Isabelle Hennen with Guatemalans she befriended while on the mission trip. Isabelle Hennen with Guatemalans she befriended while on the mission trip.

Guatemalan good times crowd their memories

Wayne Hennen and his daughter Isabelle have so many memories from their recent mission trip to Guatemala that they hardly have room for any more. Even though the trip was filled with visions of children with physical disabilities, the majority of the memories the Hennens came away with are positive.

“People there were super friendly to everyone they met and it felt like everyone says hello to everyone,” said Wayne Hennen.

“People there seemed to have a lot more time for other people and the pace was a lot slower than here. It makes me think that we chase after a lot of ‘stuff’ here that doesn’t really make us happy.”

The mission trip was sponsored by Big Stone Therapies in which Hennen works as a physical therapist in the Minneota branch at the Manor. Big Stone Therapies, which also has facilities in Ortonville, Baxter and Zumbrota, sends four to five of its therapists to Guatemala twice a year as part of its mission.

Isabelle, a Minneota junior, was able to go along on the mission trip after raising over $3,000, even though she was only required to raise $650 for her expenses.

“A lot of people and groups from Minneota supported Isabelle,” said her father.

“She is going to donate some of the money to the mission, and some to our interpreter, Emma, who runs an after-school program at her house and gives books and other supplies to kids.”

“(Isabelle) is also giving some to a boy she and I are sponsoring down there, named Cesar (pronounced SAY-sahr). So, in a real way, Minneota people are supporting a young man while he goes to school.”

The mission group also included Wayne Erickson, a physical therapist from Baxter; Katie Bos, a physical therapist from Zumbrota; and Andrew Treinen, a recruiter from Big Stone Therapies. The group called themselves WWAKI, the first letters in each of their first names.

The group left from the Minneapolis Airport on Aug. 12 and returned on Aug. 20. The Hennens collected children’s socks and shoes before the trip to give to underprivileged children in Guatemala. “Isabelle and I had two very large suitcases filled to the brim,” said Hennen.

“A lot were from Minneota people that donated to the Big Stone clinic in Minneota. But some were also donated from St. Edward’s Thrift Store and from the Avera Thrift Store in Marshall.”

The mission quintet also brought along three pediatric wheelchairs, a standing frame, six walkers, and two pair of forearm crutches to give to those in need.

“My van was packed as tight as it could be (even) with the third row out,” explained Hennen. “We hauled it all to the hotel (in Minneapolis), and then used the hotel van to get it to the airport.”

“At the airport, we had a little trouble getting Delta to fly it, but we had some physician prescriptions which were vital to get Delta to fly it to Guatemala free.”

Once in Guatemala, the five met up with students from the University of Mary (located in Bismarck, ND), who were also on a mission trip to the same area. Having his daughter along to experience how other cultures live, while also assisting those in need, was invaluable for Wayne Hennen.

“It was great. Good father-daughter time for us,” he said. “She also roomed with Katie (Bos) and they got along super well.”

“It was a great experience for Isabelle. She was constantly making new friends with the physical therapy students from the University of Mary, and especially with all the young children running around outside the houses and on the streets. It was the first airplane trip for Isabelle. She was excited and nervous.”

Once there, the group hopped on the back of a pickup truck each day and rode to the remote village that sits above the city of San Lucas Toliman.

The trips were usually within 40 miles. “We went to a lot of towns that I can’t spell,” Wayne joked. “And, for sure, I can’t pronounce.” Once they reached their destination, the group would take their medical supply bag and the bag that contained shoes, socks and toys.

The five Minnesota mission workers and the 21 University of Mary students (including four therapists who graduated from Mary) would break off into four teams.

“Each team would start walking wherever they led us,” said Wayne. “Sometimes we would look back through our records to find the latest information on the patient we were going to see, but many times we just walked in blind and evaluated and treated whoever they took us to.”

Seeing children with physical disabilities and not being able to run or play like healthy children can is tough to witness. But the children’s positive attitudes make it easier to deal with.

