Guatemala!

What a great trip! I just spent the last 8 days in Chichicastenango, Guatemala working on the Good Samaritan Hospital. Our team consisted of a structural engineer, a hospital architect, a mechanical engineer, and an electrical engineer, as well as an architect, construction manager, and another intern from the Costa Rica eMi office. After examining the hospital, it became apparent that adding an eye clinic was more of a temporary fix to the hospital’s problems, so in addition to designing the eye clinic, our team compiled a list of immediate fixes, a 2-5 year plan for a hospital remodel, and a 10-20 year goal for the hospital.

Final Presentation (What a beautiful CAD drawing!)



Me and Rosco working in Chichi



Preliminary Presentation

I spent the next few days working with the hospital architect (Rosco), the structural engineer (Richal), and the other intern (Erika). Rosco reconfigured much of the existing layout to work much more efficiently, Richal made sure the building wouldn’t fall down because of the changes, and us interns created and updated the CAD drawings. I also worked with Rosco to create charts showing the planned expansion in the 2-5 and 10-20 year plans. I also got the chance to act as a translator as Richal and I went to material supply stores to determine the quality of the concrete, steel, and cinder blocks in Chichi.  I spent a few hours at the hospital with the construction manager (Josh) as we took all the measurements necessary to create a new as-built of the entire hospital. We measured all of the windows, doors, wall heights, and location of important features, and I will be creating a new as-built in the coming weeks. During the week, we also had two presentations to hospital administrators, doctors, and other people who were interested in the proposed changes.

The week wasn’t all work. We began every morning with a devotion and worship with the volunteers. We also shared testimonies throughout the week. What a great way to get to know the people you are working with! On a more somber note, one of the volunteers had to leave early to be with her mom who was not doing well after heart surgery. It was amazing to see her faithfulness as she went on the trip while her mom was in the hospital. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

I bought a painting and met the artist at the market!

We did get one day out on the town. Chichi is known for its huge, crazy street market, and we got to experience it first hand on Thursday. I again acted as translator as Rosco, Mike (the mechanical engineer) and I attempted to negotiate for the best prices on all sorts of souvenirs. We also got the chance to go out into the country to see a school and meet some of the locals. It was amazing to see the Mayan influence in Guatemala. The culture is nothing like Costa Rica or Mexico, and it was really neat to experience.

Thank for the prayers and support! Now that all of the crazy traveling is done(ish…), it’s time to adjust to “normal” life as I begin working in the office!



Little kids in a parade on Independence Day



In front of the hotel in the back of a truck