Welcome to our blog. My name is Renee Paquier and I am your mission historian. This mission is located in Antigua, Guatemala.
Antigua Guatemala or “Old Guatemala” is located in southern Guatemala. It was founded in the early 16th century and is known for its Spanish colonial buildings. Notable architectural examples include baroque La Merced church, the Arco de Santa Catalina, and the Hospital de San Pedro, where our mission is taking place.
The Hospital de San Pedro was founded in 1663 by Dominican friars and is dedicated to Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur. It is currently managed by Franciscan friars and provides social services to those who are food and housing insecure. The hospital also hosts international non-profit medical groups, such as Rotaplast, to assist in the treatment of children and adults from Antigua and other local villages.
Our day started bright (actually it was still dark outside) and early, with a 5:00am meeting time at the San Francisco Airport. After many covid safe hugs and high-fives, we checked in our bags and boxes with the friendly and helpful agents at United Airlines and then made our way to our gate. Along the way, we shared stories about the last times we saw each other, which Rotaplast mission had been our last prior to this one, and caught up on baby and grand baby pictures.
We met the rest of our team in Houston. After a brief 4 hour layover, a last minute gate change that helped us all to meet our necessary step-count for the day, we left the US ready to meet the beautiful people of Guatemala.
At the Guatemala City Airport, we collected our bags, as well as the 15 boxes of medical supplies, and met our gracious local host and President of the Guatemala Rotaplast foundation, Mr. Carlos Ramirez Portilla.