The Most Incredible Day part 2

After we left Daisy’s home, we started back down the road, planning to go to a boy’s house, Seferino, who had received the cleft lip surgery, but was planning to come back for the palate surgery, which is done separately. After, we planned to visit a boy who had received the cleft and palate surgeries, Alexander, and later Susanna, who is eight months old and hasn’t received either the cleft lip or palate surgery. It was a good ten minutes into our drive, when Daniela started shouting excitedly. At the time, I was half asleep. The entire trip I’ve been at the point where if I’m given five minutes, exhaustion sets in and I’ll find myself drifting off. By the time I realized what was going on, we had pulled over to the side of the road and Daniela was already getting out of the van. It turns out that Seferino was with his mom, on the side of the road coming back from cutting wood. She stood rather regally, with Seferino strapped to her side in cloth sling. Daniela, always enthusiastic, knew the family well and began speaking in rapid Spanish. Her nanny, who also served as a translator from Spanish to Tzotzil, quickly followed with the translation. As Daniela kept interacting with the family, one thing became increasingly clear to me: despite needing the cleft palate surgery, they might not come. Daniela began to represent all of the different reasons why he should have surgery, including improving his ability to speak, eat, drink, and prevent infections. Towards the beginning of what became a good half-an-hour discussion, his father came up holding a well-worn machete. Now, that was certainly something that caught me by surprise, but I’d like to point out it was clearly used for farming. Though I must say, seeing a person walking up with a machete definitely results in something rather more than a double take.

However, Seferino’s family was nicely dressed, his mom in the traditional wear and his father in dress shoes and nice khakis. As the conversation progressed, it became increasingly apparent that while his father was more amenable to the idea, his mom had some reservations. Briefly, his parents talked amongst themselves, most of us had absolutely no clue what they were saying, but it certainly seemed like they were coming around to the idea of coming back.

Later, Daniela explained to me, the reason why his mom didn’t want him to come was because the first time, they didn’t fully understand what was going to happen and though they did fix his lip, she didn’t want him to go through the pain of surgery again. it was the first time that I realized just how scary that experience could be from the parents’ point of view. Though I’ve seen the anxiety before, it never crossed my mind that fear would actually prevent a family from wanting to get surgery.

Right before we left, Alexander’s family came down the road, the other family that we were going to see. It was a moment of complete fortune. Now, Daniela, who had been using Alexander as her example for why Seferino should come back for surgery, could actually show the family just how successful Alexander’s surgery had been. Alexander had been born with a bilateral, two splits, cleft lip and palate. Seferino only had a unilateral cleft palate that hadn’t been fixed. Daniela represented just how important of a surgery it was, using Alexander as an eager model.

Around this time, I started talking to a relative of Alexander’s who had come with him. Honestly, it’s more accurate to say that I tried talking, rather than actually succeeding. Micayla was clearly around my age, and it was fascinating to me just how different our lives were, despite being nearly the same age. However, my Spanish skills are clearly in need of help, and I quickly exhausted my vocabulary. Shortly after, finally hopeful that they might show up to screening, we left and headed to our final home visit.

Susana, Daniela told us, was the second child of two younger parents. When Daniela first met her mother, Margarita, shortly after she was born, she was covered in bruises head to toe. It was at this point that both Diana, the photographer, and I began to imagine just what could follow. Daniela confirmed our suspicions, and proceeded to explain how her husband, Fernando, had beaten her after getting drunk. Apparently, this had become an even bigger problem once Susana was born. Daniela, who I have begun to realize is a one-woman powerhouse, gave the family the special bottle that cleft palate kids need for feeding. Then, after showing Fernando the price of the milk, told him she would give it to him for free. However, the catch was this - he had to stop beating Margarita. Proudly she exclaimed that for the past eight months, she hadn’t been hit once.

