By: Samantha Bagwell
This year, I was given the opportunity to travel to Zacapa, Guatemala with the ATI Global Reach program. Going on this trip would allow me to utilize my Spanish speaking skills and combine them with my passion for helping improve human health. As a Patient Service Specialist and Rehab Technician with ATI, becoming a physical therapist is my goal. This trip would allow me the opportunity to travel with a talented group of therapists, go through exercise programs with patients, be creative with limited resources and translate for my colleagues. Traveling to Guatemala was a chance to truly test my capability of becoming a successful physical therapist.
ATI Global Reach partnered with the Hearts in Motion (HIM) foundation for their well-established reputation that has lasted decades. Hearts in Motion prides themselves in providing exceptional care and medical treatment to developing children, families and countries. Nothing I can say will truly do this program justice. The amount of support, community outreach, training and ingenuity these volunteers do on a regular basis is incredible. The trip’s physical therapy liaison, Nancy, is an ATI employee but has also been an active member of HIM for almost 20 years. Nancy has devoted her career to improving the quality of life of those in the clinic and those in developing countries.
To begin the trip, Nancy took our group to multiple pop-up clinics that were located mostly inside local elementary schools. These clinics were hotspots for people that needed treatment and patients lined up outside the door every day. Sometimes, we’d get to them in an hour, but other times there were such long lines that patients would wait hours before receiving care. The community understood the need for physical therapy and believed even a little advice would go a long way with their recovery process. The patients in need of long-term care from surgeries traveled almost two hours by bus just to make it to clinic we were at that day. To accommodate these patients, we went on a few home visits in each town to teach them fun home exercise programs with the limited resources they had at home. This allowed us to provide the care they needed while experiencing the culture and true hospitality of the locals.
Having the opportunity to travel with this group of talented therapists was an amazing opportunity that I will forever be grateful for. Nancy and the entire HIM staff were remarkable – demonstrating their knowledge, preparation, energy and inspiring attitude. The entire trip was organized and our entire group felt extremely safe. I would recommend this trip to any person who is looking to step outside of their comfort zone, meet people from a different culture, make new friends in the ATI family and loves to make a difference in the community.