Frankenstein & Coffee Beans

Why Should We Donate an Ambulance to San Carlos Alzatate?

It started your as a typical lame firefighter joke. While visiting the fire station of San Carlos Alzatate, Guatemala, I innocently asked what year their ambulance was… “Which part?” they replied. As it turns out, the sole ambulance of Alzatate is something of a Shelleyan monster built from of the corpses of other dead vehicles.

“Like Frankenstein?” I asked, laughing… and a new nickname was born.

_{A tongue-in-cheek logo for San Carlos Alzatate’s Ambulance}

The major parts of the body came from a mid-eighties Toyota van that still bears the scars of a roll-over accident in an earlier life. The motor is from an anonymous Datsun found in an auto graveyard. The windows, bumpers and other body attachments were likewise grafted on to the vehicle in various automotive transplant surgeries. There is more Bondo than metal. Even the Emergency lights appear to have once served as a half of a light bar from another emergency vehicle. All it lacks is a lightning rod to jump start it.

The firefighters managed to raise 900 Quetzales last year (about $116 usd), enough to have a little body work done and get it painted white by a local man with a spray gun. Like makeup on Frankenstein’s monster, it does not hide the scars. The tires are bald and undersized, the suspension worn out and sagging. When it rains, it can no longer climb the few paved streets in town, much less the rock and mud tracks that lead to the municipality’s rural villages.

But the firefighters are proud to have anything at all. If they can’t reach the patient with the ambulance, they will bring the patient to the ambulance. Even when it means carrying people several miles over rocky roads strapped to their one backboard.

Getting to the Ambulance is only the beginning of the adventure…

San Carlos Alzatate is a medium sized town (pop. 23,000) in the remote mountains of the Jalapa Department, on the slopes of the volcano that shares its name. The people are largely indigenous Xinka (pronounced Sheenka). They are POOR, with over 85% living in poverty. Most are subsistence farmers. The largest part of their annual cash income comes from working the coffee plantations during the three month winter harvest season. Coffee is the only real “industry” in the area.

What little health care they have is provided during the day by the Clinica Salud, a government run family practice clinic with little in the way of supplies or medicines. Anything more serious, and any emergency, requires transport to the hospital in Jutiapa… well over an hour away…ON A GOOD DAY.

There are not many good days.

There are two routes into or out of Alzatate. Pavement is non-existent on either road, In fact the word “road” is a generous description. The southwest road is rarely wider than single lane, rocky, muddy, steep and very windy. It requires fording two rivers to pass. Yup, fording… driving through, not around, the shallow rivers. In times of heavy rain, which is often, the route becomes impassable without four wheel drive and the skills to go with it. We came in this way, with the AMEDICA-mobile, and will not do so again. (We kind of like having the differential and oil pan attached to the car). The northeast “road” isn’t any better. Though without the rivers to ford, it is extremely steep, often muddy, and a harrowing trip without a 4×4.

Doing so in a 35 year old, two wheel drive, ambulance assembled from used spare parts, at night, in the rain, with bald tires is a little frightening.

There is Dedication, then there is well… Alzatate Dedication

The life of a firefighter is never easy, but here in Alzatate it is an order of magnitude more difficult. The city pays the five firefighter’s salaries (about $300 usd a month for a 24-on, 24-off schedule without additional days off.) and allows them the use of a former small elementary school for a station, but not much else. What firefighting equipment they have was provided by the national firefighting association, ASONBOMD, (a few extinguishers and two SCBA) and a donation from AMEDICAusa (Helmets, turnouts, boots and more SCBA).

Firefighters here have no fire engine, but rely on the “Frankenlance”, assorted ABC and CO² fire extinguishers and bucket brigades for structural fires and a handful of hand-me-down tools for wildland fires. EMS supplies are purchased through the fundraising efforts of the firefighters themselves, who must often spend part of their shift and days off trying to elicit small donations from passers-by on the main road. They would like to build an auxiliary corps of volunteers, but the expense and difficulties in send prospective volunteers to Guatemala City for training is beyond their means.

