San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala 2/2/22

Panajachel in the early morning and a Tuk-Tuk taxi, a three wheeler bike, takes our bags to the wooden embarcadero (dock) for our water taxi. This morning is a clear sky and we are heading out across the calm waters of the lake. Our boat is a blue and white lancha, used to ferry people around the lake and between towns. We have it booked for our trip as the public boat will make numerous stops along the shore and we want to be on time for clinic. Our destination today is San Juan La Laguna, a town at one end of the lake surrounded by the Mayan Tz'utujil community. Our partners today are ODIM Guatemala the Organisation for the Development of the Indigenous Maya. They provide health and education in San Juan and the neighbouring town of San Pablo La Laguna to the Mayan population.

We arrive in San Juan La Laguna. The embarcadero rises on tall wooden pylons. The wavelets of our boat rock the pier gently as we haul our bags up the accessible ramp and on to terra firma. Another hilly climb faces us. We pile all the bags again into a tuk-tuk and walk the short steep distance to the hotel. There we divide our bags between those to go to clinic and the rest that we deposit in one bedroom. The tuk-tuk executes a perfect hill start and putputs away up the hill and out of sight carrying our clinic setup to ODIM. Expecting to see only staff and up to 50 patients this morning we settle for a quick coffee break. We should be able to finish early we estimate and take early lunch around midday. We are about to get a lesson in the working mindfulness calm of Guatemala.

But first local organic coffee and an accompanying homemade oat biscuit the size of a side plate. A picturesque family run street side restaurant, its simple solid wooden tables and chairs under a tin roof canopy. The colourful prints and paint of the bar with two floral decorated garden seats ease us into life in San Juan. Refreshed we head on up the street, umbrellas and hats decorate the route overhead. We turn and capture the wonderful combination of street art against the natural backdrop of Lake Atitlan. We feel very lucky to be experiencing all of this. Breath recovered we head across the cobbled churchyard and on to a side street, down another two streets of more typical Guatemalan shops. This are is not so touristy and more likely where people do their regular shopping. A local vendor is making tortillas and cheerfully salutes us. We turn into a bright side alley and a space that looks only to be local access between houses.

It leads to the side entrance of ODIM, the shortest route on foot. Our supplies are neatly piled in the hallway. We take a cursory look at the space we will be working and get straight into setup. Today we seem mainly the staff at the clinic. It is a trial run ahead of the busier day tomorrow.

And now for that lesson in work practices. Staff arrive at neatly spaced out intervals as per schedule. In between they are busy with their own work. While we would have crammed the patient load into the morning and taken more numbers they have spaced our time evenly and steadily over the day. It allows them adhere to COVID guidelines, keep all their regular clinic work on schedule and does not overtire or stress the system. The workload for the day has been agreed and will be accomplished even if overtime is needed. But it is clear that overtime is rarely needed, the clinic oozes calm in an organised and efficient manner. This is what we have become accustomed to in Guatemala as the default demeanour. We cannot think of one incident yet this week that we could call stressful or stressed out. It is a breathable, richer more appreciative pace at which patients and clinic staff can interact.

Over a wonderful (and because we skipped breakfast very welcome) Guatemalan lunch, we muse about our general reactions to this approach to clinic. It is surprising how much we struggle with the reasonable level of work instead of what we may be more used to, the harried mode of overstretched all of the time. We could see more patients; move quicker; do more, always that push to do more but with the same amount of time allowed. Enough talk, time for food and the wealth of fresh warm tortillas, guacamole, salsa, bean and chicken.

Back at ODIM and the staff have also been talking over lunch break. We had the impression we had been assigned translators for the day. Having seen how we work they staff are now volunteering to accompany us. Our organised approach is a popular addition to the working week. Sporadic outbursts of music, a joke that filters around the group as it is translated from one language to another, a lot of gratitude by both teams and we are heading on time towards 5pm finish. We are waiting on two patients but only one makes the cutoff. As they live locally we can see the other tomorrow. We can leave our setup in place, lock up and head for our hotel.

On our way we stop at the crest of the hill and watch the seemingly simple tortilla making. We have booked an impromptu training session for tomorrow evening with the street vendor, laughter guaranteed.

We are halfway through the week. Possibilities of realising the 'International' part of our mission are starting to emerge. Tentatively we touch on our work in Haiti and how we could resource a second location. We are not quite ready to contemplate the possibilities; we need more information. There could be something here but lets wait, see more and discuss it again once we feel more rested.

We decide on Uber Eats again, from the same restaurant. Hey, if its not broke don't fix it! The hotel has a fully kitted out terrace with a superb view. A couple of cold beers with dinner and some chill out time for everyone. Deanna's playlist for the tunes and lots of conversation. Herman, a colleauge of Tania's, has joined our group for the San Juan clinics so we learn more about the area. And ornithology, a course Herman is taking in Cornell University. We have much to share about different cultures, the comparisons and our many similarities. The conversation flows and 11pm is fast approaching. It is generally closing time for most places here so an early night and a good sleep is in order. Tomorrow awaits. Buenas noches Guatemala.