Although the strike is very much still on, I have been able to do some healthcare related volunteering the past two days (hooray!). Yesterday Laura, Natalie, and I piled in the back of a truck and drove all over the San José neighborhood with two women from World Vision (and NGO that helps children in poor areas), and a few Santa Elena Staff. Daria, Santa Elena’s pharmacist, had agreed to show the World Vision staff around the neighborhood so they could get an estimate of how many children lived there, and talk with the “president” of the neighborhood about how they were hoping to help. For us, it was essentially just a scenic tour of San José, but it was good to at least begin forming relationships with the Santa Elena staff so that when they do open again we’re not starting from scratch.
Our ride. We were in the back of this thing the whole time.
Translation:
Ministry of Health
People helping people
Santa Elena Health Clinic
Left: Natalie, Right: Laura
Today I went with the same group, but this time to a different neighborhood, Huatatas, which was in a beautiful river valley. We were doing the same thing as yesterday, but we brought along some government-funded donations to distribute as well. Every family with a child under the age of three was given a bunch of rice, papillas (still not sure what this is, but I assume it’s something like instant mashed potatoes), and some cooking oil. La alimentación (diet) is a big concern for young children who’s brains aren’t fully developed, and as with the pregnant women I mentioned in an earlier post, a balanced and healthy diet is not necessarily a given.
Javier distributing the food
Cute niño with a bag of papillas
Going around Huatatas was an interesting experience because I was able to see the very bare-bones way people live on the outskirts of town. Although the setting was beautiful, the adobe houses families occupied were small, dirty, unlit, and without running water, electricity, or refrigeration. Chickens, pigs, and dogs occupied the same space as the people, and anyone old enough to do so was chewing Coca leaves, a habit borne of constant hunger. At the same time, however, they didn’t seem unhappy. It seemed as though this was just their way of life, and never having experienced another way of living, it was just fine.
My group today!
There were all kinds of vegetables and fruit growing up and down the river banks.
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