Hopes and Expectations

Chan xawil!  Hello!  Ready or not, in two days I will be on a plane headed to Guatemala with 11 other expectant Medical Teams International volunteers.  This trip has snuck up on me like a bed bug in my sleeping bag in the middle of the night.  (I know that's an odd analogy to make, but when traveling to a new country you never know what little creatures you'll meet!)

I've been bitten with the desire to travel to Latin America, I'm itching to get there already, and I know that this trip will leave a lasting impact on me (hopefully more figuratively and spiritually rather than literally and physically!).

My name is Mary Carter and I am an employee at Medical Teams International, traveling as a "layworker" with one other person whom I know (and is also an MTI employee) and 10 other layworkers who I do not know but expect to know very well by the time I step back onto American soil.  Our objective in leaving our normal lifestyle for a week and traveling 5,000 to the small Guatemalan village of Saqib is to contribute to community health by building vented stoves which help reduce respiratory illness.

That's the main goal, but my hopes and expectations are many.  I hope to make a positive impact on the lives of the beautiful people I meet in this village.  I expect that they will make a lasting impact on mine as well.  I hope to catch a glimpse of the world through the eyes of my Guatemalan brothers and sisters.  I expect that we have more in common that we might have thought. I hope, along with my team members, to feel empowered in making a lasting impact on these people, this country, and even the world once I am back home.  I expect that this trip will impact each of our lives in more ways than we can imagine.  And I hope that you are inspired by the stories I share...