EMS supplies are purchased through the fundraising efforts of the firefighters themselves, who must often spend part of their shift and days off trying to elicit small donations from passers-by on the main road.
_{Fire Chief Erick Najera & firefighter stand at the main entrance into town collecting donations from passing motorists and pedestrians. This is also what keeps the doors open and the lights on .}

A Firefighter’s life

Twenty six year old Fire chief Erick Najera is a prime example of the firefighter’s life in remote Guatemala. Sitting over cups of local coffee in his modest home, he shared a little of his story with us. (The coffee, home roasted, and stone ground, is phenomenally good. Interested in coffee from San Carlos Alzatate? Let us know .)

The son of a campesino (farm worker), he, his wife and newborn son still live in the old adobe home in a nearby aldea (village) along with their extended family. He managed to finish high school, doing an enlistment as an infantryman in Guatemala’s army. (No small feat in a country whose rural children rarely progress beyond 6th grade before leaving to work in the fields.) He proudly displays the certificate and small medal he received while training with the U.S. Special Forces during his time in the military.

On his discharge from the army, Najera returned home to Alzatate and came into contact with the local comité, a group of local business men and government officials, who were trying to start a new fire company in town. Erick wanted to serve. He began the arduous process of training to become not only a firefighter, but an officer as well. He travelled to distant Guatemala City to attend the required classes at the ASONBOMD fire academy. With nothing in his pocket, still trying to provide for his family and organize the new department at the same time, it took five long years.

In 2019, the 119 Company of Alzatate received it’s certification from ASONBOMD. It became the newest of the sparsely scattered 250 official fire companies in Guatemala, and Comandante Najera is at its helm. They provide fire/rescue services not only to the town but also to the surrounding villages and hamlets. They must struggle daily to reach their people who live in this remote region.

AMEDICAusa’s effort to Donate an Ambulance to Alzatate

Unfortunately, the trials of the firefighters in Alzatate are not unique in Guatemala. AMEDICAusa has long been supporting the fire companies who provide emergency services in the most hazardous country in the world. San Carlos Alzatate is but one, and each presents its own challenges.

The chief obstacle in Alzatate is its terrain and primitive roads. While we can’t fix the roads, we can search for and donate a vehicle that will suit their specific needs. We need your help. We are seeking one (or more, we have other companies that could really use them) 4×4 ambulance(s) that might be available for donation. The vehicle would hopefully be:

Four Wheel Drive
Of a common make that would not present a huge parts availability problem.
In good enough condition to allow immediate use in the field
Be diesel powered. Gasoline is expensive in Central America, Diesel a little less so.

If you have or know of one that is available, contact us at AMEDICAusa. There may be significant tax advantages to private parties/companies for their donation.

We Will Not Give Up In Guatemala

This is not a political story. We will not be discussing the merits of international policy decisions, the linkage of ideology to food, nor the wisdom of alienating your neighbors. Rather it is simply our purpose to point out that, in the absence of United States international aid, the challenges for non-governmental agencies, such as ours, become both greater and more important. We should never give up in Guatemala.

In short, it is a plea for donations.

Some humanitarian programs formally supported by U.S. aid will wither and die. Defunding the U.S. backed security programs will cause the Guatemalan government to shift monies away from social programs to security and military uses. In either case their absence will leave a vacuum that can only be filled by the charities and NGOs operating in the northern triangle countries.

It is your concern when your neighbor’s house is on fire.
Horace, Roman Poet 65 BC – 8 BC

Because of it’s unique geology and geography, Guatemala suffers from repeating natural disasters. Sitting on the nexus of four tectonic plates, earthquakes are an ever-present threat. Three of the thirty volcanoes in Guatemala are actively erupting as you read this. Tropical storms and hurricanes strike from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The rainy season brings floods and life threatening landslides, the dry season brings wildfires and drought.

