After an entire week of caring for sick animals, I returned to Antigua to resume my schooling. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last three weeks, school in the morning and studying in the afternoon. My Spanish is definitely improving. I also got to meet with the two teams of married couples that passed through here on consecutive weeks. I can now say with certainty that I know how to drive to the airport and back. The president of SI, Dave Hansen, and his wife also were here for the two weeks, so I got to meet them for the first time.
Then, Saturday, the day before they left, we all went out to climb the active volca...no, actually, I got sick and stayed in bed all day. But everyone else had a great time evading the lava.
Last Thursday evening, I started to feel not so good. By Friday afternoon I was running a fever, and other things not fit for publishing. Saturday I slept. Saturday evening I felt better and joined the group for a post-volcano pizza party—bad idea. Then there were ups and downs all this week. I finally had a parasite exam yesterday, and the result: lombrices. If you really want the English translation, don’t look it up at mealtime. But, two chewable tablets later I feel great.
Today, I move back out to Magdalena with the Mendez family for two weeks, before three more weeks of school. Then, before I know it, it will be time to go back home to Oregon for Christmas.
Happy All Saint’s Day
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Injections
Monday, October 06, 2008
Although I will not be able to post this entry for a few days, I wanted to get down what I experienced today for the first time while it is still fresh in my mind.
We had a late 7:30 breakfast this morning on account of the kids being done with school. Ingrid decided they deserved to sleep in. While we ate, Mario enlightened me about the upcoming day’s work. He, his son Mario and I would continue their regular circuit of the surrounding farms and give injections to pigs and cows.
Mario’s veterinary ministry covers quite a large area in and around Magdalena. He gets all of the medicine donated, so he doesn’t charge the farmers anything. He doesn’t carry vaccinations, though, because they are too expensive.
We started out within the town itself, making the rounds to women whom Mario has helped to start small businesses with chickens and pigs. Mario inspected and showed me the chicken coups they have been building. Then, we began the injections. Mario put me in charge of the vitamin B12. All of the pigs and cows received this. I had to fill the syringe with the amount he specified for each animal, help hold the animal, and then give him the syringe to inject the medicine. Mario Jr. did the same with the anti-parasite medication, and with antibiotics if necessary. Pigs can squeal very loud when they’ve got a cable around their snouts and up to 8 cc’s at a time of medication going into their necks.
When we began making our way around the outside of the town, the houses became farms, and the chickens and pigs became pigs and cows. The cows received pretty much the same treatments as the pigs, albeit in larger doses, up to 12 cc’s to a syringe. The difference here was that while Mario and a farmer held the cow, Mario Jr. and I took turns quickly doing our respective injections ourselves. I was actually expecting a little instruction prior to plunging the needle through the skin, but I guess hands-on learning is best. I quickly got the hang of it, after I stained my hands yellow.
Of course, a great deal of our time was spent visiting with the people we were serving. Mario seems to know and have time to talk with everyone in town. He spent the longest time speaking with a man who had just accepted Christ a couple weeks ago after being an alcoholic for many years.
By the time we finished with the last house, we had given injections to 35 pigs and cows for about 15 households, plus one sick dog whose owner stopped us as we were walking up the street. Then, as we exited the front gate, there were three girls standing there with two puppies, along with medication they had just purchased at the pharmacy. Mario donated a syringe, medicated the puppies, and sent them on their way. All said, then, 38 animals and about 5 miles walking in 7 hours. And by the end of the day, my new boots were feeling…quite nice, actually.
Monday nights are family nights at the Mendez home, so I finally got the formal introduction to all six kids, shared a bit about myself, understood a surprisingly significant amount of their Bible study, listened to them sing, and prayed with them for the family, the church, the ministry, and the Kingdom.
Although I will not be able to post this entry for a few days, I wanted to get down what I experienced today for the first time while it is still fresh in my mind.
We had a late 7:30 breakfast this morning on account of the kids being done with school. Ingrid decided they deserved to sleep in. While we ate, Mario enlightened me about the upcoming day’s work. He, his son Mario and I would continue their regular circuit of the surrounding farms and give injections to pigs and cows.
