02/23/2026
It has been one month since our team wrapped up in Reu. Here are a few words from a first time volunteer, Xico Gomez.
I had an incredibly fulfilling experience as part of the COTA 2026 team in Retalhuleu, Guatemala. An experience that I now find surprisingly difficult to explain.
Growing up in Mexico and having traveled to other developing countries, I am familiar with extreme poverty. I expected to see scarcity and need at the Retalhuleu Hospital; that did not shock me. What I did not anticipate — and what truly moved me — was the COTA team itself. With minimal instruction but with a shared purpose, everyone worked together doing whatever was needed to help.
Most of the people we served are marginalized, often overlooked, and rarely treated with respect. Yet the COTA team listened to them, cared for them with genuine kindness while honoring their dignity.
I cherished the children’s smiles and the parents’ gratitude, often expressed through simple words like, “May God Bless You.” What moved me the most, however, was the team’s selflessness - the humility, the willingness to serve, and their tireless work without expecting anything in return.
I was deeply impressed by everyone’s dedication: the meticulous preparation before the trip, the kitchen crew providing timely meals, the hand-made blankets, toys, and clothes that traveled so far just to be given away, the caring nurses who took extra time to comfort patients, the kind and patient drivers, the remarkable surgeries, the mutual support to one another, and the constant smiles.
For me, COTA 2026 was not only about the people we helped, it was also a powerful and profound reminder that there are still kind/good people in this world – The COTA Team.
I returned home certain that we had made other people’s lives better forever. It was a humbling and heartwarming experience, and I am deeply grateful to have been part of it.