By the time we arrived, I was extremely curious about what was going to happen. The house they lived in had a concrete floor, instead of dirt, and they had windows, signs, Daniela told us, meant that they were better off. It was a one-room house, and they lived next door to Fernando’s parents. Meeting Margarita was almost more interesting to me than meeting Susana because she had endured so much. She seemed much older than me, despite being only a year older, it was an interesting experience to realize, even though I typically consider myself more mature for my age, there is a entirely different level that most people my age won’t reach for another five to ten years, and most don’t want to until then. What struck me about her, and all the families we met throughout the day, was how strong they were. The women especially seemed to emanate strength. Margarita and Daniela talked in Spanish while Diana looked for the best lighting and I just took it all in. Susana is the sweetest little girl, but tiny, in fact, it is a serious worry that she won’t qualify for surgery because she is so small. It turns out that she had been sick, and we noted that she still had a little cough. However, she will certainly come on the second day of screening, when things are a little bit chaotic. We spent a lot of time with her while Diana took photos and I interviewed Margarita. She was wonderful to let us into her life, and we spent a great deal of time with her. As we left, Fernando came home from work, but went straight to his parents’ house. Honestly, I think he is embarrassed when he is around Daniela, because he is ashamed that she knows how he used to treat her. It was quite the situation to hear about and observe from the outside. The great thing is though, Daniela told us that in those eight months, Margarita has become much more outgoing, and is “a completely different person.”

To hear more about Daisy...

The full length story about Daisy is now up on the official Operation Smile website. To hear more this amazingly sweet and brave girl, go check it out!

http://www.operationsmile.org/living_proof/from-the-field/missions/san-cristobal-de-las-casas.html

Home Visits- aka the most incredible day part 1

Since I'll leave the really in depth stories for the Operation Smile official blog (I'll post the link when things start getting posted) here I'll indulge a bit and talk more about the experience overall. The reason why I was sent early for this mission was because they had scheduled a home visit to a previous patient's home. Yesterday we visited Daisy, a week shy of eight years old, is the sweetest, gregarious, brightest girl. The drive to her home lasted for a good 45 minutes on a mix of paved and dirt road. Daniela, a volunteer here in San Cristobal, said that the passable roads were left over from the government's attempt to reach the Zapatistas which makes Operation Smile's work much easier now.

When we arrived, we headed to Daisy's school, which had a different classroom for each grade. The goal for a home visit is to get pictures and the story of the patient while they are in their home environment. However, here that is more challenging because a number of the people believe that a photograph can steal your soul. Often, the children are ok with getting their picture taken while adults are not. However, it is important to ask permission. Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time pointing at my camera and asking in broken Spanish if it is acceptable. Daisy, thankfully has become accustomed to this kind of treatment, as she has become a bit of an Operation Smile Mexico celebrity.

Daisy and her teacher

We spent some time in her classroom taking photos while the kids were supposed to be working on their Spanish as Tzotzil is their native language. However, the excitement of four strangers walking into their classroom with their principal, all while taking pictures all served as a large enough distraction that most students gave up pretending to do work. Daisy, who was rather shy, did in fact continue to work a bit in between giving us big grins.

The adorable Daisy, post mission photos

By this point, students from other classes began to crowd at the door. Entertained by all of the excitement, I started to take photos unwittingly starting a new game. Half the kids there loved having their picture taken and wanted to see the image on the screen right after. The other half however, would run, laughing, out of the shot. This game eventually involved crowds of kids getting progressively closer to my camera, until there was absolutely no way I could get them all in the shot.

The girls and boys trying to crowd the camera

The kids were absolutely adorable, even as the boys tried to push friends both in and out of the shot and the girls kept posing and smiling with their arms around each other. Shortly after this game began, the bell rang, and recess started. However, the game didn't end. The school had a large basketball court and numerous basketballs that the kids enjoyed playing with. While the majority of the boys chose to play basketball, most of the girls continued to laugh and run from my camera, running inside classrooms as soon as I turned their way. Initially when this game started, I was concerned that I was offending them, but as I wasn't actually taking any pictures, I wasn't too worried. Plus their constant laughter was also a good indication. After awhile chasing the kids a bit, and laughing a lot, some of the girls joined in the basketball game that Daniela had started of boys vs. girls. After all, who doesn't play basketball in foreign countries? Honestly, I was really surprised to see a basketball before I saw a soccer ball, the game of choice for the high school boys.

