Grace of God

Some of you know about Hector, he has been a huge supporter of ours and has facilitated many of our movements in Guatemala. He was the one who got us the donated warehouse in the city where we unloaded this last fall.

His son was kidnapped last week and held for $1 million ransom. It was hard not to think of anything else. We were able to offer up a few of our in country resources but the majority of the time all we could do was pray, and many did. And it obviously worked, as Julio was released last night! Hector called and wants to thank everyone for their prayers and positive thoughts, as you can imagine he is very relieved as are we!

Carmellita

In December 2009 I took a trip to see Fr. Bernie in Coban. The goal was to check on the two containers of aid sent there. Apart from verifying that the cargo and handling was just fine, what I encountered was a chance to learn about the community that two priests, Fr. Bernie and Fr. Basil had built.

Fr. Bernie and Fr. Basil were sent to Guatemala in the early seventies to establish a Benedictine community much like the one found in Collegeville, MN. The Benedictine Association of Coban was founded and they established a monastery, raised a church, and built a following.

Currently on the "compound" they are working on finishing off a two newly constructed buildings dedicated for a Multimedia Training Center. Beds, chairs, and tables included in the cargo will help fill the buildings.


We also toured some communities northwest of Coban. In one, where Fr. Bernie already built and established a school and now they are building a chicken coop that will hopefully house 1000 birds.

In another, named Las Palmas, they were pouring the concrete floors in a structure that will become the school. After viewing the school we were walking back to the truck when I was told the caretaker of the school wanted me to meet his daughter. She had received a walker from us. Her father said since she was gifted the walker her attitude changed dramatically. She is up and around.

They told me that beforehand Carmella was not actively walking on her own. Her parents had tried to have a medical team operate on her clubbed feet but the doctors detected she had a cold on the day of surgery. He said because of her malnutrition and a lack of money they stopped seeking care.


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UPDATE from Fr. Bernie 2/2/10:
Hi Karin, Oscar my helper is in the city with Carmelita who has her feet twisted. He is doing the rounds with the head of Pediatrics in the hospital San Juan de Dios. She will go to the city on the 19th of February and have her operation then. We had the idea of having the gringo doctors do it but they do not do this type of operation since it needs followup etc.
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A MESSAGE program volunteer has kindly pledged a donation of $150 towards the expenses for transportation, food, and lodging to support Carmella and her family during her surgery!

From Fr. Bernie

Hi Karin, I´ll bet you are busy with getting things shipped off to Haiti. Things are going well here. We gave away all the clothes and most of the medical equipment. There were enough stuffed toys for the three schools. Here are some photos you can enjoy. I will send more with a DVD when the visitors leave for the states. I thank again all the volunteers who made such joy possible. Bernie

weesh

During my trip in fall of 2009 Gladys, the health promoter from Palin, Escuintla, invited me to the baptism of her granddaughter. After the lunch reception Gladys pleaded for me to review the case of a two year old boy that lived along the rail line up the road. I was told the child could not “pee” and apparently the child had this condition since birth. I was also informed that the mother had sought care numerous times without success at Roosevelt the largest public hospital in Guatemala City. Gladys explained that the parents had nothing and were “squatting” in a make shift house in the corner of a lot of some friends. As we approached I did notice a little boy dressed in just a shirt with his hand stuffed down his cloth diaper. What struck me was the look of an irritated frustration on the little boy’s brow it spoke to me loudly. I met, interviewed the mother, and obtained some general medical information and paperwork. As we departed my skin crawled with goose bumps as I tried to shake off the powerful sympathetic sensations created by idea of not being able to urinate properly for TWO YEARS! Luckily, I was able to arrange a consult for the child in the city the following Tuesday. The family did show up that Tuesday afternoon after the mother had sold enough tamales to pay for bus fare. Dr. Lopez ordered an emergency kidney ultrasound and the child’s left kidney was obviously inflamed. Dr. Lopez diagnosed him with a “bladder valve” which is extra tissue that forms a flap over the tube that lets urine exit the bladder. If the child tried to urinate the stress caused the flap to close the tube, when relaxed urine dripped out slowly. A urologist was consulted and the procedure was arranged. The next week urologist cauterized the flap but ran into problems as the camera entered the bladder. They learned that unexcreated minerals had formed a stone that filled the entire bladder space. Formal surgery was done the next day to remove the stone and the child was set home with a catheter while healing. I went to visit the child shortly there after and was able to watch him play from a distance, I tried to get a photograph but he wasn’t going to let that happen. I was informed that the parents had taken a special trip to the church in Esquipulas to visit a famous statue of Jesus in order to give thanks to God for healing their child.

Guatemala 2009

The containers were released on Saturday 9/26/09. All seven left from port in a convoy. I was able to send the two containers for Fr. Bernies project directly to Coban. We unloaded five here in the city from 1am to 11am Sunday. We had 55 firefighters show up to help unload them all at once, thank God because we were up to the doors of the warehouse. There was NO space to begin unpacking. It was such a relief after we were all done, it hit me hard as I broke down in front of a small group of firefighters that were waiting for their ride. I can't express to you how hard the fight was but in the end it really was worth it, there are soooo many people that truly need the aid. Everyone was so anxious to begin distribution. I am also amazed at the support that we received from some good people down here. Really it was a lot more then I expected, but with the country in a tailspin there are few other options.