“There was a boy who was three or four years old who couldn’t move or feel his legs,” Wayne told.

“But he was very sociable and fun to play with while we did the therapy. He said he wanted to color and draw the Gringos (Caucasians).” Isabelle enjoyed interacting with the children and will never forget their playful demeanors. “A child and I had a flower fight with flower petals and threw them in each other’s hair,” she recalled. “Another memorable experience I had was when little kids and I drew on the sidewalks and drew marks on each other.”

The group stayed in a hotel that was approximately three blocks downhill from the Mission. “It was a beautiful spot overlooking the lake,” Wayne said.

“We had running water, but you couldn’t swallow any of the water or you would get sick (from an amoeba).”

“So, like when you were in the shower, you had to keep your mouth closed. And when you brushed your teeth, you couldn’t rinse your toothbrush.” Because the nights were warm and made sleeping uncomfortable, the group would keep the windows in their hotel room open. But other distractions kept them from getting a good night’s sleep.

“There were always stray dogs barking, roosters crowing, and sometimes fireworks,” said Hennen. “I’m a light sleeper so I took an antihistamine to help me sleep and also kept a pillow or shirt over my head.”

The food the group dined on for breakfast and supper was all prepared at the Mission. For lunch, they packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so they could eat while they were in the towns helping the children.

“The guacamole was great,” remarked Wayne. “I added plenty of hot sauce to most everything at breakfast and supper. They almost always had black beans for every meal, but otherwise the food was a lot like the food here.”

“Also, the coffee they grow there is great and I drank coffee every morning with the sugar creamer I brought along.” “I loved the oatmeal. It was like the best oatmeal I’ve ever tasted,” said Isabelle.

“I liked all the foods.” The areas that the group worked and stayed at were surrounded by volcanoes. “The mission and the town are down by a lake called Lake Atilan that was the center of a volcano from a long time ago,” Hennen noted.

“It is a thousand feet deep they told us. It was a very beautiful area. It’s all green and the lake supplies all the water for bathing and other uses.”

But the biggest surprise for Hennen, his daughter and the other mission workers was not just how gracious the people of Guatemala were for the help they received from their American allies, but also how positive their spirits are despite having to find ways to put food on the table.

“I was surprised to so many people were selling things on the street like handmade utensils and crafts,” said Isabelle.

“And how poor the people there are.” “Sometimes we couldn’t do much, but the mother of the child would be thanking us while she was crying,” Hennen said.

“The people were so respectful and grateful everywhere we went.” The Hennens never hesitated when asked if they would be interested in going on another mission trip.

“Absolutely,” said Wayne. “You just feel like you are really making a difference for people, most of who live in what we would call a barn.” “I would like to go on another mission trip to help others,” said Isabelle.

“I liked it so much. I liked meeting new and kind people, hanging out with our small group, trying new foods, and the mucho mountains and volcanoes. I realize things here just get taken for granted.”

Cesar, the boy the Hennens are sponsoring, is one of 14,000 children that the Unabound program is responsible for connecting sponsors to in countries such as Guatemala. “We got to meet the young man,” said Wayne.

“It was a little awkward at first, but it definitely bonds you to the boy.”

“They brought him and his caretaker to the Mission church and we talked through an interpreter. He is Mayan and very shy. Isabelle gave him a soccer ball and I gave him a Catholic medal my dad had given me. (Cesar) is also Catholic. Being down there just makes a person feel like being more generous.”

The Mission was started by the late Father Greg Schaefer five decades ago.

“From what I have heard, he was quite a dynamic person,” said Hennen.

“I was talking to Fred and Margrit Rabaey and they knew him from when they were down there 30 years ago with the Peace Corps. He was the guy who contacted Paul Treinen from Big Stone Therapies about getting therapists to come down there to work with people.”

Father Schaefer, who passed away recently, would be proud of the work the Hennens and the others are now doing at the Mission.

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