“Coffee of Life”

Notes from Kim Hiniker

Buenos Dias! Hard to believe today is our fourth and final day of clinic. I woke up today feeling refreshed and ready to take care of patients again after a weekend of being able to tour different cities in Guatemala with my work family. It has been an emotional journey, and I feel I will be a different person when I return to my home in MN in the United States in just a couple of days! Cathy started us off with a short story about “Coffee of Life,” and it offered a new perspective from the outside looking in. It’s “one of those had to be there” type of explanations, but I would love to explain if asked. Breakfast was then served with a beautiful prayer from Cathy and our fourth and last day of clinic up the mountain began. 

In my opinion, this was probably the poorest village I’ve seen but it was filled with the richness of the coffee beans and avocado trees that surrounded it. Our day started off slowly with only 15 patients in the morning but it was 15 new faces that will forever be embedded in my mind. Our afternoon began and we saw only 9 patients making our total 24 patients. Although the day may have been slower, time moved fast and the emotional goodbyes began. 

Special gracias to our Spanish translators, health promoters, the entire mission group, and of course this amazing group of doctors and nurses who have turned into family. I wrote a poem for our final reflection and I will post that as my final blog. We finished our last dinner, washed dishes for the final time, and headed back to our hotel for our personal viewpoint on the trip. One more rooftop get-together. I am forever grateful. Off to Antigua tomorrow! Adios!