Medical mission trips to Guatemala help those in need and change lives of caregivers

The group was able to catch a flight the next day. They rode a bus for three hours and then took an hour-long boat ride into San Pedro. The views were breathtaking, according to Robbins. The town has recently become a tourist destination and one travel blogger for the Huffington Post recently called Lake Atitlan “jaw droppingly beautiful.”

This group, however, was not there to sightsee. When they arrived in the largely Mayan community, a line of Guatemalans were waiting just for them. For seven days in February, the group, an international mission group with the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, volunteered in the medical camp day and night.

Among the volunteers was Cathy Hunnicutt of Mount Pleasant, who, like Robbins, has traveled to Guatemala on the mission trip several times.

“It’s an answered call. I know that for sure,” said Hunnicutt. “I fell in love with the people.”

Hunnicutt has been on the medical mission nine times, and also took her college-aged daughter and her husband to the poverty-stricken site. She said she wanted them to understand why she kept returning. She serves on the mission’s travel team, going out into the surrounding communities of San Pedro helping provide medical care.

“It’s life changing when you go down there,” she said.

Like Hunnicutt, Robbins, who has been on six trips, has found a larger purpose through her trips to the Guatemalan village. Robbins is bilingual and serves as a translator during the missions.

“We greet them, get their information (like their symptoms) so we can send them to the appropriate area of the clinic,” she said. “They’re very happy to see us. They sometimes wait for us to come.”

The Diocese of Charleston has been assisting the Guatemalan medical clinic by coordinating medical missions to the area since 2007. The missions are a component of Project San Pedro, a sponsorship program supporting education in Guatemala. Currently, there are nearly 400 children sponsored.

The medical missions are aimed at providing additional support to the sponsored children, their families and the community. The clinic is staffed with a full time doctor, a registered nurse and administrative support. During the missions, the clinic expands its services to also include dental services.

“There’s just such a tremendous need,” said Bishop Robert Guglielmone of the Diocese of Charleston. “Health care is just so poor in Guatemala and these people are so poor who are being helped by the clinic.”

Guglielmone knows some people question why the diocese would focus so much energy on individuals abroad. His answer: “We always have to be aware of the needs beyond our own borders.” Even more so, Guglielmone calls it a responsibility.

Most Reverend Gonzalo De Villa, the Bishop of Guatemala, who recently attended a fundraising gala for the mission at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in West Ashley, expressed his gratefulness for the time and money spent by the volunteers, who pay their own way down to San Pedro every trip.

“Poor people would not get health care in the area if the clinic was not there,” he said. “They are people worth having a better life than they have.”

During the recent gala, Ryan O’Malley shared his experience of volunteering his services as a dentist during the mission trips to Guatemala. The Greenville man called the last three years the most rewarding of his life.

“I’m always amazed by the number of people there seeking treatment,” he told the crowd.

He recalled how men and women tugged at his sleeve as they waited in line for care in the clinic, opening their mouths to O’Malley and saying “duele” (it hurts).

“It’s been a very humbling experience,” he said.

Robbins and Hunnicutt said they both plan to attend the next mission trip in September and agree that while they are helping those in need, they too are also receiving a great gift.

“We receive much, more than we give,” said Robbins. “We receive many more blessings.”