Against these threats stands Guatemala’s Fire Service, the only dependable and organized emergency services in the country. Made up of roughly 250 fire stations nationwide, they subsist on little but donations. Their personal gear, equipment, ambulances and fire engines are largely donated, second or third hand tools from the United States. (For comparison, Tennessee, roughly the same size as Guatemala, but with only a third the population, has over a thousand fire stations to serve it’s citizens.) .

Why Guatemalans Flee

Poverty, violence, poor education, endemic corruption and natural disasters mar the country known as “the land of eternal spring.” Still recovering after four decades of a bloody civil war, the poverty rate, those who live on $2.00 a day or less, hovers around 65%. The rate is much higher among the indigenous Maya peoples and the rural population. (260 people own 56% of ALL of the wealth of Guatemala.) Education outside of Guatemala City rarely extends beyond 6th grade. Eight in ten indigenous Maya children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Ninety percent of all the physicians in the country practice in Guatemala City, leaving few resources for the remainder of the country’s 17.5 million people. Violence in the cities has reached epidemic proportions, fueled by the maras (gangs) and narcotraficantes. Police services are suspect at best and governmental corruption is the norm, with both the last president and his vice president awaiting trial for various corruption schemes. Awash in international debt, abandoned by the foreign corporations that profited by exporting their natural resources, and struggling to make it’s way forward in the developing world, the Guatemalan government is simply unable to meet the needs of it’s people without aid from the outside.

Rising need, dwindling resources

Since 2015 our annual small donations have dropped by half. Other NGOs we have spoken with in Central America have reported similar declines. Whether this is the product of changes in political rhetoric and attitudes about Central Americans or the decline in tax advantages in the changing tax code remain to be seen.

What is not in question is the result. With fewer funds, charities are unable to reach many of those most in need. With the coming vacuum in U.S. foreign aid to Central America the numbers of people in need will rise.

From a humanitarian view, it is very bad math.

So, it is our purpose to reach out to the private citizens and corporations to step up and help fill the void. Yes, we would be honored if you would donate to us. But, if not us, find a charity working in Central America that you trust, whose mission you want to support, and send them a few bucks.

Claudia’s Dream – When Guatemala Sends Its Hope

I did not know Claudia Patricia Gómez González.

Claudia Patricia Gómez González, 20, Killed by a CBP bullet upon entering the United States

But I know many like her. A Mam (Maya) woman, born and raised in the small village of Los Alonzo, near San Juan Ostuncalco, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, she had already overcome long odds in achieving what she had.

She was, in many ways, a typical young woman for the highlands. Sitting astride two cultures, photographs show her in both her brightly colored traditional Maya clothes and those of the trendy modern world. She was barely five feet tall. Her parents were Lidia and Gilberto, and she had two younger sisters, who she helped care for. She was popular amongst her friends and had a serious boyfriend, Yosimar, to whom she planned to eventually marry. They exchanged loving selfies, and silly posts when she could afford cell service.

First though, she wanted to go to school.

Claudia was obviously bright and motivated. Not only did she finished grade school but had gone on to graduate from a local colegio (sort of a high school with a specialized focus) with a certificate in accounting.

Claudia Patricia Gómez González, Graduation Photo, 2016

A small thing, you might say. But in Guatemala, where many tens of thousands of children – particularly the indigenous Maya – never finish elementary school, where the simple school supplies are beyond their economic reach, it is no mean feat. When, as often is the case, a family must choose which, if any, of the children will go to school, the girls often lose out to their brothers. After all, it is reasoned, the girls won’t need school to raise their children, cook and clean and keep a household. But Claudia, called “Princesita” by her family, persisted.

Already bilingual, speaking her native Mayan Mam language as well as Spanish, she hoped to learn English as well. In a country with 23 official languages (of which English is not one) the ability to speak English well can be an economic godsend. She wanted to go to college.

