By Stephanie L. Irwin, PT, DPT, OCS
Last May ATI Mission Works journeyed with 17 other volunteers with Move Together to build a rehab clinic from the ground up in Villa Nueva, Guatemala. History was made and lives were changed – not only the lives of the patients and locals we had come in contact with, but the lives everyone on our ATI clinical team. In hindsight, the most rewarding part of it all is that from the inception of the clinic, lives continue to be changed every day.
ATI Mission Works and Move Together partnered with the municipality of Villa Nueva during the development of this project to ensure this building would be a sustainable entity in the community, and it has proven to be exactly that! Eight months later the clinic is bustling with local patients and physical therapy students each day. Local PTs and PT students have worked to further equip the building with the tools they need to better treat their patients.
In January, Move Together returned to this clinic in Villa Nueva with a team of US physical therapists and physical therapy students, and they were blown away by the progress. How exciting it is to be a part of something that continues to blossom beyond what you imagined! Receiving updates from the Move Together team during their return visit to the clinic has touched many of our hearts as we reflect on our time and experience in Villa Nueva with such incredible people.
As ATI Mission Works continues to embark on service trips this year to other parts of Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, Villa Nueva is a picture of the sustainability we seek and hope to continue to foster and forever hold in our hearts.