went to mexico with apu for spring break. there's the news if i never communicated it with you. went with a medical focused team and our goal was to do physical therapy for kids with different disabilities. most of them had cerebral palsy which is a form of rigid paralysis or muscular dystrophy which is flaccid paralysis so we did different exercises and stretches with them. there is tons to say about the trip but i'll try to condense it the best i can.
we drove down from apu last saturday. the trip took 5 hours or so and it was fun getting to know the people in the car who were on my team. we had meetings before the trip to get to know each other but i didn't really go to many of those... we got in-n-out before the border (i'm an in-n-out convert, can't help it) and then headed into mexico. the difference in the urban landscape and demographics was pretty stark. we were in mexicali which is a region of mexico that is primarily agriculture with nearly zero tourist attraction. got to our camp site which was really just an empty field and claimed our spot for our tent. pitched that bad boy up and i picked my spot on the ground. kinda forgot a sleeping pad but the dust under the tent was surprisingly soft.
sunday was our first day working and we went to pick up saul and gustavo. saul was the most functional cerebral palsy kid we had (see below: biceps for dayz)
but besides being functional, he had the greatest attitude. saul's mom told us that every day he would wake up at 6 so he could get ready in time. even though we didn't pick him up til close to 9. everyday he would be sitting in his walker in the driveway waiting for us. that smile was plastered on his face all week. he also loved american pop music and he listened to it on his own so even though he didn't speak english he would sing along to some of his favorite songs. sometimes the words weren't exactly right but it was all because he just listened to the songs and phonetically sounded them out.
gustavo was a kid with a disorder that is similar to non-comunicative autism but also manifests itself with excessive eating. gustavo is 6 but he's over 110 pounds. such a chubby bunny. and because he can't communicate, he gets frustrated easily when he doesn't get what he wants. which is hard to know because he can't communicate. but when gustavo is happy, he is the cutest fat little mexican boy you have ever seen.
case and point.
the other kid that was one of my favorites was thomas. he was a punk. he learned some english words and would repeat them at funny times. favorite thomas quotes : "sup dude (with the head nod)" "massage!" "come onnnnn" "stop (said to men trying to enter/exit car before girls)" "dayummmmmmmmm" but it was really cool to see thomas' attitude progress throughout the week. the last day he even said he was upset because we were leaving. which was bitter because we were leaving but sweet because he actually cared. below is thomas and i thuggin it up at tacos after the clinic.
but onto the important stuff. the things i learned about while in mexico. i got to see the mom's handling their kid's adversity and the adversity of their economic standing. these people lived on around $35 a week with kids having disabilities. one mom and grandma stood out from the rest. their son was named emmanuel and had severe c.p. he was 22 and constantly in the fetal position because of the severity. he couldn't communicate at all and by all appearances didn't know what was going on. his mom held him like a baby because he wasn't much bigger than one and essentially had to be treated like one. but every morning that we picked them up, mom and grandma came out just giggling and smiling about who knows what. but really. by american standards, what did they have to giggle and laugh about? they had nothing to their name except a downtrodden home and a severely disabled kid. but their joy was undeniable and that was so... encouraging? different? surprising?
the other cool thing was the fact that we actually made a difference. i was semi skeptical about the impact the trip would have because sometimes short term missions seem more about the people serving than the actual service. which is not bad but i wanted to get my hands dirty and do something. there was a noticeable improvement in the conditions of some of the kids by the end of the week which would help increase their ability to function. and more important than that was the interactive impact. when we dropped off saul on thursday night for the last time, he sat in the driveway and cried because he didn't want us to go. we went inside to his home at his mom's urging and he just sat there hugging us and holding back tears. we were obviously a highlight of saul's life. and i don't mean that lightly.
there is so much more to say but that'll suffice for now. to scratch the surface. mexico was great because as much as we made an impact in the lives of those kids and their families, they made an equal impact on me.
"we are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life - those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. the true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain"
~ my utmost for His Highest
No comments:
Post a Comment