Lost in Translation

Last week was an interesting week - a little different than the normal schedule, and even when I was in the clinic, it was a madhouse with a lot of people around so it definitely kept us all busy. But it's good that way...I mean, not good that people are sick, but good that if they are, they come to us.

So, one reason things were so crazy around the clinic is because there was a short-term team from the Chicago area in town doing construction work in Wichanzao. They took over the top floor of the clinic, leaving us with less space for all the patients while they were there, but also leaving us with a beautiful new tiled floor on the 2nd floor and some improvements to a few things that we had been needing for awhile (e.g. a water heater in the shower - don Jose will be so happy when we bathe him next and don't have to do it in the bathroom!). Part of the group also worked all week on the manse for Pastor Juan (the preacher at the Wichanzao church) and his family. They've been living in the Sunday school rooms at the church, so it will be nice for them to actually get to move into a house soon. Lenin, the mission architect, and his Peruvian crew are working their magic and will hopefully have it ready for them to move in within a couple of weeks.

My schedule was a little off as well because Monday and Wednesday I helped all day at a wheelchair campaign at a church downtown. An organization called Wheelchairs for the World, who distributes chairs all over the world, brought a team down and, with the work of physical therapists and wheelchair mechanics, matched patients to wheelchairs and made sure the chairs were comfortable and appropriate to meet the person's needs. Some were simple and only needed a chair to get around outside or go long distances; other people had been confined to bed, unable to move on their own, and now their families can wheel them around and give them more mobility. It was really interesting to meet and talk with so many people - immobility, like health in general I suppose, does not discrimminate. There was a paralyzed man from a mountain town whose brother brought him; a young man with cerebral palsy whose next-door neighbor and best friend (he's like my brother) accompanied him on the 6-hour drive from the mountains to get his chair; an elderly lady from Trujillo who couldn't get out of the house and can now maneuver her chair by herself; a 5-year-old girl with cerebral palsy; a middle-aged woman who had polio as a child, but now owns her own little shop and gets around on her wheelchair (including in and out of taxis on a home-made slideboard) just fine; and an industrial engineer who had had a stroke a year and a half ago and now can't move on his own at all. This last one really struck me because his brother brought him, and later his wife came after picking up their kids from school. Both of them were very sweet and supportive of him. He and his wife Ana have four kids and, although this has some trouble speaking now, he's still obviously very intelligent, and even spoke some English he remembered to the physical therapist.

I was translating for this campaign two days and one day in the clinic for a doctor who came with the Chicago group. I decided I like translating. It was pretty exhausting, and I definitely made mistakes and needed help sometimes, but it was need to get to see these different patients, be a part of helping them get what they needed, and, especially in the case of the wheelchair campaign, just being able to talk with and get to know some of these people. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some more of that soon. Although I don't think I have to worry about that. :)

The other thing last week made me think of was the concept of short-term mission teams. We read a book with the intern group a couple of months ago called When Helping Hurts. It's a very interesting book, and it brought up some potential criticisms for short-term groups that come in, "dump" their help (whether it be money, resources, or a service), and then leave. I'd thought about that before, and I agree there is the risk that short-term teams can take away from the responsibility, initiative, and dignity of a community if they offer what appears to be helpful but in reality is not meeting the underlying needs. Plus there's the issue of commitment and relationship that is often absent if the only contact is built around a single one- or two-week trip. However, I think both of these groups - the team from Chicago and Wheels for the World - demonstrated the right way to do it. They've both been coming continuously, for several years to the same place, and they have established a relationship with the people here. Also, they both worked really hard - definitely had fun, but took their work seriously and effectively accomplished a lot to meet actual needs people had. And finally - one of, I think, the most effective ways to have an impact as a short-term team - they both came down through organizations that are established in Trujillo, that are staffed by locals who know the culture, the situation, and the needs of their community. Instead of working for the people, the groups work with them, resulting in a mutual exchange of blessings, appreciation for one another, and meeting of needs. I think that's the great thing about how God works when we're available for him to use us. Somehow, we all get blessed.