St. Mark Parishioner going to Patzun July 22-28

by Samra Bufkins

I'm blessed to be returning to Patzun this summer. I'm the only one from St. Mark going this time, and I hope we can keep the mission program going in the future.

Jean Meehan (who has been on several Patzun trips with Fr. Tim and folks from St. Mark) and her husband John are leading a group from their parish, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Arlington. They asked me if I wanted to go with them, since they know I can only go during the summer. We'll be providing basic medical services in the villages around Patzun, and taking a load of school supplies and warm clothing to Madre to distribute to the children.  We've been through formation training by the Maryknoll Mission Education Team, and are ready to do God's work with the lovely people of the western highlands.

Much has changed since Fr. Tim and several parishioners went last January. We are not allowed to carry any medicines into the country now. St. Joseph's parish raised money, and we'll be purchasing prescription meds in Guatemala City upon our arrival.

We also have to pay to check a second bag, but $25 to us is nothing, considering most of the people we'll see make $2-$3 a day.  It's worth it to take needed supplies to them.

We're all trying to sneak some over the counter meds in "for personal use." If somebody in Guatemala Customs does the math they'll think it odd that we've got Ibuprofen, Benadryl, Acetaminophen, and vitamins in 500 tab bottles for a one week trip. I may have to limp and hold my head as I go through immigration! We're all carrying large amounts of basics that we plan to leave there--assuming we get them through customs OK.  (I'm hoping a little fib for the greater good doesn't mean too many days in Purgatory.)

People always ask why we don't just ship stuff to Patzun. Simply put: It wouldn't get there. In developing countries infrastructure for mail delivery and shipping is poor at best--and usually nonexistent--and many pieces of mail are simply not delivered.

Another thing that has changed is the violence. National elections in Guatemala are September 11, and it seems there's an assassination, or attempted assassination nearly every day.  So far they've all been targeted toward candidates and their supporters, so we still feel safe going down now. There haven't yet been any random attacks on tourists or missionaries, and we're praying that continues.

We'll be arriving in Guatemala City Friday night and staying in a hotel, because it's not safe to be on the road to Patzun after dark. Apparently bandits patrol that road at night. Saturday morning we'll get the medicines that Jean and Dr. Meehan ordered from a local pharmacy, pick up a few essentials at the local Hyper Pais store, and drive to Patzun. After that, the schedule is up to Madre, the weather, and the Holy Spirit.

If I can get an internet signal I'll update this blog while I'm there, but if not, look for pictures and a trip summary upon our return.

Please keep us, the Carmelite sisters and the Guatemalan people in your prayers as we embark on this journey.

Your Sister in Christ, Samra

Blessed are the poor, theirs is the kingdom of God. Luke 6:20-23

Some thoughts on Guatemala from Father Tim

A team of missioners just returned from its mission to Guatemala. Four people from St. Mark’s parish (including me, the pastor,) along with 12 from other parishes in the Fort Worth Diocese, spent 7 days working in the Carmelite mission in Patzun. While a few of us had been there before, the majority had not.

This was a medical mission and we went to about 6 different villages (on our day off, one doctor and some other team members attended another village) and met with about 150 patients over that time. Many of the complaints were pretty low level problems, muscle aches and pains, sore throats and ear infections but a few always come forward with very serious problems: the beginning of diabetes, high blood pressure, a heart condition and the like. These are the more challenging problems since they are much more difficult to treat and follow-up on. Paula, a local indigenous woman, does follow up on the patients who are on blood pressure medications or diabetes treatment but her supplies of medicine are limited as is her medical training. I admire her commitment and willingness to try.

Guatemala is a beautiful but very poor country. (You can read more about it on the other page of this blog.) We had a very elderly woman come to the clinic with her own complaints but then said that her daughter had not gotten out of bed for 2 weeks and was very sick. A doctor, a translator and I agreed to visit her. Very poor people. The two women lived in two mud huts with a dirt floor. The sick woman met us at the door but then went back to bed. The doctor attended to her while I waited outside. As I was standing there talking with the local catechist, a man came carrying a heavy load of corn on his back. He looked desperately poor, wearing only rags. He dropped the bag of corn next to the house (he actually fell to the ground with the corn on his back) and then said something incomprehensible. The catechist told me that he cannot speak but that his name was Pedro. He called his name and he left. The catechist told me that the man had nowhere to live but stayed here with the two women, presumably helping them by gathering food from the garden. He was a startling sight for me.

We had a fun day in Santiago-Attitlan, Guatemala. It is more of a tourist town with a beautiful church, gorgeous view of the lake and a nice restaurant owned by an American couple. After a nice lunch (taquitos for me) we did some shopping for souvenirs.

We also visited the church where Fr. Stanley Rother, a missionary from Oklahoma, was shot to death in 1981. He dedicated his life to the indigenous people of Guatemala.

Fr. Tim   

Photos by Bill Bufkins.