By: Lee Hahn
As I look back on my experience in Guatemala with ATI Global Reach and Hearts in Motion, the one thing that stands out to me is gratitude. Having the opportunity to grow professionally and spiritually is something I will forever be grateful for. I was also blessed with the opportunity to have my wife join me and catch up with friends I had met the year prior on the last service trip with Hearts in Motion. But the beginning of this journey started nearly two years ago.
Before going on my first service trip, my wife and I had a close friend that passed away. She had always told us about a recent service trip to Guatemala and her desire to go back. This struck us deeply when the opportunity to go on a service trip with ATI Global Reach presented itself. On this trip, we could put our professional skills to work as a physical therapist and occupational therapist, sharing our passion with those in need. Together with my wife, I was able to meet and share my ATI family with her and my co-workers.
From day one, I was blown away by the generosity and gratitude of the Guatemalan people and the Hearts in Motion staff. When the communities of Guatemala heard that our “pop-up” clinics were available, they brought in family members and friends on backs of motorcycles and carried children and the elderly to get them there. Members of the community were devoted to each other and showed extreme gratitude for the simplest clinical equipment readily available in the United States, such as a cane or a walker. They even showed gratitude for easy fixes like a heel lift made of an old soccer ball or a button hook made of a paperclip and foam handle.
Another highlight of my trip I am grateful for was meeting and teaching some of the physical therapists in Guatemala. This was a reminder of how so much can be done with so little as I was challenged with using minimal resources, allowing me to increase my creativity as a clinician. This experience grew my professional relationships with other members of the ATI family from across the country and allowed me to mentor the group of students that joined us on the trip.
This experience has shown me how truly blessed we are to have the resources we do in the United States, and how blessed I am to have grown my ATI and Hearts in Motion families.