vaccines for the poor

today was the first day of my internship. apparently, guatemala is starting a new national campaign to vaccinate both women and children. women in particular need tetanus shots, because most births are done in the home, with no proper sanitation. children still need polio vaccines here, as well as the usual MMR and whatnot. so, i, and two other interns, embarked on a journey into zone 3 of guatemala city to vaccinate the masses. and yes, i donned a needle and the rudimentary training of watching the nurse do it twice, and started shooting up 1 year olds and pregnant women with small amounts of live virus. by the way - im great at vaccinating. the most interesting thing i noticed where how brave the wee children are. no crying, just big brown eyes looking right at the injection site (upper arm) and then up at you, most likely thinking...what the hell is this gringa doing? but anyway. zone 3 is near the town garbage dump. actually, not near it, on it. there were various houses that were no longer houses, but piles of rubble due to the various mudslides. apparently, the nurses told me, as she pointed to a pile of rubble - there were 3 people, a woman and 2 children, dead and rotting in that particular pile of debri. they just didnt have the space between the houses to get them out, and now that they had been there so long..."por los parajos." (for the birds). yep. these shanty towns were beyond description and rather horrific at first, but after the inital stench and the hidden gawking, you tend to just hear the common sounds of any city, children playing, pots slamming, the occasional gun shot. it started to rain, and it was coming down hard, and a woman opened her door as we walked by and invited us in. she, a mother of 4, let us sit on her only piece of furniture other than the sole bed, and let us wait until the rain stopped. so, kindness supercedes all, yes? i guess we all knew this, but to see it in this extreme condition...makes you that much more amazed.

oh, and we are going to a coffee plantation wednesday. get excited.
oh, and the avocados here are like someone slicing off a buttery piece of heaven.
oh, and write comments to let me know you are out there.