Hermano PedroHermano Pedro is a Catholic Hospital in Antigua, Guatemala with a residence of 240 people, most of them having cerebral palsey or some other physical handicap. There is also a malnutrition ward. The hospital is more like an orphanage in that all the people don’t just stay because they are sick and will leave when they are well; most of them live there permanently. The children there are kept in their cribs for the majority of the time and when they are not in their cribs they are in wheelchairs. They get very little physical therapy which means that they are not improving but instead lying there getting worse. They do not get much interaction except for the normal routine things and when mission teams are there. They are not given real diapers but instead rags stuffed down into a big cloth diaper.
We went to Hermano Pedro on Monday and Tuesday to love on the kids. We were able to take six kids out to eat for lunch on Monday and seven on Tuesday. This gave them an outing and something to do other than sitting in the hospital. Going to Hermano Pedro showed me how to see special needs kids as people that have personalities and feelings. We were encouraged to pick one child to spend time with as it could get overwhelming to try to reach all of the kids. I got attached to a little boy named Hugo. His body was twisted and he startled easily. He couldn’t talk and would lie there and look up. There was also a little boy named Elmer that I wish I could’ve brought home. Even though we were only scheduled to visit Hermano Pedro on Monday and Tuesday some of us ended up going either in the morning or evening on the other days. When we went in the evenings I would stand by Hugo’s bed and rub his cheek and forehead, sing to him and sometimes hold him.
Taking some kids from Hermao Pedro out to lunch.
Hugo and I
Melvin in his crib
On our way to lunch
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