In addition, clinics were held all five days at facilities either owned, operated or managed by Methodist organizations. Two vans held the whole team, translators, and all our equipment as we traveled over roads of varied quality, sometimes even dirt. All around us the country was green, with light showers, rain at night, and cool temperatures. One of our team members, Dr. Don Oberleas of Lubbock, was conducting a study based on the theory that the Mayan population in the rural areas were deficient in zinc. He would weigh children, measure their height, take their names, and give them three months worth of zinc supplements.
Zinc deficiency is seen by lack of height and weight.
Dr. Oberleas expressed the hope that he can track the children down during another medical team mission and see how they have grown. He expected growth of one to two inches and a weight gain often to twenty pounds in one year. We had two medical stations. Both have two translators, one to translate English to Spanish and one from Spanish to Quiche, the indigenous language. While it sounds cumbersome, it actually worked well.