Mario’s veterinary ministry covers quite a large area in and around Magdalena. He gets all of the medicine donated, so he doesn’t charge the farmers anything. He doesn’t carry vaccinations, though, because they are too expensive.
We started out within the town itself, making the rounds to women whom Mario has helped to start small businesses with chickens and pigs. Mario inspected and showed me the chicken coups they have been building. Then, we began the injections. Mario put me in charge of the vitamin B12. All of the pigs and cows received this. I had to fill the syringe with the amount he specified for each animal, help hold the animal, and then give him the syringe to inject the medicine. Mario Jr. did the same with the anti-parasite medication, and with antibiotics if necessary. Pigs can squeal very loud when they’ve got a cable around their snouts and up to 8 cc’s at a time of medication going into their necks.
When we began making our way around the outside of the town, the houses became farms, and the chickens and pigs became pigs and cows. The cows received pretty much the same treatments as the pigs, albeit in larger doses, up to 12 cc’s to a syringe. The difference here was that while Mario and a farmer held the cow, Mario Jr. and I took turns quickly doing our respective injections ourselves. I was actually expecting a little instruction prior to plunging the needle through the skin, but I guess hands-on learning is best. I quickly got the hang of it, after I stained my hands yellow.
Of course, a great deal of our time was spent visiting with the people we were serving. Mario seems to know and have time to talk with everyone in town. He spent the longest time speaking with a man who had just accepted Christ a couple weeks ago after being an alcoholic for many years.
By the time we finished with the last house, we had given injections to 35 pigs and cows for about 15 households, plus one sick dog whose owner stopped us as we were walking up the street. Then, as we exited the front gate, there were three girls standing there with two puppies, along with medication they had just purchased at the pharmacy. Mario donated a syringe, medicated the puppies, and sent them on their way. All said, then, 38 animals and about 5 miles walking in 7 hours. And by the end of the day, my new boots were feeling…quite nice, actually.
Monday nights are family nights at the Mendez home, so I finally got the formal introduction to all six kids, shared a bit about myself, understood a surprisingly significant amount of their Bible study, listened to them sing, and prayed with them for the family, the church, the ministry, and the Kingdom.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Three Weeks Later
Yesterday, I finished with my first three weeks of language school. Although only four hours each morning, it is rather exhausting. My professor, Harvey Toledo, gave me hundreds of vocab words and about a hundred new verbs. We also touched on 12 of the 14 verb tenses, spending hours on each of the major 7. Just as when I was learning Spanish in high school, I have found that my understanding of the English counterparts to Spanish grammar has increased as well. I even came up with an example of the subjunctive voice in English (that requires conjugation): "The teacher demands that the student finish his homework." It sort of falls between the present and future tenses, "the student finishes," and "the student will finish."
Enough of grammar, although I'd bet a select group of you find it interesting (now I'm seeing subjunctivity everywhere). During the past weeks I've met up with more of the SI staff, including Oscar, who was sick the first week I was here. I've been able to spend some time getting to know Nic and Maurine Bekaert. They invited Fernando's wife and kids and I over for crêpes after they moved into their house. Nic had to call his mother in France for the recipe. We also all went to a big fiesta last Sunday; one of Oscar's daughters had her fifteenth birthday. The coming of age ceremony was like a slightly scaled back wedding. There was a ring bearer and a pillow girl, and vows were exchanged. The quinceañera knelt on the pillow while her father and pastor blessed her. There was food also. Lots of food. And a church service. It was enough to wear me out.
I don't believe I mentioned that Fernando left for the States a few days after I arrived for a two-week fundraising and relationship-building tour. How this most affected me, is that since Fernando's wife has a hard time with the clutch, I got to have my first foreign driving experience. Saturday before last, I drove the whole crew to the capital in the rain (actually, it has rained just about every day since I got here) for a YWAM lunch. It turns out that Fernando and his wife met while in YWAM, lived and worked for years at the base in Guatemala City, and raised their children there. They were all getting together to talk about a youth magazine they want to start.
