the afternoon was filled with practicing Spanish and engaging with community members. We look forward to another day in Guatemala tomorrow!

Written by: Sabina Beckler