To say that our occupational therapy (OT) students are a big part of our mission is an understatement. That is why we are so intentional about who we accept into our ministry.  We have been so blessed by 4 incredible OT students so far from various Universities around the US, who have given their all to our work and to the children we serve in Santa Maria de Jesus.  
To say that they are different when they return from Guatemala is also an understatement.  These young graduate students go with many expectations and with various life views; when they return, they have matured greatly both personally and professionally.  These future professionals return to the states, with a new perspective and with a holistic view of what it means to serve their community through occupational therapy.  Our occupational therapy students have learned more about themselves through there partnership with GOT and service in Guatemala, so that when they do enter the professional world in the States, the service they will be providing is at a higher level. 

Sydney Marable has been no exception.  She returned to the states in the beginning of December after 3 months of service with GOT Ministries.  We are so grateful for her and her dedication to our kiddos.  She served 26 children, both students from New Life School and children from the community of Santa Maria de Jesus.  She provided 30 hours of direct service to the children on our caseload per week, seeing some children twice a week.  In addition to these hours spent with the children, she worked many hours preparing, documenting, and planning for her visits.  Our OT students work very hard and put in many hours to provide the best service that the children deserve.  We are beyond grateful for their service, and our opportunity to invest in their learning and development.  GOT Ministries supervises their therapy services, teaches them all aspects of our service to the community of Santa Maria de Jesus, educates on the important cultural similarities and differences, as well as invests in their personal journey while serving in a third world country.  We have been so proud of the OT students who have returned after our partnership; they are making a difference in their work, and sphere of influence because of this life changing, and wonderful experience.  

Thank you to those who have made our partnerships possible; to those who help us to be on the ground in Guatemala truly serving and sharing the message of love and hope.  

​"I think the biggest impact has been on how I see myself. I feel more confident in my ability to be an Occupational Therapist but also to exist as myself. I feel stronger and more able to deal with challenges on my own"
-Sydney Marable
University of New Mexico
Served with GOT during Fall 2018

THEN AND NOW with GOT MINISTRIES
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!
1 John 3:1a

​We have served in Santa Maria de Jesus for 7 years total, and officially as GOT Ministries since 2016.  Our mission is to empower and serve the children with disabilities in Guatemala.  The vision creates a journey of relationship and investment. Here are two stories, from THEN to NOW, that demonstrate the progress and change that can be seen by consistently serving the same community of children and families. 

Rosario
THEN  
Rosario started in therapy with no capacity to interact with others, demonstrated aggressive behaviors towards her mother, brother, and even the dogs in the streets.  She rarely if ever left her home and never experienced basic play like many other children. She urinated in the therapy room 4 times during her first visit, would only play in her slobber on the ground, and screamed often as a way of communicating.
NOW
Rosario has made so many gains, it is hard not to cry every time I think of how far she has come!!! She responds when hearing her name, she loves playing with water, and even makes eye contact with us often!!  She attends to a toy or task with us for about 5 minutes and spends time on the toilet to work on potty training!!!!!!!! She also learned “soft touch,” and we encourage her verbal communication when she makes soft noises. ​

GOT Ministries is back in Guatemala with our Occupational Therapy (OT) student from New Mexico University, Sydney.  We arrived a little over a week ago, and are thankful for our time here. 

When we arrive, there is much to organize, coordinate, and communicate.  All with the goal to empower and serve children with disabilities in Guatemala.  

We did start this trip with a lovely visit with a young girl named Sienna, who is blind.  Sydney and I evaluated her skills and created a plan to support her independence in daily life, success in school with technology, and socialization with her peers.  Because Sienna lives about 45 minutes away, we will continue to work with her every other week to support educational success and independence.

From then on, oh the organization!
When we arrived in Antigua, we organized and settled into our new temporary homes.  Then, we journeyed up the mountain to Santa Maria de Jesus as soon as we could.  The first day's goal was to finish organizing and cleaning our Occupational Therapy room on the third floor of New Life School, a school specifically for children with disabilities.  

Check out our beautiful Occupational Therapy clinic! A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who provided gifts for therapy equipment, and for our Envision Trip Team who helped organize and make the room beautiful! 

The next step was to organize the information we get from all of the amazing faculty at New Life School, and figure out our caseload of kiddos.  So, we chatted with the teachers, psychologist and families to catch up on how the school year is going for the children we served in February through April.   We then begin observing the children in the classrooms and ask more questions from the New Life School staff.  This allows us to develop the complete list of children we will serve for the next three months through our amazing OT student, Sydney.  

