Thankful to Return Home

Thankful to Return Home

It is with great appreciation and gratitude that we can report we are back on U.S. Soil! We were able to board a charter relief flight out of Guatemala City to Miami late last night (aka this morning). While we are incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to return home, we continue to consider everyone who is still abroad in this time of crisis.

We want to say thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. We know there are a lot of people who have spent endless hours and sleepless nights working to bring us home and it does not go unappreciated. We want to extend our sincerest gratitude to the following people:

Hugo and his family, who have watched over us during this entire experience. While you originally began this trip with the intent of showing us 'your' Guatemala, you selflessly took on the role of so much more. Whether it was driving us to the airport at the drop of the hat or waiting outside for hours until we safely boarded the plane, we all are indebted to you and your family for your physical, emotional and financial sacrifices during this time.

Lisa, Karen, and Katie, the leadership team of this trip who worked non-stop the last 5 days to help coordinate our trip home. You have been a source of stability and guidance through this unprecedented process. From belly laughs to hysterical crying, and every possible emotion in between, you remained constant when literally everything else was changing.

UNC Chapel Hill, specifically UNC Global, the Department of Allied Health Sciences and the Division of Physical Therapy, for supporting us and working behind the scenes. From coordinating plans A-Z (which plan are we on again?), staying up all night to track our flight, and constantly updating our families back home, you created a sense of security amidst the chaos.

Our NC Senators and Congressmen, for answering the dozens of phone calls from our friends and family, opening cases on our behalf, and following up with our families after the fact to make sure they have felt supported during this time.We know you have a million-and-one things on your to-do lists, and we appreciate you making us one of them.

Finally, we need to thank our parents, family, and friends for tapping into their arsenal of resources and contacts to get us home. It was amazing how small the world became as everyone worked together. The way that friends of friends of friends have stepped up for virtual strangers is incredible and a good reminder of what it means to be human during this time of crisis.

Overall, we have felt so loved and supported every step of the way. and we are almost home because of YOU. We will all remember this as a once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) experience from which we certainty brought home more lessons than the syllabus originally intended. As we begin our American self-quarantine and social distancing, we intend to remain humble and grateful now that we are home. Thank you, thank you, thank you again for all your help!

Please keep remembering all of the people that still await safe return to the United States.

Sincerely,

Sara Galante
Shelby Miller
Karla Kyte
LaCorey Cunningham
Kristen Massey
Leslie Rainey
Erica Ghigliotty

Stranded in Guatemala: Update

Stranded in Guatemala: Update 3/18/20

Thank you so, so much for taking action on our behalf. Our congressmen, representatives, faculty, and university officials are doing everything in their power to help take care of us. Our on-site leadership team have been talking, emailing, and texting non-stop to create a contact list of people who can help us. 

First, the group is safe and has supplies with new accommodations in Antigua. We are practicing social distancing because of COVID-19.

Second, YOU ALL helped us to convince everyone to work on this! UNC Chancellor Guskiewicz, the Vice Provost, and others in UNC leadership today are in constant contact with our leadership team. Our politicians and the Embassy in Guatemala are aware of our situation.

Third, UNC has booked us on commercial flights next Tuesday, March 24th hopeful for the unexpected chance that the Guatemalan president will be opening the border early. They are also considering alternatives.

Finally, the university public relations office is preparing a statement for the press release. 

It has been a roller coaster of emotions, but we feel better when we are able to help be proactive. While we are safe and healthy, we want to have a plan of action. We are overwhelmed with the support of people offering contacts and resources for when the border opens. The situation and political climate are changing rapidly, and we want to be prepared for any new developments. Overall, we really want to be home with our families. 

We greatly appreciate all of our friends, family and communities stepping up to try to help us get home. Thanks to you, people are aware of our situation. We will continue to post updates as we get them!

