Hello everyone from hot Guatemala . Man it was 80 degrees today and I am not sure how much more of this sun and heat I can take. I know with the global warming you guys much be burning up too so try and stay out of the sun OK?

I just dropped off our first team of the year and they were from the State of Utah. They showed me some pictures of where they lived and it was beautiful. As always they were a fantastic group and loved going into the villages and seeing Guatemala .

Our first clinic was along a beautiful river with a canyon that looks like Jurassic Park and of course they loved that.

They did the medical work out side the bus while I pulled teeth inside the bus.

So that meant Marleni had to stay out side and see all of the patients and diagnose them and then send them on to the appropriate station. Well after a couple of hours she said I want to learn how to pull teeth so I can work inside the bus and you go out there and see hundreds of patients.

So I said OK here you go pull this little guys tooth first and see how you do.

She pulled it out easy and said this is easy Bryan. I said OH yea, then I brought in an adult that needed 5 teeth pulled and they were rotted to the gum line and some where molars. She worked for half and hour and realized how difficult extracting teeth really is.

She finally stopped and looked at me and said, I cannot even get this first one out.

So I took over and pulled it out like taking candy from a baby. She said OK OK, I going back out to see patients…. I felt like Rocky Balboa after a boxing match and then went back to work singing the Rocky theme song in my head and thinking I hope she does not want to really learn how to do this because usually what ever I teach her she ends up doing it better than me….

One of the villages we went to was way up in the mountains and the first time I went there about five years ago it was with my pastor from NC and his team from Burnsville. When we got there the people ran and hid and were scared of us. But I have been taking care of them now for so long they love when we come.

So to my surprise when we got there the village had put up a sign for us.

It says Dear Bryan (they spelled it Brayan) you are the handsomest man in all of Guatemala and we think you look just like the man in the movie the Gladiator.

I could not believe they had seen that movie since they have no TV but here is the proof…..

OK, OK If you can read Spanish it is possible I may have misinterpreted the sign a little bit…. But I know their hearts were in the right place….

You have to admit this does look exactly like a scene out of the movie where the Gladiators are waiting to go into the arena right?

However, like always we had to get to work and when we were done with the clinic we needed to go to some homes that had people too sick to walk. So I took the team with me to do a house call. So we hiked up the mountain a bit more and I showed them the inside of a Mayan home.

They were blown away at how primitive the people live in such remote areas, but this is why we come here, they have no one else who will come this deep into the jungle for them.

Another village we worked in was only accessible by river. So we loaded up the boat and went up the Rio Dulce River and then up a tributary about an hour and the water was so low at this time of year we had to stop and unload the boat and then hike into the jungle.

Usually when the water is this low everyone has to get out of the boat and push except me because I am the Captain and by law of the Sea I have to stay with the boat even if it is in trouble. ( OK so maybe we were in like 2 inches of water and the boat could not move but I made sure the women and children were all out of danger, and so I stay in the boat) Luckily we made it over the dangerous sand bar and we were once again on our way.

But this is a great village and many of the men from the village came to help us carry our medical bags and food and water. The pastor of this village has 5 children and his wife just had twins.

Fortunately we had some powdered formula for them because the mother is too malnourished to nurse both babies. But we had left it at the clinic, so the next day the Pastor got in a canoe at 4:30 in the morning and came to our clinic before we left and we gave him all the formula we had left.

He truly is a good man and cares for his wife and children and I have grown to love him more each time I work with him.

But as always it is the kids who steal the hearts of the teams. They all wanted to take the kids all home with them.

Some of the team got to do a little minor surgery in the field and they loved that.

The clinics were a great success and the people were very grateful for the Americans coming to help them. It makes it all worth while when they follow you back to the river and help load the boat and then all stand and wave good by and say thank you…

Then back to restock the kits and get ready for another day…..

This team as most of my teams came with a heart to help and that they did. But their lives were changed in the process and that to me is just as important as the people we help in Guatemala .

This year we will also be expanding into Honduras and doing medical and dental clinics in Honduras . The people of Honduras are extremely friendly and despite what you hear on American TV it is a stable democratic government. But they also need help and so as you can see from some of the places I pass when traveling in Honduras I have decided to help these people also.

So some of you that are coming on future teams…..well we may end up staying a few days over in Honduras OK?

Again thanks to the good folks who came all the way from Utah, you were great and thank you again for all your hard work.

ON the bottom row are from left to right:

Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp

May God Bless

In His Service

Bryan & Marleni Buchanan