Disclaimer: this blog post reflects my own personal opinion & experiences, it does NOT reflect that of HSVMA-RAVS or anyone else. These photos are my personal photos from the trip.
The beginning of my senior year started out with a bang! After parting ways with my classmates after final exams, my LAST final exams! I headed to Guatemala on externship with HSVMA-RAVS under the leadership of Dr. David Turoff.
Dr. Turoff has always been my horse vet, he's known me since I was a six year old horse-crazy kid. He has always been there for me as a mentor on my road to veterinary school and I really have him to thank for helping me get where I am today, beginning my 4th year of veterinary school and having the opportunity to participate on the Guatemala trip.
After an entire day of traveling (3 flights and 2 long layovers, we arrived in Flores, Guatemala. We stayed one night on an island located on Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway. The next day we gathered supplies left from last year and organized and integrated everything we had brought in preparation for field work.
Our work area was vast, consisting of many small villages along the Rio Mopan in the Penten region of Guatemala near the Belize border. According to Dr. Turoff, "there are currently no veterinary services available in this region, making our trip invaluable to the horses and people that live here. Body condition scores and general overall
health of the animals has improved noticeably over the last four years
since HSVMA-RAVS starting coming here."
Our team consisted of three North American veterinarians, a Guatemalan veterinarian, a veterinary student from Norway, a pre-veterinary student from Guatemala, and a farrier from California.
We provided veterinary care to horses and mules, we rarely saw a donkey. We provided Rabies and Tetanus vaccination as well as ivermectin de-wormer to every patient. We also performed castrations, dentistry and attended to various wounds we were presented with such as wither wounds from improper loading or saddle fitting and foreign bodies - such as branches. And our farrier did lots of foot work including showing the local horse owners how to properly trim and rasp a hoof. He even brought a lot of "used" rasps to give away to the people who made a sincere effort to learn how to trim and actually got under their own horses. I was amazed at his ability to interact with the people although he spoke little Spanish, his enthusiasm was contagious.
Each day we visited a new town, many of which the RAVS team had been to before, except La Polvora which was a new work site. Getting to each town provided our driver a true challenge as most roads are not paved there and full of water crossings. I give our driver true credit for driving our van on some of these roads I wouldn't feel comfortable on without a four wheel drive.
Towns we visited: Cruzadero, Nuevo Modelo, El Rondon, La Polvora, Los Encuentros
I really enjoyed the trip and got a lot of hands-on experience anesthetizing and castrating horses in the field. The company couldn't have been better, I'm glad some of their experience and wisdom rubbed off on me. When I got home, I felt nothing but humble - respect for those that live life much different from me. I experienced a welcoming culture that still rely on horses for their livelihood as well as close-knit family ties. I really felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. I felt like we made a difference, a dent in what needs to be done for the animals there.
I really hope two of the Guatemalans we were traveling with are able to be a steady force there and provide veterinary care. Ideally a self-sustaining veterinary presence available to the areas we practiced in would lead the future of veterinary care for the animals we serve.
I was trying to think about how to blog about how traveling makes me feel and I stumbled across the following that explains it pretty clearly: Why Traveling Will Make You A Better Person
The beginning of my senior year started out with a bang! After parting ways with my classmates after final exams, my LAST final exams! I headed to Guatemala on externship with HSVMA-RAVS under the leadership of Dr. David Turoff.
Dr. Turoff has always been my horse vet, he's known me since I was a six year old horse-crazy kid. He has always been there for me as a mentor on my road to veterinary school and I really have him to thank for helping me get where I am today, beginning my 4th year of veterinary school and having the opportunity to participate on the Guatemala trip.
After an entire day of traveling (3 flights and 2 long layovers, we arrived in Flores, Guatemala. We stayed one night on an island located on Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway. The next day we gathered supplies left from last year and organized and integrated everything we had brought in preparation for field work.
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| A mare and foal in the Guatemalan countryside |
Our team consisted of three North American veterinarians, a Guatemalan veterinarian, a veterinary student from Norway, a pre-veterinary student from Guatemala, and a farrier from California.
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| A little rain won't stop us! |
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| A humane method of restraint |
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| The whole town watching us perform a castration |
Each day we visited a new town, many of which the RAVS team had been to before, except La Polvora which was a new work site. Getting to each town provided our driver a true challenge as most roads are not paved there and full of water crossings. I give our driver true credit for driving our van on some of these roads I wouldn't feel comfortable on without a four wheel drive.
Towns we visited: Cruzadero, Nuevo Modelo, El Rondon, La Polvora, Los Encuentros
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| Most fences were made out of trees and barbed wire |
I really hope two of the Guatemalans we were traveling with are able to be a steady force there and provide veterinary care. Ideally a self-sustaining veterinary presence available to the areas we practiced in would lead the future of veterinary care for the animals we serve.
I was trying to think about how to blog about how traveling makes me feel and I stumbled across the following that explains it pretty clearly: Why Traveling Will Make You A Better Person
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| Mules are said to be more expensive than horses in Guatemala because they are more hardy Dr. Turoff's Blog Posts from 2013 Trip to Guatemala (this year's trip) |
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