But college costs money. Far more than her family could afford. So, Claudia was looking for work. She spent two years after graduation seeking a job, but none could be found. Not in her village. Nor in the nearby town of San Juan Ostuncalco, nor in the larger city of Quetzaltenango.

She could have tried in Guatemala City, of course. But the city has no better opportunities, and some of the meanest of the mean streets of Central America. The city eats rural indigenous girls like Claudia for breakfast.

She just wanted her modest dream. Education. A better life for her and her family. To make a difference. With the naiveté of youth, her strength, and the hope of something better, she set out on a 3000-mile journey to find it in the United States. Just to make enough money to help her family and later to return to Guatemala for school. She knew it was dangerous, but her father had made it, though deported back to Guatemala after a brief time. Her novio (boyfriend) was attending school in the U.S. as well.

“Mamita, we’re going to go on ahead. [to the U.S.] I’ll make money. There is no work here.” Were her last words to her mother.

Claudia Patricia Gómez González

Fifteen days later, having made it half way to her destination, and less than a half-mile into the United States, Princesita was dead, killed by a single gunshot to the head by a U.S. Border Patrol officer.

The details of the shooting are muddy. The Border patrol has already altered its original official story in multiple respects, and no longer claims that Claudia, all five feet of her, was assailing a border patrol officer. Witnesses state she was simply hiding in the bushes. Investigations continue. Some say that the conclusion is foregone, and nothing will be done. Many say she was simply one more “illegal”, and that alone justifies, somehow, her death. Sadly, in a week, her story will be forgotten by most.

Claudia Patricia “Princesita” Gómez González was not an “animal”. She was not a rapist, criminal or MS-13 gang member. She was, like most immigrants, simply trying to follow her hope of a better life for herself, her family and ultimately her native country by coming to the “shining city on the hill”.

Claudia Patricia Gómez González Shortly Before Leaving Guatemala for the United States

Claudia Patricia “Princesita” Gómez González certainly did not set out to be a martyr to a cause. She, like any other 20-year-old, wanted very much to live a long and happy life, work a fulfilling job, and be surrounded by friends, family and children.

We should, however, remember her name. Remember that Claudia Patricia “Princesita” Gómez González, like all immigrants, documented or not, was a real human being, not so different from our own children, trying to make her way.

I think, no matter your politics, your stance on immigration issues or how you vote, we can agree that the answer to Claudia Patricia “Princesita” Gómez González’s dreams ought not to have been a bullet.

Why We Chose Guatemala and Why You Should Too

An indigenous woman donates to the local Fire Department in Champerico, Guatemala

Violence, Corruption, Poverty, War and Natural Disaster
have long been synonymous with the so-called “banana republics”. Historically, Guatemala has been no exception. There is poverty and need throughout the Americas, so why did AMEDICAusa choose this small country, rather than my wife’s suggestion of providing aid in the vineyards of Tuscany?

Certainly, there is need. The third poorest country in the hemisphere, an astounding 60% of the total population lives in poverty. In the rural and indigenous Maya populations, that rises to nearly 80%. Malnutrition is rampant, illiteracy more common than not and health care is largely unavailable. Obviously, a fertile ground for the efforts of an international charity. But, of course, that is true of other countries as well.

Wild Cacao at Takalik Abaj, an ancient Maya city which prospered in the pre-columbian chocolate trade.

It’s not because of the rugged beauty of the country, though it certainly has that. From the volcanic mountains of the central highlands, to the rain forest of Peten and the black sand beaches of the coast, the topography is challenging, exotic and gorgeous. It also hides the potential for the reoccurring natural disasters that periodically strike the country.

It’s not just because Guatemala is one of our near neighbors (Guatemala City is closer to Miami than is Chicago) and the people are fellow Americans in the larger sense. Though that too, might be justification enough.

It’s not even because of the large debt the world owes Guatemala for their ancient discovery of chocolate.

The Difference is in the People of Guatemala.

