Gustavo sees again

Darren writes:

PazSalud did a joint eye mission in Estanzuelas with the Bellingham Central Lions Club in September, 2013.  During the 3-day event we screened 325 patients for glasses, readers and potential cataract surgery.  Shortly after the mission we learned that EyeCare International, an NGO that provides cataract surgeries, would be coming to Puerto la Libertad, El Salvador for a 2-week exam and surgery mission.  Kathy and I contacted them and arranged to bring some of our patients to their medical brigade.

Gustavo qualified for surgery and EyeCare International removed one of his two cataracts.  After recovering from surgery I took him to his follow-up appointments at ASAPROSAR (a local NGO specializing in low-cost eye care for Salvadorans) in San Miguel and everything checked out well.  This is this first time he has been able to see clearly in years so naturally, he is all smiles and thrilled with the results.  

Missioning Rosanne

Monday, March 24th was the 34th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero.  As always, there were commemorative marches in San Salvador and elsewhere among Monseñor Romero's beloved people. 

For us in the El Salvador Health Mission, Monday was also memorable because of the missioning of Rosanne Ponzetti as the new System Vice President for Mission Services.  We were especially delighted because Rosanne knows El Salvador through a 2010 Immersion Mission, and she's been a staunch friend of PazSalud since.  Rosanne and her family sponsor one of the children with disabilities we have been assisting.  Now she will be responsible for the overall direction of PazSalud, as well as for mission integration and ethics. 

Here's a photo from the missioning: from left to right, Carol Aaron, SVP for Culture and People; Rosanne; Alan Yordy, CEO and Chief Mission Officer; and Dr. Howard Graman, SVP, CEO and Chief Mission Officer of the PeaceHealth Medical Group.  It gives me joy to point out that every one of them has been part of a PazSalud mission!

Later in the day, Kathy Garcia, Rosanne and I met with Angela Dellinger and Mara Kershaw who are planning PeaceHealth's new leadership development program and want to include an immersion mission in El Salvador, probably beginning in fall, 2015.  It's a great challenge for Kathy and Darren, and I know it will be a life-changing experience for the participants.

Susan Dewitt, CSJP

A good fit

Darren writes:
A very special to thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the PazSalud medical mission in San Pedro Perulapan so successful.  The countless hours by the the US and Salvadoran volunteers paid off as we were able to see a record 1,647 patients in 4.5 days and deliver much needed care to an under-served population.  Congratulations to all and thank you to all the wonderful people we met along the way.

Susan adds:
This huge open space was a "best ever" location for our mission.  We've been in everything from a municipal child-care center (tiny!) in San Rafael Cedros to a spacious school in San José Villanueva, but our friends at ACOSAMA kindly allowed us to use their big auditorium where we could set up everything - four separate clinics, the optic shop, the pharmacy, space for breaks and lunches, and plentiful space for waiting patients - under one big roof.  How we wish we could bundle up the auditorium and take it with us!  But then we wouldn't have the fun of watching Kathy and Darren map out alternative ways to fit our big mission team into a new and challenging space.  

Welcome

Welcome to PazSalud in El Salvador, our new blog for PeaceHealth's El Salvador Health Mission!  We'll be posting about life and work and mission in El Salvador as we carry the Health Mission forward.

PeaceHealth and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace have been connected to El Salvador since 1985, when Sisters Andrea Nenzel and Margaret Jane Kling accompanied refugees, providing an international presence in the Calle Real Refugee Camp.  In the late 1980s Sisters Eleanor Gilmore and Margaret Byrne worked with Jesuit Refugee Services to help wounded civilians get health care. 

The El Salvador Health Mission began in 2000, when Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Eleanor Gilmore and Grace Didomenicantonio moved to San Salvador to coordinate the work of volunteers from PeaceHealth.  The mission's first volunteers helped with emergency medical assistance following the devasting earthquakes of 2001. 

As the Health Mission in El Salvador evolved, PazSalud began to offer regular opportunities for PeaceHealth staff and Sisters to participate in general medical missions, eye screenings, and eye surgeries.  Our assistance to the communities we serve has expanded to include followup for special cases, a water filter program and community education.

And we continue to evolve with Kathy Garcia, PeaceHealth's Director of International Missions, with Darren Streff, PazSalud's new In-Country Coordinator, and with Sister Susan Dewitt, Communications Assistant.