Antigua, Guatemala
This gallery represents mission trips to Antigua in 2014 and 2015. Dr. Kolstad was fortunate to share these experiences with members of his family, including his father, Toby, his mother, Linda, and his niece, Madeline. Linda was a retired labor and delivery nurse, and Madeline was an artist. Both quickly became an essential part of the mission team.
Hospital rooms commonly held up to ten beds, carefully arranged to maximize the limited space available. Children recovering from microtia surgery typically spent three to five nights in the hospital after rib cartilage was harvested to create new ears. Recovery could be painful, and most children would normally spend their days quietly resting in bed while they healed. During this trip, however, their recoveries looked very different.
Linda and Madeline arrived with games, toys, cards, and painting supplies. Instead of long days spent lying in bed, the children filled their time with art projects, activities, and play. Linda and Madeline did not speak Spanish, but games, laughter, and painting rarely required translation. By the end of the mission, they had become two of the most beloved members of the team among both the patients and their families.
Linda continued traveling to Antigua with Dr. Kolstad for several years afterward. She even faithfully carried on her role as the mission’s “recovery games instructor” during one trip that Dr. Kolstad was unable to attend himself.