THANK YOU AGAIN,

Sara Galante (Raleigh, NC)
Kristen Fontela Massey (Raleigh, NC)
Erica Ghigliotty (Durham, NC)
Karla Kyte (Chapel Hill, NC)
Shelby Miller (Blowing Rock, NC)
LaCorey Cunningham (Charlotte, NC)
Leslie Rainey (Winston Salem, NC)
Lisa Johnston (Cary, NC)
Karen McCulloch (Chapel Hill, NC)
Katie Ollendick (Athens, GA)

Stranded in Guatemala

Stranded in Guatemala

If you know someone that can help us please reach out by commenting here or emailing uncptoutreach@gmail.com.

We came to Guatemala on a service trip with UNC to help others, but now we’re the ones that need help. While our first few days were filled with acts of service and exploration, we now face rapid changes regarding our safety and ability to get home. On Monday, March 16^th, the President of Guatemala, announced that the country will be suspending all incoming and outbound flights. The border closure will not be re-evaluated for another 15 days with the potential for us to be here indefinitely. As the mandatory quarantine begins, the citizens here are fearful of the virus and of the foreigners who may be carrying it right now.

While we want to do our part to contain the virus, we are worried about our safety and this country’s ability to help us if we were to need it. Several of us have conditions, such as asthma, that could lead to secondary complications if one of us were to contract the virus. In addition, we are pushing for help NOW because while Guatemala’s borders are closed, the US borders remain open and that might not be the case in the future. Commercial airlines have canceled flights into mid-April or mid-May. So while we know we are not the only ones needing help, we are hopeful that our request will be heard in a timely manner, as our situation is time sensitive. 

Background

One of the appeals of the UNC Division of Physical Therapy program is an annual service-learning trip to Guatemala, available as an elective in our third year. While here, we work with the local therapists in a long term care facility and host health fairs in small towns. We were supposed to leave Wednesday, March 18,^th but as the situation changed rapidly, 4 of our classmates and one professor were able to book flights for Monday and leave the country before the border closed. While some of us attempted to book flights to leave a day early on Tuesday, all flights were canceled when the border closed Monday at midnight. There are 6 cases of COVID here total. Since the situation changed so rapidly, UNC Global did not have a chance to act quickly enough to evacuate us before the border closed, which is why we need your help now.

The economy in Guatemala is highly dependent on tourism, and we are worried about the infrastructure breaking down while were here, limiting healthcare, running water, and electricity that keep us in contact with our loved ones. We understand that the rest of the world is also panicked and isolated. Our intent is not to discount anyone else’s feelings. However, on top of everything going on, we are also worried about our safety and being forgotten in the midst of the chaos. As each day goes by, our chances of leaving decline because of the rapidly changing status of COVID-19. We are doing everything we possibly can to ensure we are a priority for evacuation as soon as the border opens.

Thank you! We love you and miss you. We hope to be home soon.

THANK YOU FOR CONTACTING OUR SENATORS. They are working on helping us and do not need any more calls on our behalf today.

Sincerely,

Sara Galante (Raleigh, NC)
Kristen Fontela Massey (Raleigh, NC)
Erica Ghigliotty (Durham, NC)
Karla Kyte (Chapel Hill, NC)
Shelby Miller (Blowing Rock, NC)
LaCorey Cunningham (Charlotte, NC)
Leslie Rainey (Winston Salem, NC)
Lisa Johnston (Cary, NC)
Karen McCulloch (Chapel Hill, NC)
Katie Ollendick (Athens, GA)

Day 3 & 4: March 12 and 13, 2020

Finally, we started “actual work” and got to start treating patients. Just kidding… it felt a lot less like work and more like spending time doing what we love! In the mornings we drove to a neighboring town to work in Las Obras, a long-term care facility for adults and children with disabilities. After splitting up into smaller groups, we spent time feeding and doing therapy with the residents. In the best room (the pediatric gym), some of the highlights were engaging the kids in play, making wheelchair adjustments on the fly, and getting hands-on (and body) facilitation practice with the patients. Some of the top moments in the adult rooms were interacting with the local therapists and students, refining cross cultural skills, and learning a few new Spanish swear words.

