February 3, 2012

Health Outreach in Las Delicias

We have had a wonderful week with Morena, the community health promoter, helping to accomplish the comprehensive preventive health goals she has for the people of Las Delicias.  Normally she does all this work by herself, so she has been so excited to have us medical students on board to assist with her endeavors and take things to the next level!  Here are some of the awesome projects we've enjoyed being a part of this week:

*Well child checks
We rounded up kids for some quick check-ups in one of the local churches, and also had the chance to visit the school, where we did several exams on the youngest children in pre-K and kindergarten.


*Elder care
We made home visits to some vulnerable elders with terminal illness, discussed palliative measures, and compared some of the community's approaches to what we know as hospice in the U.S.


*Parasite campaign prep
Because we don't get much exposure to parasite prevention/treatment in the developed world, we made sure to get some great tips from Morena, Dra. Blanca, and our Spanish teacher, Guadalupe.  With their help, we developed some helpful talking points for our house-to-house campaign next week.




Angela with one of the children at our impromptu set-up at the church



Dividing up vitamins for the children -- Morena with one of the community leaders she has recruited to assist in outreach in the individual sectors of Las Delicias



Steve makes check-ups fun!



Sometimes it becomes a group effort! (Angela)



Dr. Schnuth is here with us now! --with Julie & Angela in front of Las Delicias clinic



We've decided to make this our classic formation-- Angela, Julie, Steve, Mike 



Julie with one of the pre-K kids at the school



Mike with one of the pre-K kids at the school



Working diligently on our anti-parasites campaign, as Dr. Schnuth supervises



Angela & Julie


Steve & Mike


We also enjoyed a city tour of San Salvador and visited several sites, including the military museum (learned a lot about Salvadorean history), the cathedral (which is currently on lock-down due to protests this election year), and Cuscatlan Park -- where there is an impressive Monumento a la Memoria y la Verdad that recognizes the 30,000 people who were lost to violence during the civil war of the 1980s.

Until next time!

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