Let's see, we had another adventure on Wednesday when we went up the mountain near the clinic to a more remote community called Las Brisas. We were told last week that the hike would take about an hour and a half, and Wednesday morning, people began to say it would take 2 or 2 and a half hours, and that the journey was unsafe, so we were talked into hiring a pick-up truck to take us up the mountain. The journey took about a half hour and provided some great views along the way.
When we arrived, we met with one of the teachers at the school. She and the other two teachers are from other communities, but stay in Las Brisas during the week with local families. 30 years ago, the children of Las Brisas had to go to school in Las Delicias, where the clinic is, and walked there and back every day.
From her, we learned that there is no running water in the community, so families were given a certain ration of water each week by the Mayor, that came in large barrels. They have had electricity for one year. The closest clinic is in Las Delicias, and the closest government clinic is even further. There is a local midwife who is also a natural healer and one of the leaders in the community. The majority of women deliver at home, and only go to the hospital if something goes wrong. The most common medical issues are respiratory infections, diarrhea (parasites) and malnutrition.
After lunch, we walked around the houses in the community and met 10 or 12 different families. We asked a lot of questions to get an idea of what public health issues exist in the community. We discovered that most families have a latrine, houses constructed of corrugated tin, bamboo branches and rope to hold it all together. Homes had dirt floors, and most of the women and children we met were not wearing shoes. The dirt is very dry and fine in the dry season, and the loose dust was up to 3 inches deep along some of the roads we walked along.
One girl we met was 7 years old and had decided that she had had enough school. When we asked her mom about it, her mom said she had tried to convince her to keep going, but the girl was set on stopping. The mom told us that she works a 'man's job,' picking coffee in the fields and doing other manual labor so that her children will have money for food and school uniforms and books, so that they can finish school and get jobs in the factories, which is much better work but often now requires at least a 9th grade education. The situation didn't seem to be that uncommon.
By the end of the day, we had thought of many ideas for how to improve upon the overall health of the community. It was very interesting to talk to Meredith afterwards about what needs she had identified in the community, and what her first steps will be in making that happen!
Yesterday we got to visit one of the two archaeological ruins that are near the clinic. The buildings are approximately 3000 years old and thought to be Mayan in origin. San Andreas was the cultural and political center, and these ruins are thought to be religious in nature, I believe.
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