A Day in Prison

While hosting a team in Zacapa last week (Zacapa is Spanish for "hot as !%@*"), I spent a day in a Guatemalan prison. If men serving time in American prisons thought they had it bad, they need to check this place out.
Anyway, we ran out of patients one day at a local church, so I naively asked a local, "Hey, where else can we go to pull some rotten teeth?" An hour later I'm sitting in a room surrounded by steel bars waiting for our first patient, moments after being told by the guards, "Don't let the prisoners anywhere near your dental tools" (I can laugh now at the thought of my eyes being plucked out with a pair of forceps).
So, the first patient lays down on our "dental chair" and our gutsy dentist decides to ask him what he did to get in here. The dude says, "I killed two guys. On accident."
Classic!

Waiting for the guards to give us gringos the okay to enter the Zacapa funitentiary.

Highlights of the week in Zacapa:
- While inside the prison, a prisoner took the time to pray for us (he's praying for us?)
- The family who hosted our medical/dental team very lovingly prepared meals for all 15 of us everyday, not to mention invited us into their home and made us part of their extended family.
- Getting to know Israel, the kind-hearted man who arranged our stay in Zacapa. It deeply touched me when he described the plight of some of his poorer neighbors. His tears were as authentic as I've ever seen.
- Israel took me into one of the poorer neighborhoods around Zacapa, called La Plancha, and there I was able to pray for a woman who was absolutely overcome with joy that doctors from the States had come to help her and those she knew. Afterwards, she gave me a huge melon as a gift. Only the poor can be this generous.

Later in the week at one of our rural clincs this little guy beat me in a game of tic-tac-toe. He was feeling pretty proud of himself until I took him out back and gave him an atomic-wedgie.
Is this not the cutest little chica you've ever seen in your life? Having so many kids hanging around playing while we're with the patients is one of the perks of the job.

Lowlight of the week:
- Witnessing the extreme poverty in La Plancha. That may be the poorest place I've ever been. Most people had some sort of infection around their mouths because they drink out of the same canal where they bathe and use the restroom.
A "home" in La Plancha. It's just not freakin' fair.

Some of the community leaders in the meeting hall where we saw patients led the kids of the community in songs each day. It's just a thought, but how is it that very poor people can sing with more joy than people with so much? Hmmm...

In other news...
Our good friends Chris & Tausha came down for a week to visit us. We all took an overnight bus (10 hours - yee-haw!) to Tikal (super cool site of Mayan ruins in far north Guatemala.) Tikal was like the New York City of its day - skyscrapers and all...
See what I mean. Not too shabby for people without cranes.
We made a great climb to overlook Lago Atitlan to finish our week together.

We're 6 months into our journey today and are feeling extremely grateful to each of you for supporting us. We are so thankful to be a part of some amazing work here in this beautiful country.
Thanks for checking in!
Peace to you,
Jay

Prayer Concern: Our Guatemalan staff and American administrator were in a bad accident this week. They drive 2 hours to Camanchaj (where Carey and I are based) every Monday and Tuesday and on the way home Tuesday they were hit by a truck and their van flipped. I honestly do not know how none of them were seriously injured. Beside bruises and a possible fractured arm, they're all okay. I would ask that you please pray for our travel to and from the clinics and for the "psychological" recovery of those involved in this accident.