I am famous!!!! .... And Mexico retreat!!!!

Hello everyone!! :) 

 It has been over a month since I have written and I am so sorry!! Sometimes things just start happening so fast and before I know it, Easter is around the corner!!

First, I have to say that guess what?! I am Chimbote famous!! Well, not really. But I WAS featured in the Chimbote newspaper for my missionary work in Hospice!! This was a while ago, but I am finally getting around to posting it. How exciting!!

A picture of the article and a translation of the article below:

The Values of the Kingdom

North American volunteer gives a testimony of her life

Katie Langley: Serving the sick is my vocation

            Every morning she wakes up with the joy of her youth to accomplish the service that took her far away from her country, her parents, and her friends. It is the story of Katie Langley, 24 years old, graduate of nursing in the United States, who is a volunteer in Hospicio Santiago Apostal (Saint James Hospice).

            Katie arrived to Chimbote with other young people from her country thanks to the program “Missionaries of the Incarnate Word”. She decided to come to our city with the soul objective of helping the terminally ill, because that is her vocation.

            “From Monday to Saturday I come to Hospice; at 8 in the morning we start work with a team meeting. We visit homes out in the community in groups of two, which means I always go with a partner; we have patients in Chimbote, Nuevo Chimbote, Santa, and Cambio Puente,” Says Katie.

            She adds that in the home visits they offer wound care, massages, foley catheters, nasogastric tubes, tracheostomy care, colostomy care, IV therapy, alitas, and reflexology (for those that ask - because through this technique the pain that accompanies the illnesses can be alleviated).

            Katie explains that she attends 6-7 patients from different zones in coordination with the team in the morning, and in the afternoon continues her work.

            In spite of not speaking perfect Spanish, the young North American has come to know many people, and because of her empathetic character she has made many friends.

            Another aspect that Katie highlighted is the professional work that Hospice offers to the patients, because the patients receive personalized and quality care. (Author: Herminia Olivos).

So that was my interview!!!! In other news, we just recently got back from Mexico City where we went for two weeks for an Incarnate Word Missionaries retreat!! It was so exciting to get to see all of the other missionaries and spend time with them in person rather than just on a SKYPE conference call (missionaries from Peru, Guatemala, Africa, Mexico, and the US). We had an amazing time together, sharing stories and learning of each others work and mission sites. I was so inspired by them, they are all doing such amazing things!!!! (The girls in Mexico work in a daycare, volunteer in the parish, and teach music and theatre, in Guatemala the missionaries run a school for indigenous children who could not have an education otherwise, in the US the missionary lives in a house for homeless women and their children, tutoring them and sharing meals with them, and in Africa the missionary works in a rural clinic in Zambia).

Missionaries: David, Kirsten, Tara, Emily, Emma, Me, Kyle, Miriam, Jelly, Nicole, Director Kathy, and Kelli.

While we were in Mexico City, we were able to see some of the touristy sites as well: Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Anthropology museum, the National Cathedral. We traveled to very rich neighborhoods and very poor neighborhoods just to really be able to see the vast socioeconomic separation of classes. But while there is so much poverty in Mexico, we saw so many kids smiling and playing in the street and sweet little old ladies greeting us with so much joy everywhere we went. It is a culture rich in faith and spirit and beauty. Mexico City is a wonderful place and it is definitely somewhere I would return to. And, the food was INCREDIBLE!!!!! For sure made me miss my Tex Mex. 

 
Now things are getting into gear for Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and Easter!! Our theatre group is putting on the Stations Of The Cross, in which I will play the roll of Weeping Woman. I will be sure to let you all know how it goes (and this time I will really try to post within a couple weeks)!!

Peace and God Bless,
Katie