More about the driving. At first glance, it seems that here, like in most other cities of the world, traffic laws are rather loosely interpreted. People drive extremely close to one another, so they have no qualms with squeezing their cars into a not quite car-sized opening in the next lane. Also, pedestrians never seem to have the right of way. But, since few here have insurance, they are also very attentive. It's amazing how fast so many cars, vans, buses, jalopies, and motorcycles can fit down a road when everyone is concentrating on the road. Driving is relaxing by no means, but neither is it heart stopping.
Back to the present, I leave Antigua today to live and work with pastor and veterinarian Mario Mendez for one week in Magdalena, the town where most of the SI ministries are located. When we met at the first staff meeting, he told me that I should come and work with him for a while, that we could go and vaccinate some cows. He said this in a joking voice, but I'm not sure...
Anyway, I return to Antigua on the 12th to resume language school, and possibly any and all communication with the outside world.
Once again I thank you all for your prayers, your support, and your love.
Enough of grammar, although I'd bet a select group of you find it interesting (now I'm seeing subjunctivity everywhere). During the past weeks I've met up with more of the SI staff, including Oscar, who was sick the first week I was here. I've been able to spend some time getting to know Nic and Maurine Bekaert. They invited Fernando's wife and kids and I over for crêpes after they moved into their house. Nic had to call his mother in France for the recipe. We also all went to a big fiesta last Sunday; one of Oscar's daughters had her fifteenth birthday. The coming of age ceremony was like a slightly scaled back wedding. There was a ring bearer and a pillow girl, and vows were exchanged. The quinceañera knelt on the pillow while her father and pastor blessed her. There was food also. Lots of food. And a church service. It was enough to wear me out.
I don't believe I mentioned that Fernando left for the States a few days after I arrived for a two-week fundraising and relationship-building tour. How this most affected me, is that since Fernando's wife has a hard time with the clutch, I got to have my first foreign driving experience. Saturday before last, I drove the whole crew to the capital in the rain (actually, it has rained just about every day since I got here) for a YWAM lunch. It turns out that Fernando and his wife met while in YWAM, lived and worked for years at the base in Guatemala City, and raised their children there. They were all getting together to talk about a youth magazine they want to start.
More about the driving. At first glance, it seems that here, like in most other cities of the world, traffic laws are rather loosely interpreted. People drive extremely close to one another, so they have no qualms with squeezing their cars into a not quite car-sized opening in the next lane. Also, pedestrians never seem to have the right of way. But, since few here have insurance, they are also very attentive. It's amazing how fast so many cars, vans, buses, jalopies, and motorcycles can fit down a road when everyone is concentrating on the road. Driving is relaxing by no means, but neither is it heart stopping.
Back to the present, I leave Antigua today to live and work with pastor and veterinarian Mario Mendez for one week in Magdalena, the town where most of the SI ministries are located. When we met at the first staff meeting, he told me that I should come and work with him for a while, that we could go and vaccinate some cows. He said this in a joking voice, but I'm not sure...
Anyway, I return to Antigua on the 12th to resume language school, and possibly any and all communication with the outside world.
Once again I thank you all for your prayers, your support, and your love.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Language School
I arrived safely in Guatemala this Tuesday. The travel was exhausting, as I took a midnight flight through Houston. But, I only had to wait a hour and a half at the airport for my ride to Antigua, so it wasn´t that bad. Once again, my first meal in Guatemala was from an American fast food chain--McDondalds this time. I slept soundly through what I heard was a rather noisy night.
On Wednesday, Fernando and I went back to the city (here, ´the city´ refers to Guatemala City) to pick up a family at the airport that is also joining SI. They were supposed to arrive on Tuesday with me, but their flight was changed. I only rememer his name, Nick, but he came from Oakland with his wife and two small children. They will be living with Fernando and his family until they can find a house. I think there are two other families/individuals coming in October to join SI as well.
While in the city, we stopped at Telefónica to see if my very cool cell phone would actually work in Guatemala. It does. Fernando gave me a prepaid SIM card for it that I can use until I get on the SI staff plan.
