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Friday, July 22, 2011   Recently Kristen, one of our Firehouse Dolls traveled to Guatemala on a mission trip. Below is her story and is one of many reasons that I am proud of Kristen, and what makes her a GREAT American. As some of you may well know, I went to Guatemala on a missions trip with a group called Camp Sonshine.  Camp Sonshine is a ministry group with people all over who travel throughout the world running camps for children in need and reaching out to them. These camps teach the kids the love of God and the love that we have for them, so they know that they are not alone and that they have a major support system. We change lives while having fun.  

Specifically in Guatemala, we went to an all girls school/ orphanage compound called “Prince of Peace“ . These girls have been through so much in their young lives! The girls ages range from as young as 4 to as old as 21 and they are all on different mental and emotional levels. The one thing that these girls have in common is that they were neglected somehow, whether it be emotionally or physically, and many also sexually abused. I could go on for days writing about them but I’ll spare you all the details and give you this link ( http://www.princeofpeacegt.com/ )   Also, while on this trip we got to travel to the Mayan villages up in the mountains to take food and oil to some of the windows up there. This experience was so amazing, humbling, and devastating. It really makes you look at your life and yourself in a whole other light, because ‘we’ really don’t know how truly blessed we are.  

I also got to do some work in the clinic that “Prince of Peace“  also owns, its located right outside of the compound so it can serve the community at no cost to them. The director of the house is also a doctor, he and his wife are from Texas, and they just picked up everything and moved to Guatemala because there was a need  and these girls tugged at their hearts.  

The clinic of course was no University Hospital that we would see here in America, lets just say JCAHO and OSHA wouldn’t even know where to begin with the citations and write-ups, but in Guatemala, it was I suppose up to ‘standards’. In this office, they had one examination room, a tiny pharmacy area, a dentistry area, and a place where people would get their shots taken care of.  

The people fled to this clinic, because not only was it filled with hospitable staff (Dr. Jim, his wife, and some of the girls) but  because it was very cheap or free for some, and they could get their medicines there for free as well.  While working here, I got to look over the charts, fill prescriptions, give shots, do laboratory testing, sit in on examinations and just soak everything in. It was the best experience of my life. Not only did I learn things that I never would have learned in the States, but I got to meet some of the most amazing people that changed my life, who I will never forget.  

So, all in all this trip was taken so I could help out and change other peoples lives, while in fact while I was helping out, those people were changing my lives. The girls and all the staff at the compound and in the clinic, and the people of Guatemala in general, will forever be in my heart. I would recommend anyone who gets the chance to go on a missions trip, even if its just to be part of disaster relief somewhere in America- do it! It’ll be an experience you’ll never forget and never regret!! :)