It sounds almost trite, but it is very true. Yes, people are people. There are probably just as many good and bad Guatemalans, by percentage, as anywhere else, and Guatemala is a diverse country with 23 official indigenous languages as well as Spanish. But what we have found is a wide spread desire, at all levels of society, to individually help make their country just a little bit better. This is markedly different than what we have found working in other countries in Central America.

Let me be clear. This isn’t the false bonhomie of someone getting something for free. After all, it is easy to be nice to someone giving stuff to you and yours for nothing. Rather this is the sincere, well intentioned partnership with the people that every NGO says they want, but few achieve.

The well-to-do “Gym Club” of Guatemala City, who donate their time and talents as translators and school program volunteers. The working poor who offer their labor and services for free just to be part of the effort to make things better. The Guatemalan firefighters, poorly paid and overworked, serving as our volunteers on their day off. All aid us delivering programs to rural villages and alert us to problems, such as special needs children, in the communities where we can help.

A group of the Gym Club volunteers at a children’s shelter in Sololá, Guatemala

The Gym Club Volunteers

A group of well-to-do members of an athletic club of Guatemala City, there is no obvious material benefit to their association with AMEDICAusa. They could be off jet setting around the world. Instead, they often spend their free time passing out school supplies to the poor children in a dusty little villages, or translating for instructors at fire and rescue classes across the country.

Fire Officer Wilfredo Morales volunteering to deliver school supplies near Santa Cruz Muluá, Guatemala

The Firefighters of Guatemala

Of course, it goes without saying that firefighters are all around good people. Perhaps no group in Guatemala is more overworked and underpaid than the Bomberos. Working a 24 hours on, 24 hours off shift schedule, you would think that they have given enough of their lives to their community. Instead, they often volunteer to work with us on their off days, and have been instrumental in identifying other areas that need assistance.

Don Chepe, Master Boatman, guides us to El Chico, Guatemala

The Working Poor

Nothing makes the point better than the experience we have had working with the day to day people of Guatemala. A couple of weeks ago, we were working in a small village in the mangroves of southwest of Guatemala. The village, El Chico, is inaccessible by road and can be reached only by a forty minute, somewhat difficult, boat ride from the nearest boat launch. We hired a boatman, Don Chepe, to take us, our volunteers, a couple of policemen for security and all of our supplies into the mangrove.

Its a long trip. Using a lot of sparsely available and expensive fuel, and he must wait hours for us to finish our mission. During the trip, he cannot carry the cargo or harvest the fish that would otherwise make up his daily wage. We readily agreed to his asking price of 150 quetzales (about $20) for the boat and a day’s work. Once he delivered us back to the beach he tried to refuse his fee. Just to be part of the effort. (Though a very kind offer, we of course paid him anyway.)

Hope and Change in Guatemala
have historically been distant dreams. Guatemala suffered nearly forty years of civil war and decades of systemic government corruption in that war’s aftermath. What makes the difference now?Perhaps it is the creation of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and its success in rooting out much of the corruption that robbed the country’s treasury and ultimately its people. Perhaps it is the changing world technology, bringing a new outlook to old problems. Perhaps the Guatemalan people have just grown tired of waiting for change and have decided to take their future into their own hands.

An Investment in Guatemala’s Future

All charity is (or should be) an investment. The return on the investment is changing the lives and circumstances of the recipients for the better. Like all investments, this return is dependent on the dedication of all of the stakeholders to the ultimate success of the venture. On that basis, Guatemala seems a pretty safe bet.

AMEDICAusa volunteers at Nueva Cajolá, Guatemala

AMEDICAusa, inc. is an I.R.S. 501(C)(3) registered charity, headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.

We are always looking for volunteers who wish to help in Guatemala. Get the details here.

Donating to AMEDICAusa ‘s ongoing programs is easy. Get the details here.