In the afternoons, we hosted health fairs for the local communities in a medical clinic and school. We had various educational stations including blood pressure screening, nutrition, pregnancy and infant care, women’s health, falls prevention, orthotics, oral care, and hygiene. Plus, we saw a variety of patients for short consult sessions. The participants made out like bandits with much appreciated donated items including fruit, toothbrushes, soap, washcloths, feminine hygiene kits, toys, and more! Mothers even received baby blankets that were hand crocheted by one of the student’s 97-year old neighbor! We loved getting to meet the community and gawk over babies. Most of all, we enjoyed watching a leader call off the balcony into the square to recruit participants. And she was very successful!

In the evenings, we have roamed town, bargained in the markets, and enjoyed awesome comida típica de Guatemala (typical Guatemalan cuisine)! We even enjoyed a meal with the speech students from UNC. Hopefully you will hear from us tomorrow if we make it back from hiking a volcano. Buenas noches!

Here is a Haiku inspired by our lovely city of Antigua.

A cobblestone street

Leads to a flower filled square

That smells of sweet bread.

Karla & Shelby

Day 2: March 12, 2020

Spanish school. Walking tour. Coffee farming. Volcanic eruption. WHAT. A. DAY.

Today was our first full day in the city, as we became acquainted with Antigua and the daily life of our future patients. We began bright and early after a full 10 hours of sleep (thanks, daylight savings) with a morning of conjugations, vocabulary, and la practica! We split into groups based on our Spanish-speaking ability and learned basic conversational Spanish or medical Spanish from teachers at a local Spanish school. After 3 full hours, some of us were prepared for a full day of interpreting while others were still learning how to sing “cabeza, hombros, piernas, pies” [head, shoulders, knees, and toes].

 

Next stop: a walking tour of historic Antigua with Digna, a local organization that employs individuals with disabilities as tour guides to “increase the respect, equality of rights, and human dignity of persons with special needs in Guatemala in order to improve their quality of life.”¹  Our wonderful tour guides taught us about architecture, history and legends while they encouraged us to immerse ourselves in the city during colonial times.

We continued our introduction to life in Guatemala with Alberto - a local coffee farmer from San Miguel Escobar, just outside of Antigua. We followed a coffee bean from branch to cup through the process that Alberto and his family perform every day to make his direct trade coffee. Buying directly from the farmer, eliminating the middleman, increases his income from $0.05 per cup to the price of the full $8.00 bag. Our tour guide, Hugo, emphasized the significant impact that direct trade coffee farming has had on Alberto’s life and family. Students got to help him peel, roast and grind the beans for an excellent cup of coffee. We learned that before a woman can get married in Guatemala, she must learn to hand-grind the coffee beans, thus we chose Sara, who is getting married in September for this task.

We ended the night with a bumpy road and lots of switch backs to a mountain side restaurant overlooking Antigua and its famous (and still active!) Volcano del Fuego. Every 10 minutes or so, we saw small, bright orange explosion as the volcano made its presence known.

Exhausted, we returned home to organize ourselves for the health fair and clinic tomorrow. Hasta maῆana!

Sara & Kristen

Day 1: March 11, 2020

Despite having to arrive at the airport at 4 am to take a connecting flight to Guatemala City, we could not be more EXCITED! For some, this was their first international flight, which made it even more special. When we finally arrived in Guatemala, one of our classmates was stopped by customs due to bulky, suspicious-looking items. Little did security know, they were just orthotics to donate to Las Obras. After recruiting all our Spanish speaking classmates to convince security they were just medical items, we were still not allowed to take them with us. Don’t worry though, we did get our classmates back.

Next up was our journey from Guatemala City to Antigua, which is where we were staying. After surviving the crazy drivers and the cobblestone roads we made it to our beautiful home for the next 8 days. We were blown away walking in and realizing that we had this huge house with an interior corridor open to the outdoors. Waiting for us was also a home-made Guatemalan lunch of chicken stew, guacamole, salsa, rice and tortillas. We discussed the schedule for the week with the faculty and could not be more excited about the upcoming service opportunities that are ahead.

To end our day, Lisa helped get us acquainted with the city by taking us to the main square, Las Obras and a grocery store to get food for the week. We consider our afternoon a success as no one got lost returning home for the night! We are looking forward to getting started with service activities soon, stay tuned!

Austin & Mara