A realtor in Guatemala City named Yoly de Soch generously donated us the use of her warehouse in Zone 14. It was a three story building so coordinating the unloading was a challenge, rice bags packed full of clothing, shoes, linens, and scrubs went all the way up to the top floor, crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and loose boxes up to the second floor. All pallets, gurneys, and heavy equipment stayed on ground level. A local businessman donated us use of his forklift and an extra pallet jack.

What an advertisement for McDonalds! We had to feed our volunteers twice, they worked so long, hard, it was incredibly humbling to see, even concrete made a comfortable seat.

Nomination

The St. Cloud times has just nominated me as one of the 10 most influential people in the St. Cloud area in the past 10 years. If you agree go VOTE on-line at:

www.sctimes.com/influentials

If you load them, they will come....

8/24/09
Day Four
Sunday - A day of rest
(For volunteers that is....)

8/25/09
Day Five

Container #7 Loading
The MESSAGE Program
Cargo included: Disposable medical supplies, SCRUBS,
walkers, canes, wheelchairs, and general aid supplies

Go Johnnies!

8/24/09

Day Three

Students and ROTC Members from St. Johns University
loaded Containers #5 and #6
Cargo included: 150 dorm room beds, mattresses,
tables, hygiene and school supplies, and shoes

Two down with five to go

8/22/09
Day Two

The MESSAGE Program Crew assisted by

Container #3 Loading Crew
included volunteers from
Kids Against Hunger- Stewart and Team Pflipsen
Cargo included: Dialysis machines, dialysis chairs,
linens, general aid supplies

Container #4 Loading Crew

included volunteers recruited by
The Central MN United Way
Cargo included: fire gear & equipment, exam tables,
desks, disposable medical supples, and linens

Good things come to those who wait.....

On August 20th, 2009 we finally got the call.....
It was a GO for loading!

The Mission: To load Seven 40' containers of humanitarian aid in 5 days

Where do you get enough volunteers on such short notice?

Loading Crew Container #1
Cargo included: hospital beds, impermeable mattresses,
IV poles, wheelchairs, maternity beds, linens, and clothing

Loading Crew Container #2
Cargo included: hospital gurney's, carts,
disposable medical supplies, IV poles, wheelchairs

On 8/21/09 Americore volunteers loaded two containers in one day.
And they packed them well!

bandaids, walkers, and sheets, oh my!

The MESSAGE Program is really just a huge rescue program. We prevent many usable goods from ending up ending up in landfills or being recycled before their due time.

IV Poles

Patient Gurneys

Crutches

We collect a number of items such as such as exam tables, crutches, walkers, canes, wheelchairs, hospital beds, linens, disposable medical supplies, nebulizers, dental chairs, instruments, blood pressure cuffs, fire gear, back boards, and clothing. We pack everything up and ship it to areas in desperate need were the donations and recipients are given a second chance.

Quilters

To date the Rice Community Quilters have donated over 150 hand made quilts and they are still sewing on......

Sum up 2009

In the beginning of 2009 the US warehouse was bursting
with donations and they kept arriving.


Packing up a half a semi full of donated SCRUBS assembly line style!

Carson passed his pallet jack driving exam!

Rasmussen College sent a group of helping hands!

The Minnesota School of Business spent Faculty Volunteer Day with us!

Happy New Year!

Seasons Greetings,

The MESSAGE Program just completed the distribution of seven aid containers in Guatemala. It was a challenging task. In the beginning of 2009 our warehouse was bursting with material donations. Our volunteers were eager to see the valuable cargo get on its way. In May preparation met opportunity and three months later a record seven containers were loaded in five days.

Even more amazing was witnessing the volunteer spirit infecting Guatemalans. A new group of supporters there arranged the donation of a warehouse, forklift, and security services. Seventy-five volunteers showed up to unload at unheard of overnight hours. In just 90 days they unpacked and coordinated the aid distribution. I was personally stunned. It reminded me that a wise man once said –

“Things happen on God’s time and in his way, not yours!”

The MESSAGE Program is having a positive impact on thousands of lives. This is reflected in the smiles of the individuals who benefit from the goodwill shared by all of you. We continue to achieve our vision because of our dedicated volunteers and benefactors, who donate time, prayers, money, and material resources.

Our undertakings for 2010 will include facilitating a procedure for Juan Carlos’ facial malformation, coordinating surgery on Carmela’s clubbed feet, and an attempt to ship to Iraq. I invite your continued participation to see where our endeavors lead.

Happy New Year!

Karin Reichensperger, Director

The MESSAGE Program

Welcome Back!!!

I returned to MN on 12/22 and was welcomed by cold and 22" of snow. If you can't beat 'um, join 'um!