Day 8: Asociación Corazón del Agua, Guatemala City
Today we were up with the roosters for our first day teaching at the midwifery school. The school was recently completed and it felt sunlit, fresh, and comfy. At any given time there are about 15 women enrolled in the school’s three-year midwifery program. They come from all around Guatemala and their goals are to eventually return to their home communities to provide care for women and babies, as well as provide additional training to local comadronas. Teaching these women was very different from teaching the midwives in Xela because they had a high school education; therefore everyone was numerically literate and could read and write. This made our job much, much easier. They were also relatively young and you could just feel their energy, passion, and optimism. I definitely felt like I was in the presence of strong women who were dedicated to making the lives of mommas and babies in their communities better.
After a long day of teaching, we decided to get take-out for dinner and bring it back to our hotel. I think we were all sick of taking the time to eat in restaurants at this point. On this next thought I can’t speak for everyone, but I, for one, needed a shower. Unfortunately, the showerhead gave me real pause. It was metal and had exposed wires running into it from the wall. Now, I’m not an electrician, but I see metal, wires, and water and I see a real problem. I texted Nancy, who was one room over, to ask about this. Totally normal, she said, it’s called a “widowmaker” and you have to be careful to not touch the shower head whilst in the shower. I sat with that for a minute….texted some people back home….seriously considered bucket baths. But ultimately decided to face my fears and take a shower. Which I did…..while standing in a low crouch. It was fine.
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