By Ben L. Jenkins

You would not be surprised to hear that a group of students from North Carolina State University came to El Remate, Guatemala, for Spring Break. After all, this low stress village lies between several interesting historical sites, including Tikal National Park. Tikal was once one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. El Remate is located on beautiful lake Peten Itza which has unbelievably clear water. This is very attractive to tourists who like to swim because it is one of the lakes in the area that is known to be crocodile-free. Almost all the businesses along the main road attract tourists with cheap drinks. But you might be surprised to hear that this group of students has been too busy working to take even one night to abuse the lax alcohol laws. Their work started in the US where they assembled and coordinated a visit to Guatemala to work with the local community and learn about the country at the same time. On only their second full day in the country, they put on a clinic for local diabetes patients. They also brought some medical supplies for the clinic, which helped test the patients and will continue to keep their health care affordable for a little longer.

The clinic’s doctor, Enrique, handled the actual diagnoses, but the students set up and performed all the preliminary work. Their care did not stop there – they gave out information on diet and general health while also handling child care during consultations. The demand was obvious as a line had formed by the time the students arrived.

Diabetes is a disease of the endocrine system. It occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or is resistant to the effects of insulin. Insulin is the hormone that transports glucose from the blood into the cells of the body for fuel. High levels of sugar in the blood can lead to many complications including diabetic retinopathy, vascular problems, wounds that do not heal well and increased risk for infection.

Diabetes is a cause for concern here. That reality hit the students as they started to see surprisingly high blood sugar readings along with other symptom such as numbness in their extremities, also known as peripheral neuropathy, this can lead to wounds that are not felt or noticed until amputation is the only cure. It is easy to read or talk about poverty but interacting with the actual people personalizes the data. Seeing the difficulties getting good medicines or supplies, the group decided to make a donation to the cause, plus commit to staying in touch with the project to improve conditions in the future as well as diabetes needs ongoing care.

Diabetic care and health care in general is severely lacking in rural areas of Guatemala with people having to travel a full day to get quality health care in the city. The health care in the city is up to modern standards and comparable to other developed countries. The causes of lack of health care in the rural areas in related to poverty and isolation.

About the Author: If you would like to learn more, you can listen to a podcast about this Guatemala diabetic clinic or other human interest stories by Ben L Jenkins. Other quality podcast available at septicradio.com.

Source: isnare.com

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