From Food Poisoning to Genocide

Last week, Katie and I both experience the joys of food poisoning.

I was awakened on a Monday morning to a queezyness in my stomach with the thought, "man...it would suck if I was sick and had to throw up".  Sure enough within minutes I was re-experiencing the amazing food we had at a restaurant the night before.  Nevertheless once everything was out of my system, I re-cooperated by the end of the day. [Note to self: don't order the side salad again]

However, Katie was having a bit more trouble getting rid of it.  After five or six hours had passed, she was still sick and couldn't even keep water down.  We decided to take her to the hospital and get her checked out.  We called our friend Crystal to take us to the hospital and within minutes we were with a doctor.  Some fluids and antibiotics was all Katie needed and she was feeling much better within an hour once she was being taken care of.

This experience opened my eyes up to a couple of things.

First off, this was the first time I ever had to take Katie to the hospital for something I couldn't help her with myself.  Even though her treatment was moderate, we definitely needed to get fluids in her body asap.  I would guess that every spouse or parent goes through a similar situation at one point in time and I couldn't help but think about what my Mom and Dad had to experience with my brother spending the first 2 1/2 years of his life in a hospital with severe heart problems. In addition, having this experience in Guatemala where even the doctors do not speak English is very difficult to endure. (Crystal spoke Spanish and translated for us)

Secondly, I realized how fortunate I am to live in a country such as the U.S. that is over-supplied with medical equipment.  Even though we were at a very nice private hospital that is close to Antigua, there were still a few situations that were surreal to me.  For example, there were only a few bottles of pedialyte available for me to purchase at the pharmacy.  It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that a hospital wouldn't have something as basic as pedialyte stocked up to the ceiling.

However this is the simple reality that Guatemalans and many others have to live with.  In fact, there are many aspects of their lives that they "just have to live with".  This is not to say that there are not individuals standing up for their civil liberties and basic human rights.  In fact, right around the time that I entered Guatemala, some protesters on the other side of the country were shot and killed for wanting better sewer/water systems from the government in their local areas.

Water.

Not religious freedom, gay marriage, or political corruption justice.

Water.

People were killed for wanting the ability to cook a meal, wash the dishes, and maybe take a shower at the end of the day.

Nevertheless, during this shooting the police who acted so brutally were punished; something that is rather taboo in Guatemala.  Guatemalan officials have had a long history of being exempt from any punishment based on their acts during their civil duties.  However that attitude, with much resistance, seems to be changing within the culture here.

Rios Montt, a former general of the Guatemalan army, is under prosecution right now for ordering the deaths of thousands of Guatemalans during the 36-year civil war.  This "war" has been deemed a genocide by the U.N. and you can read more about the trial here.

With this man being now in his late 80s, he has limited political power, but this case is a huge step forward for Guatemala in its ability to utilize a democratic system.  Of course these systems can be manipulated like any other; but these systems can be used for the good of all people.


Okay, I went from food poisoning to genocide...a great example of a "tangent", kids.

Thanks for reading!