On Thursday morning, I began Spanish language school at the centro linguistica MAYA, one of many language schools in Antigua. I don´t know how long I´ll be going there. The instruction is all one-on-one, so it is rather exhausting, but very fruitful.
Thursday afternoon I moved in with the Olviedo family in Antigua. They live just three blocks from the school and one block from the central park. Roberto and Sandra have four boys, from 13-23. Sandra cooks wonderfully. They also have an excercise bike that I excercised on Friday, and which I plan to excercise regularly. I asked whether there were any lap pools in Antigua. Sadly, there are not.
Today, Saturday, I took a walk over to Fernando´s house (4km). I am quickly gaining confidence in my ability to navigate the area.
I am looking forward to going to church tomorrow, as it will be my first time attending a service in Guatemala. I was quite ill on Sunday when I visited in December.
But as for most of my time for the next few weeks at least, I will be getting tutored, studying, eating, sleeping, and doing enough excercise to keep from wasting away.
On Wednesday, Fernando and I went back to the city (here, ´the city´ refers to Guatemala City) to pick up a family at the airport that is also joining SI. They were supposed to arrive on Tuesday with me, but their flight was changed. I only rememer his name, Nick, but he came from Oakland with his wife and two small children. They will be living with Fernando and his family until they can find a house. I think there are two other families/individuals coming in October to join SI as well.
While in the city, we stopped at Telefónica to see if my very cool cell phone would actually work in Guatemala. It does. Fernando gave me a prepaid SIM card for it that I can use until I get on the SI staff plan.
On Thursday morning, I began Spanish language school at the centro linguistica MAYA, one of many language schools in Antigua. I don´t know how long I´ll be going there. The instruction is all one-on-one, so it is rather exhausting, but very fruitful.
Thursday afternoon I moved in with the Olviedo family in Antigua. They live just three blocks from the school and one block from the central park. Roberto and Sandra have four boys, from 13-23. Sandra cooks wonderfully. They also have an excercise bike that I excercised on Friday, and which I plan to excercise regularly. I asked whether there were any lap pools in Antigua. Sadly, there are not.
Today, Saturday, I took a walk over to Fernando´s house (4km). I am quickly gaining confidence in my ability to navigate the area.
I am looking forward to going to church tomorrow, as it will be my first time attending a service in Guatemala. I was quite ill on Sunday when I visited in December.
But as for most of my time for the next few weeks at least, I will be getting tutored, studying, eating, sleeping, and doing enough excercise to keep from wasting away.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Follow up letter
Dear family and friends,
I am taking this opportunity to send you an update on my rapidly approaching move to Guatemala. My departure is nearing and I am getting excited. I have been spending the summer with people I know and love as they prepare to send me off to get to know and love the people I will meet in Guatemala.
I will be leaving on September eighth to Guatemala City, Guatemala, and then travel west to the colonial city of Antigua, where I will connect with the current staff of Students International (SI). I'll live with a local family while attending language school, then I will be joined by five other new staff members and should be starting my work at this time.
Oscar currently runs the technology ministry in designing projects for next year's student teams hosted by SI. When the first of these teams arrive January second, I will join Oscar in leading them in the implementation of the projects. Most of our projects will consist of rainwater catchments, cisterns, hand pumps, and filters in poor communities with limited access to water.
I'm making a two-year commitment to this ministry, and will return to Oregon for two weeks during the Christmas season.
To all of you who responded to my first letter, I greatly appreciate your prayers and your financial support. I understand that I over-engineered the response part of my first letter, making it a little confusing. Hopefully I can be clearer this time. I am close to being able to go, but still need increased partnership. If I was unclear the first time, or you have wanted to respond, now is the time. I need your consistent prayer support. If you would like to be on my list to receive updates for prayer, and have not already let me know, please respond to this email. Also, if you would like to support me financially monthly, or with a one-time gift, please make your check out to Students International, and mail it to the address below. Do not make the check out to me. That way they can send you a receipt for tax purposes.
