We drove to this hospital today, deep in the city. An hour or more of crawling traffic, cars moving like busy ants, but with less order. The streets are overcrowded in this city that just was not planned for growth, with hardly any medians, parking, or safe passing lanes. Little kids wander on the sidewalks, their mother somewhere close by, occasionally (though not enough in my opinion) yelling at them in Spanish or in one of the Mayan dialects, to stay away from the road. We’ve been here 10 years but it’s still hard for us to see them wander like this. We pull into the hospital property. We can’t tell where the property begins or if we’re even in the right place, and then we see a chain-linked fence with a sign saying no weapons allowed. First-world signs like the big blue square with a bold, capital “H” are missing, but this must be it. As we get in deeper, we see more kids wandering around, and the street vendors are now so densely concentrated as we inch closer to the maternity entrance, it almost looks like a busy carnival. I pray under my breath as I guess and wiggle our van through the maze of tarp-covered colorful tienditas. They look improvised, but they are permanent fixtures. You can buy toilet paper, drinks or small bags of chips here… or even “street food”. We joke that the fried goodies include giardia at no extra cost (we won’t soon forget getting the parasite in Guatemala City 2 years ago from what seemed a decent taco shop).
There is no clear indication of actually where to park, but we see rows of cars with others blocking them in… it looks like some kind of order. We spot a green cone before an empty space. A man waves us in and charges us 20 quetzals in cash, to park here. He offers no receipt, although it’s expectated for any legitimate business. He’s found a clever way to make a living by reserving parking spaces for rent at the “free” public hospital. We saw the same deal when we travelled to the heart doctor a few months ago in another area of the city.
We finally connect with our friends after sharing our map location. In public hospitals in Guatemala no one is allowed in to see the patient. The young mother endured yesterday’s c-section alone… even dads are not allowed in. No friends, no family, and neither a cell phone may enter the property. Contacting family and getting a newborn pic we’ll have to wait. C-sections are the standard here, making the physicians life much easier as they can be scheduled, rather than waiting around for the natural timing of a child’s birth.
Finally we are blessed to see our friends. Patti, who has been coaching this young mom through the last several months, is bursting, but holding it inside as best she can. Phil is still a bit numb from surviving the drive. The baby is beautiful. It’s a little girl. They named her Kristel Maribel. She is healthy, calm, and loved. Two parents beyond overjoyed to hold their precious bundle.
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We’ve been blessed by the help of friends like you to help this little miracle happen. A young couple from a hard place needing direction, medical care for several pregnancy illnesses that threatened the life of mother and child, and today, a ride home from the heart of Guatemala’s bustling capital, to their humble abode, with a stop for day-after-the-C-section pain killers, some mommy vitamins, and baby diapers, and a hot meal.
Thank you Lord, and thank you everyone who helps make these miracles happen 🙂
