It has been two weeks since we left Todos
Santos, Guatemala. It was a wonderful experience and I can’t
wait to go back next year. Natalie and
Melissa did a great job talking about our day to day experiences, so I am going
to use my blog to just give some general observations.
The
Veterinarians Without Borders group was a wonderful mix
of people and I now consider them all friends.
Elena and Guillermo are the program directors for VWB/
VSF
in Latin American.
They are a wonderful
couple with a great passion for what they do.
Tracy and her technician Stacey are from
Victoria.
Tracy
has worked in Todos Santos longer than anyone!
She does an amazing job of figuring out how to anesthetize animals using
only the drugs that can be purchased in
Guatemala.
Believe me, it is not an easy task to safely
anesthetize animals and provide them with pain free surgery with limited drugs
and no gas anesthesia.
And yet,
Tracy
comes up with an incredible protocol that does just that.
Kelleigh was a final year veterinary student
that had previously spent time in Todos Santos.
Kelleigh was a fabulous help all the way around.
Marian was originally from
Puerto
Rico so was able to help out with Spanish translation.
She also kept the recovery area running
smoothly and made sure that all surgeries got a good meal and some extra food
to take home.
Marian was assisted by
Janne who swore that she was afraid of dogs and didn’t particularly like
children.
Janne is a fund raiser supreme
for VWB.
By Day two she was also known
for her kindness to all of the children and her gentle hand as she assisted
Marian with recoveries.
Marian, Janne
and Kelleigh did not have it easy with as many as eight recovering dogs
AND
THEIR FAMILIES all in their small recovery area at one time.
Stephanie is a technician from
Barrie
that was a huge help with Spanish translation and everything else.
Adriana, Andrea and Heidi were Guatemalan
veterinarians that joined the group for the first half of the week.
They were tremendous to work with!
We are very excited to say that Heidi is
coming to
Barrie to visit for the
month of May!
And of course, there was
myself, Natalie, Melissa, Dr. Rogers and Lynsay from Allandale.
Todos Santos is a beautiful village.
It is surrounded by mountains which are covered
in plots used for farming.
We were told
that the people can be somewhat suspicious of strangers.
However, overall we found everyone to be very
open and welcoming.
Despite the language
barrier, we were able to make a connection with many people.
The villagers that brought their pets for
care were grateful to be able to provide their pets with surgery and/or
vaccines.
The pets may not have been
cared for in the same way that many of our pets are, but they were absolutely
loved.
There were people that walked
substantial distances while leading their dogs, carrying their cats in bags,
corralling small children and carrying babies on their backs.
These people then filled out paperwork and
patiently waited their turn.
Rabies
vaccines were given on a first come, first serve basis.
Surgeries were by appointment, but that still
didn’t eliminate waiting.
Since many
people had walked a fair distance with their dog for surgery, they watched the
surgery, and then waited while their pet recovered enough to be able to walk
home.
For many people this meant
spending the entire day.
And yet, there
was never a complaint.
Instead it was a
joyous atmosphere – children playing, people chatting, everyone milling about
and watching surgery.
Many people
stopped by simply to see what was going on.
School children in particular enjoyed the opportunity to watch surgery.
There were several dogs that had been coming for years –
Junior the Dalmatian, Terry the Rottweiller.
They were well cared for and the owners were quite proud of their
pets. There were a few dogs and cats
that were thin, but the owners were quite open to discussions of how to provide
better care for their pets. In most
cases, the pets eat what the owners do – tortillas, potatoes, a bit of
meat. Dogs and cats do not really
provide any meaningful benefit to their families other than companionship. And yet, people who have very little
themselves share with their dogs and cats.
That is obviously a sign of how much they love their pets.
We provided new collars and leashes to all dogs that had
surgery.
Unfortunately we did not have
enough to provide collars for the vaccine patients.
Collars are very important as many dogs run
free.
Dogs and cats without collars are
thought to be strays so are often poisoned.
We are planning to have a collar/leash drive prior to next year’s trip
in the hopes that we can provide every pet that visits with at least a new
collar.
We worked hard and lived simply while we were in Todos
Santos.
It was a good reminder to be
grateful for everything we have.
Our
rooms were cold at night as Guatemalans (even in larger cities) generally do
not heat their homes.
Our showers were
in a shared washroom and were often chilly.
And our meals were eaten outside on a rooftop terrace (sounds romantic,
but is actually quite cold at 7 in the morning or 8 at night).
However, we got to come home to comfy houses
with hot showers.
The food we had while
in Todos Santos was delicious.
We ate
three healthy meals per day and didn’t overeat as we tend to do at home.
Again, a good lesson that I wish I was better
at sticking to.
Overall I can’t say enough about our experience with
Veterinarians Without Borders, the new friends we made, the people of Todos
Santos and the animals we helped.
I feel
very blessed that I was able to contribute to improving the lives of people and
their pets.
The visits to Todos Santos
have a tremendous impact.
The incidence
of rabies in animals and people is being reduced, the number of strays is being
reduced and pets are healthier.
I can’t
wait to go again next year and hopefully we can do even more!
-Dr. Patricia Lechten