Again, please accept my sincere gratitude for your love, prayers and gifts,
Matthew McIntire
Email: matthewmcintire@gmail.com Skype: matthewmcintire
Webpage: http://matthewmcintire.blogspot.com/
Mail financial support to:
Students International
P.O. Box 2733
Visalia, CA 93279-2733
Please indicate my name and the type of support (monthly or one-time) on a separate slip of paper with your check.
I am taking this opportunity to send you an update on my rapidly approaching move to Guatemala. My departure is nearing and I am getting excited. I have been spending the summer with people I know and love as they prepare to send me off to get to know and love the people I will meet in Guatemala.
I will be leaving on September eighth to Guatemala City, Guatemala, and then travel west to the colonial city of Antigua, where I will connect with the current staff of Students International (SI). I'll live with a local family while attending language school, then I will be joined by five other new staff members and should be starting my work at this time.
Oscar currently runs the technology ministry in designing projects for next year's student teams hosted by SI. When the first of these teams arrive January second, I will join Oscar in leading them in the implementation of the projects. Most of our projects will consist of rainwater catchments, cisterns, hand pumps, and filters in poor communities with limited access to water.
I'm making a two-year commitment to this ministry, and will return to Oregon for two weeks during the Christmas season.
To all of you who responded to my first letter, I greatly appreciate your prayers and your financial support. I understand that I over-engineered the response part of my first letter, making it a little confusing. Hopefully I can be clearer this time. I am close to being able to go, but still need increased partnership. If I was unclear the first time, or you have wanted to respond, now is the time. I need your consistent prayer support. If you would like to be on my list to receive updates for prayer, and have not already let me know, please respond to this email. Also, if you would like to support me financially monthly, or with a one-time gift, please make your check out to Students International, and mail it to the address below. Do not make the check out to me. That way they can send you a receipt for tax purposes.
Again, please accept my sincere gratitude for your love, prayers and gifts,
Matthew McIntire
Email: matthewmcintire@gmail.com Skype: matthewmcintire
Webpage: http://matthewmcintire.
Mail financial support to:
Students International
P.O. Box 2733
Visalia, CA 93279-2733
Please indicate my name and the type of support (monthly or one-time) on a separate slip of paper with your check.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Support Letter
Much has happened since I last sent out one of these letters. I graduated with honors from
In December I traveled to
Over the course of a week I met with the current staff; in particular, Oscar, the man with whom I would be working most closely. He showed me the various projects he has been overseeing. By the time I returned to the States, I was ready to turn back and begin the work. But first, I needed to attend a training session, as well as raise almost $1500 a month to support myself.
After being formally accepted by SI, I attended the mandatory three-week training program at Missionary Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado. This was an emotionally trying time designed to make sure I was ready to handle a long-term cross-cultural experience. Leaders confronted our personal values to try to determine whether they are godly or simply American in nature. The curriculum covered conflict resolution, and tested our reactions to acute stress, and we participated in small-group discussions and individual counseling sessions. In between classroom exercises I did manage to make some new friends. It is always encouraging to know people with a calling similar to your own. We climbed mountains, played Settlers of Catan, and shared our lives with each other. It was a time I will not soon forget.
This August when I move to
Oscar, the Guatemalan in charge of the appropriate technology ministry, has years of local construction experience, but little engineering training. Hopefully, we will be able to learn from each other how better to serve and show the love of Jesus to the locals and the students who come to work with us.
Most of our projects will likely be water related since access to safe drinking water is a pressing need in most poor communities. We will be working in a high-altitude area where wells have to be dug very deep to find water, so currently Oscar focuses on rainwater catchments, cisterns, and slow sand filters. I will join this work, and I pray that God will work through me. This is what I have spent the last four and a half years preparing for, and I am very excited to be stepping forward.
I hope that this letter finds you well. Many of you I have not seen in awhile, and I always look forward to hearing from you. God bless you,
Matthew McIntire
Students International - The
Bringing students and the poor together cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple and serve others in occupational ministries.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
