On the 14th of April, 1995, began the journey of 2 Doctors, 1 Dentist, 3 nurses, 1 nutritionist , 3 medical assistants, and Maya Expeditions personnel to the village of Lanquín located along the banks of the Lanquín river pouring forth from the mouth of the Lanquín caves, one of the sources of the mighty Cahabón river.
The caves are a system of over 200kms in depth, however, only the first 500 meters is illuminated with light supplied by a generator form the municipality of Lanquín. This is enough to give one a sense of wonder standing in among large caverns filled with stalactites , stalagmites and immense columns of over 400 years old. As with all river fed caves, the footing can suddenly slip away from you on the more muddier walkways. No worries, with a quick dip in the beautiful blue Lanquín waters upon exiting the cave, the team regains that fresh clean sparkle one associates with medicine, even if it is just a little bit wet!
On the 15th of April the Flying Doctors team got to work at setting up their mobile pharmacopoeia, while Maya Expedition's personnel worked with the municipality worker , the region's doctor, Dr. Humberto, and the nurses of the Health Center of Lanquín to turn the Salon into a History and check-in area, examining rooms, pharmacy dispatch center and the dreaded tooth extractor scene. all needing to have their English-Spanish and Spanish-Keck'chi (the local Maya dialect) translators. Oh why didn't I study harder in my Keck'chi classes??
As it was the first day of Clinics and providing for a "Fijese" factor the first patient was not seen until Mid-noon. However, the doctors more than made up for any delay staying until the lights went out (the town's generator shuts down at 9:00pm) attending 150 patients in total. Mission successful.
Now, for some rest and relaxation.! A moving sunrise ceremony for Easter Sunday at the breathtaking travertine emerald green pools of Semuc Champey. Formed by a mineral enriched side creek flowing into the river, a natural bridge towers over the Cahaboncito river below. Although the Cahabón at this point is a narrow torrent of water crashing down rocks through narrow passages and mini falls, it is not runnable for any type of boater. Today is just for relaxation and fun, swimming in the pools above. Further downstream of here we will begin white-water rafting where the risks of running the river are not so high.
As April can be a month of little rain, the following day we bypass the normal white-water put-in 10 km below Lanquín and travel by land to the town of Cahabón. There with the gracious help of the workers at the Health Center we find a place of rest and once again set up our mobile Med Center. Our Dentist, now dubbed Cuko (the phantom ghoul that Indian mothers alarm their children with to stay inside and be good), is pleased to actually have a dentist chair and running water. The count of patients climbs to over 300, yet even starting at 8:30 am the Doctors cannot attend all the needy. They finish the day at 7:00 PM seeing over 235 patients, 3 of which have to be admitted to the hospital for observation while under the medication given. The repertoire of illness is ranging from chronic pain-arthritis, asthma, sciatic inflammation, intestinal parasites to pneumonia, tuberculosis, epilepsy near coma, pleurisy, a possible benign pituitary tumor and the dreaded malignant cancer growths.
After a hard days work we finally arrive to the banks of the Cahabón river, at the village of Tamash, where the townspeople have formed a cooperative in order to work with Maya Expeditions and the Guatemalan non-profit organization, Area Verde Foundation, to build ecological camps for use by tourists and the local people. The project is in its initial stages and the people of Tamash are eager to see it come to a reality. Our tent camp is set up and after a delicious meal, we enjoy a refreshing swim in the cool river and bask in the beautiful full moon-light. Dreams of rafting fill our heads.
Early morning is yet another mini-clinic for another 15-20 needy patients before we push off into the mighty Cahabón. Today we tackle the rapids of sidewinder, zigzag, screaming left hand turn, sex machine, munch, rim shot, wrap rock and various others that are deserving of names but as of yet have not been baptized. A beautiful, hot day filled with wet waves, scrumptious buffet lunch, water fighting and lots of excitement. Tired but relaxed we arrive at the site of our next clinic, Taquínco. This is an INDE campsite doing studies for building a large Hydroelectric damn on the Cahabón river and doing maintenance on the dam's tunnels that were built in 1980. At present they are taking soil samples searching for another plausible site for the dam as the originally intended location has been discovered to be directly on a major fault line.
The site coordinator amiably provides us two thatch buildings to act as a pharmacy and examining rooms. Benches and coolers have miraculously transformed into beds with the help of cushioned sleeping pads. The Dentist once again must rely upon a tarp covering, a chair to lean upon firewood and his trusty wash basins. As it is April the temperature rises to 110º F. by noon. The local people tell us we are lucky to have not so hot of a day! Where is that cool river?
A sense of accomplishment is reached by the end of the day as after seeing 141 people we actually run out of patients, YES! Time for a swim before dinner.
The next day finds us challenging the lower canyon of the Cahabón with its larger rapids. We hit Corkscrew, Sacacaca, no-name rapids, Turtle hunter and find ourselves maneuvering around an old rotten tree which has just recently fallen into the river. Besides the rapids, our day is highlighted with an exploration of a cave along side the river, that sees no tourists but ourselves and thus stays in it's pristine state. For lunch we have the privilege of taking our meal into the thermal springs that cascade down into the cool river below. What better treatment for overworked doctors, than a natural Jacuzzi?! We arrive at the quaint town of El Estor, relieved to sit down to a table dinner and relish in the cleanliness of showers. All sleep soundly, except for the courageous five who have decided to yet further test their limits in doing Bungee jumping off of the Rio Dulce bridge which will visit the next day. The joke is that Cuko's patients will follow us and see how they can cut the cord!
All goes well, and the courageous five survive the 100 foot jump with tall tales to tell their children and grandchildren. Our sojourn is rounded off with a visit to the archaeological site of Quiriguá, before arriving to Guatemala ready for the flights back home to the hectic pace of city living.
The mission was a great success. Although, we estimate actually "helping" 40% of the patients we saw and the other 60% require daily follow up or more testing that we could provide, we still feel the combined effort to be a worthwhile cause. This is the first step into the bridging of the two, no three cultures and the their different ideals. We have been shown that there is a strong need for more medical services here in Guatemala, even if it is for just one day. The mutual feeling of respect and trust has been formed. Now, it's only a matter of time before we can truly help these people in accordance with all the cultures.
As with the concept of eco-tourism, helping the local people benefit from the tourism is one way to combat the rapid destruction of the jungle. At least along side the riverbanks where the most erosion takes place. We hope that these clinics will help provide yet another means in which to work with the Keck'chi people on the vital important issue of how to educate them and ourselves in the best way in which to provide for all, including the birds, the beasts and the wilderness. The first step has begun.
The Flying Doctors are returning, in November, 1996 to re-do the Cahabón River and then in February of 1997 to do the Usumacinta river in the northern Petén area of Guatemala. Maya Expeditions will be providing the means form them to visit these remote and untouched villages safely, professionally and with lots of fun and excitement. Who says it has to boring and sedentary to be a doctor???? Maya Expeditions needs volunteers to help translate at the different clinics. We can give in exchange either a one day rafting tour for the Cahabon rivers. On the Usumacinta river due to the distances involved we can offer only the motorized portion of the tour and not the portion in the rafts.