Rule Number One

A fifty year old Fire Engine sits under a tree in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala

I Was Wrong.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that those words don’t often spring to my lips. Borne out over a third of a century of career-required self assurance in the Fire Service, my fall back position is generally one of overwhelming self confidence. After all, the fire ground or the scene of a medical emergency are not places where one can afford to dither. You learn to bet on yourself, your knowledge and your experience.

But yesterday, a group of firefighters from a small, resource poor, Guatemalan Fire Department made me eat my words. With Salsa.

I recently published a picture on social media of an old fire engine under a tree (above) of which I was kind of proud. It was sitting in the yard of a village mechanic, dusty , partially disassembled, weeds growing between its tires.

The Ciudad Vieja Fire STATION. Yes, they live in this old bus. No, I don’t know why Santa’s sleigh is on top.

The firefighters of Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala were touring me around their town and the surrounding villages and wanted to show me what had happened to their only fire engine. They bemoaned the fact that there wasn’t enough money to repair it, even if they could get the parts, and no one had ever even tried to take one apart before, much less repair one.

An “Expert” Opinion

Let’s be clear. This is a mid 1960’s Fire Engine, built by Barton-American, a small company that went out of business in the early 1970’s. The pump on the vehicle (the heart of any fire engine) was built by American Fire Pump, another now-forgotten company whose demise was also 40 years ago. That pump, now 50 years old, had failed catastrophically, been removed from the engine and now lay, disassembled into its myriad components, in the yard. It had clearly been that way for some time.

I took a look at it, decided, in my presumably expert and professional opinion, that this engine was truly a lost cause. It would remain under that tree until its useful parts had all been salvaged and its body slowly rusted away. So I took a couple of pictures. One of those pictures I tried to turn into a small tribute to a formally noble used Fire Engine. Having protected people for a half century, first in an unknown department in the United States and then in Guatemala, it seemed now destined to be forgotten. It was kind of sad.

I titled the picture “Abandoned”.

I Forgot Rule Number One.

When I asked a Guatemalan firefighter what they did when they had no fire engine to fight fire with, he shrugged philosophically and said “We work harder” while pantomiming the motions of the age old bucket brigade. He wasn’t kidding.

It’s easy, coming from a large, progressive fire department in the United States, to assume you know more, can do more and are “better” than your less privileged brethren in the third world. You have the latest and greatest equipment, shiny new apparatus, video training, certifications enough to paper your living room – all the bells and whistles. You have the time and luxury to argue over what stickers to plaster on your helmet, whether or not to put a parade flag on your rig. There is the temptation to be the Lieutenant from Backdraft … “You’re doing it wrong…”

But it just really isn’t the case. The fact is, the average firefighter in Guatemala is tough, resourceful, knowledgeable and as dedicated to the job as anyone, anywhere. There are few among them that I wouldn’t have happily had on my own crew in the States. Yeah, they have a LOT less money. Yeah, their equipment, what little they have of it, is old, used and worn – usually second or third hand from the U.S. – but they take as much pride in their old beat up engines as we do in a brand new half million dollar Peirce. They persevere, adapting to the shortfalls in equipment, water supplies, and personal protection – facing the same hazards we face in the U.S., and a few we don’t. Rule Number One:

“Never Underestimate a Guatemalan Firefighter with a mission…”

So, an hour after my posted photo appears on FaceBook, (and about six weeks after I took the picture) I get a message:

Rebuilding the antique fire pump in Ciudad Vieja

“Hey, Amigo, it’s already back in service”

“What is?” I asked.

“The fire engine. We fixed the pump and it is working perfectly.”

“You must be joking” I replied

“No, I’m not.” He said proudly, “I’ll send you some pictures”

How they managed to do it, I don’t know. But 30,000 people have their fire protection back. The pride of the 8 Compañía CVB fleet, Engine 951, is back in front line service, proudly carrying firefighters once again…and I was wrong.

I’m actually pretty happy about that.

Pride of the Fleet, Engine 951, Ciudad Viejo, Guatemala back in Service.

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