Some of the boys playing basketball

Once recess ended, Daisy walked us to her home, which was just a few yards away. Her mother, who had seven children, was such an incredibly strong person. As I interviewed her, using not one, but two translators, I was struck by her constant calm and complete faith that she had that Daisy's cleft lip and palate would be fixed. Sure enough, they had been repaired. Her faith and confidence in Operation Smile struck me. Without knowing hardly anything about the mission, she and her husband Lorenzo went to San Cristobal and let Daisy receive surgery not once, but twice, which is an incredibly brave thing to do. Just how brave it was, I learned later that day.

Once I had completed the interview and Diana, the photographer, had finished shooting we returned to the car. It was here where my lack of spanish got me into trouble. I was trying to talk to the high school boys a bit, but honestly I had no idea what they were saying. It wasn't until after I got into the car that Daniela informed me that they were asking why they hadn't been introduced to the girls and the guy who I had told I didn't really speak Spanish, had responded by saying, "Oh I'll teach you Spanish!" Needless to say, I was rather red once I had gotten the gist of it. The home visit was wonderful, in parts funny, sweet, and touching. As we left, we set the plan for the rest of the afternoon. We decided to visit two boys, Alejandro who had already received a cleft lip and palate surgery, and Serafino, who had received a cleft lip surgery, but was still waiting for a palate surgery. After, we were hoping to visit one more girl, Susana, who was just under a year old and lived on the outskirts of the other side of town.

Some other students at the door when we were taking photos of Daisy

First Impressions

Since I didn't leave Austin until 12:30, I didn't arrive in San Cristobal de las Casas until after 1:00 am. A few things about my travel day stuck with me. First of all, despite my roommates' shock that I am actually fully hispanic, the majority of the people who interacted with me (or rather attempted) presumed that I was Spanish. While I find this incredibly flattering, it was also rather embarrassing considering I didn't in fact know Spanish. Secondly, the people in Mexico are incredibly courteous and considerate. I was half asleep on my flight from Mexico City to Tuxtla Gutierrez and was rather cold when a complete stranger noticed and handed me a blanket he had. That was just one instance of generosity which I really did appreciate.

Other tips: Always have some form of tissue paper or toilet paper for the bathroom. Being caught off guard without it is not a comfortable prospect, especially when the only other alternative is notebook paper.

Packing for Mexico

It is just under twelve hours until I leave Austin Bergstrom International Airport for my second Operation Smile medical mission to San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico. Naturally, I am not actually packed yet. Isn't it a far more productive use of my time to listen to Forrest Gump in the background while writing my first post for the blog?

For those of you who don't know, the few who I've shamelessly begged to read the blog who haven't heard me talk about Operation Smile, few and far between, Operation Smile is an international non-profit organization that goes to developing countries to repair cleft lips, cleft palates, and burns. It is a one of a kind organization which gives students like me an incredibly rare opportunity to participate in a medical mission. I am so thankful for the opportunity.

My mission to San Cristobal de las Casas is the third mission to the area, and in five surgery days, the team will be repairing cleft lips and palates. My role on the mission is be the journalist. I am responsible for writing stories and keeping updates on the mission as a whole.

Most of the team is not getting to San Cristobal until Wednesday, however, I am leaving two days before the mission begins because I have the opportunity to go on a home visit. This is one aspect of the mission that I never expected to be a part of. I am so excited for this chance, where we'll be visiting the home of a girl who received surgery during the first mission trip to San Cristobal. It is here where we'll get to see the true happy ending, after she's had the opportunity to go back to school and have a really normal life.

11 hours left and counting!