Next week, we begin a full caseload and will be working directly with the kiddos from the New Life School in the morning, and younger children from the community in the afternoons.  We teach adaptive strategies for daily living tasks like tying shoes or dressing, as well as modifications to help the children pay attention in class, increase their self confidence, and even socialize with their peers.  With our little kiddos in the afternoon, we get to address things like communication, basic developmental milestones like rolling, playing and holding their heads up, and behavioral modifications like visual schedules or a reward system within the home.   


All of the organization, work, and coordination is so worth it when moments like this happen.....

Our friend Abner, who we have worked with for over a year, found us in an extremely large crowd in the market at Santa Maria de Jesus (during an Independence Day celebration) and ran over to us to say hello and to give us a hug! Given, we were the only "gringas" there at this celebration, but it was such a sweet moment for us :)

We love you and thank you for your partnership in this ministry through your prayer, financial gifts, and encouragement, because we could not do this work without YOU!!! 

Sincerely,
Megan Lewis
GOT Ministries Director

Santiago is a gentle and handsome 5 year old boy with cerebral palsy who has received 6 months of therapy along with his older sister Rosario.  His major challenges have been controlling his head when sitting, engaging with toys, bearing weight in his legs, and connecting with his mother.  He is a strong little boy, and has been making such progress with his positioning, has been engaging with musical toys while standing with support, holds his head up well, and has been searching for his mom when she talks to him.  Santiago has the best giggle when Admeth played the drums for him, and he loves looking around when his mama carries him through the market.  We are thankful for the privilege to work with Santiago and his mother to give hope, encourage the mom to complete therapy in home, and to share with his family how amazing he is, because the Lord loves him.  

To sponsor therapy services for children like Santiago, to make progress possible for  him and his family, please click the button below.  

Our sweet friend Rosario is 7 years old, and has been receiving services from GOT Ministries since September 2017.  When we first met Rosario, she would not respond to anything or anyone in her environment, screamed frequently, bit and hit her siblings and mother, and went potty on the floor 4 times during our visit.  It was apparent that she had little to no previous experience with other people, and may not be treated very well in the home.  We have had so much fun getting to know Rosario since September of last year.  Three additional months of therapy with our doctorate student, Admeth, Rosario has grown and learned SO MUCH!!!! We are so proud of how far she and her mother have come.  Now, Rosario is able to play ball back and forth, sit on the potty (we are currently working on a bathroom routine), play with toys while sitting at a table, giggle when enjoying a game, follow commands from her mother, and respond to her name being called.  Rosario has even learned how to be gentle with her younger brother Santiago.  She loves popping bubbles, and spinning in circles.  We hope to serve  her again when GOT Ministries returns to Santa Maria de Jesus in September 2018.  

Please consider sponsoring 3 more months of therapy for this sweet girl by clicking the button below. 

​Fidel is a 31-year-old man who lives in San Pedro Las Huertas, Guatemala.  Fidel lived in an institution specifically for children with disabilities for most of his life up until 5 years ago when he moved into the home of Pat Duff who began the ministry called Reason to Hope.  Pat has welcomed 4 young men with complex disabilities who use wheelchairs for mobility into her home.  Fidel is the leader and the oldest of these men and has begun a business collecting recycling materials from homes around his community for money.  Fidel has cerebral palsy that effects his use of his hands as well as making speech difficult.  His neighbors are not able to understand his speech, which makes his business difficult in the community.  GOT Ministries was able to partner with Andrew Lewis and provide a state of the art communication device for Fidel.  Andrew provided valuable services while in Guatemala at the end of February, to mount the communication device and a mouse pad onto Fidel’s wheelchair, as well as teach Fidel how to use this amazing resource.  Fidel, because of his limited use of his hands, excels with the use of his toes and feet for everything he does, including accessing his laptop computer and cell phone.  Andrew and Megan mounted a mouse pad onto his foot rest so that he could navigate the options on the communication device screen with the use of his toes! Now Fidel is able to use the communication device to tell a girl he likes that she is pretty, to ask for recycling from neighbors to continue running his business, and expand verbal vocabulary to truly share his vast intelligence and knowledge with others. We are thankful for the donation of Fidel’s communication device and the support of individuals to financially make this trip possible for Andrew to serve Fidel.