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My trip to Guatemala in August 2009 was my first time outside the United States. The trip was much unlike what I expected, although I’m not sure what I was actually expecting. There was much more on the trip than I could ever have hoped to take in for such a busy week. Overall, I enjoyed the tripvery much – from swimming in a high-mountain lake next to volcanoes, to being sick for two days with stomach cramps and diarrhea. I learned more lessons than I can or would like to write on paper.Project InformationI was on a team with Pablo, originally working on a project for wood-burning stoves, particularly a smoke-blocking door that was designed by the E/ME 105 class in 2008. Unfortunately, we discovered that the demand for such a device, as designed, is nonexistent. The “Para Humo” device was designed to block smoke from leaking out the front door of a standard plancha stove equipped with a chimney. We consulted with Tecnologia Para La Salud (TPS), local partners, and families, and we observed several home fashioned stoves in use at Pasajquim. This field research showed us that most chimney stoves do not have a problem with smoke, thus making our device a mere inconvenience to use and nothing more. We were unable to test the effects of “Para Humo” on the stove temperature due to an unacceptable lack of control in our experimental measurements.At this point, Pablo and I decided to join the mobility project team since there seemed to be an abundance of opportunities in that field. During the week we visited the Transitions’ prosthetic and wheelchair shops, Hope Haven pediatric wheelchair workshop, and the San Hermano Pedro hospital in Antigua. We also visited three wheelchairs users who have been using the latest prototype of the IMI (Intelligent Mobility International) chair in a village of Chimaltenango.For me personally, the first and greatest impact of visiting these places was seeing how great theneed is for people’s mobility and the consequent pain and difficulty with which so many people live and work. Seeing the many children and adults in the hospital who were confined to their beds gave great testament to the enormous need for wheelchairs, physical therapy, and additional care. I was also humbled and I continue to be in awe of the amazing love and generosity of people like Alex, Mark, David,and Dick, who pour out their lives into helping those less fortunate than themselves. Their passion shows beyond any sort of job or occupation; it is the entirety of their lives. It truly warms my heart to see so many handicapped people working to bring wheelchairs to others who need them, both at Transitions and Hope Haven.Our combined group – me, Pablo, Ying, and Fabiola – considered many different directions for our projects:- Physical therapy and rehabilitation: helping San Hermano Pedro with equipment needs for their very small physical therapy program.- Children’s wheelchair: working with Hope Haven’s design and incorporating a tilt and recline feature. Possibly reworking the handle ergonomics.- Prosthetics: finding some way to improve the measurement gathering process so it is more accurate and efficient.- IMI chair: re-examine the collapse mechanism and its importance (given that the buses do not stop to pick up people who have wheelchairs anyway), investigating the use of aluminumand its effects on welding and painting, simplifying the fabrication process or design, and refining the braking mechanism.- Electric-powered chairs: finding a way to adapt hand controllers into head controllers.- Mulholland Walk-About- Hand-powered cart, similar to a cross between wheelchair and bicycle.- 4-in-1 device: designing a device that functions as a walker, crutches, a cane, and a chair using fabrication methods similar to those of Hope Haven (no welding).Stephen WilkeCultural ImpressionsIn my impression, Guatemala is resting somewhere between its traditional culture and modern Western culture. In places like Guatemala City and Antigua, people dress very modernly. In rural areas the dress is more traditional, as seen at the Solola and Panajachel markets. In general people seemed very friendly, welcoming, and peaceful. We were always welcomed into people’s houses, and they seemed eager to find out about us and help us in whatever way they could.Guatemalan people also appear to live very simply. The woman at the Ixchel museum told us that Mayan people do things as simply as they can, and this showed in their households and actions. People were not in a rush to get things done, and they did seem to have the horrible imbalance that Americans do between what they are capable of doing and what they desire or attempt to do.A very noticeable difference between Guatemalan and American people stood out to me. I anticipated that people would be poorer, yet they seemed well-kept and content. Perhaps the language barrier prevented me from accurately observing this, but people did not seem to complain or want to change their way of doing things. People in the U.S. are never seem to be content with the latest gadgets or styles, and being poor implies entitlement to complain and bemoan your very existence. Guatemalan people seemed to simply accept things, do their best with them, and not dwell on the “greener grass” that was on the other side of their fence.Guatemalan people also hold different value of things. I sensed that family life was much more significant and respected than in the U.S. Things like a milpa (small field) that may seem insignificant to me are actually sources of great pride for farmers. Going to the mall is a huge deal and a rare occasion. Gender roles are more traditional: the man brings home the bread and makes decisions, and the womankeeps the house in shape and raises the kids. Business and Economics ObservationsFirst, I will talk about the market experiences. I was amazed by the Solola market. In many ways I felt like I had traveled back in time. My experience with markets is limited to local flea markets of farmers’ markets, places where you go to buy special or novel things. However, these traditional markets are the supermarket and department store of life for the local people. It was strange seeing so many vendors selling all the normal staples of everyday life: clothes, produce, food, pirated music, pots and pans, chickens, toys, you name it. I was also shocked by the incredible redundancy of the vendors. I


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CALTECH ME 105 - Wilke

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