BioMedical Engineering Students Volunteer
Three 4th year BioMedical Engineering Students from North Carolina State University have been with us for a week to participate in a variety of volunteer and educational activities in the village. The three students, Eyob Eyualem, Amber Johnson and Stephanie Summe began their week with a tour of Project Ix-canaan, lunch with a local family, and work with the kids in the Ix-canaan library, before returning to Gringo Perdido (www.hotelgringoperdido.com) for swimming and dinner.
Each day of the week the group participated in a different activity …
The first day the group funded and built a cement floor for this family of 4. Shown in the photo from left to right are Edgar (the cement floor builder who works with the volunteers), Eyob, Amber and Stephanie (the volunteers), the family of 4 who live in this small room, and Eva (the translator).
This day, as was the case most days, the volunteers took their lunch with a local family … on this day it was the family for whom they were building the floor.
The third day, they met with several villagers in their homes to get their feedback about a variety of topics. During the lunch hour in one of the homes, they learned to make tortillas.
The following day they visited two large hospitals in San Benito. Here they are in the District Public Hospital with Dr. Blarimir Mijangos Morales, The Sub-Director of the hospital, and several other Ix-canaan volunteers who also participated in the tours.
The 3 students also spent a day doing an herb walk through the jungles with local herbalist, healer and midwife, Doña Maria Sandoval.
They also visited the Ruta del Mono Canopy Tour to zip through the jungle canopy on zip lines …
And no visit to Guatemala is complete without a trip to Tikal …
THANKS Amber, Stephanie and Eyob for all you accomplished during your busy week!