Hospital San Juan de Dios

Today in the morning we toured the largest hospital in El Salvador, which is in the city of Santa Ana. Hospital San Juan de Dios was founded in 1846, and currently serves a region that extends even beyond national borders. We stopped by to present a box of donated medical supplies, which we coordinated through Project CURE and the Santa Ana Rotary Club. The club is one that is proud of its 80-year history and has a number of medical professionals as members. They gave us an insiders’ tour of the hospital, and we saw everything from the ophthalmology center to the maternity ward.

I think what struck all of us was the degree to which Rotary has played a part in the operations of the hospital. Everywhere we turned it seemed there was a plaque commemorating a Rotary project of some sort.

We met with the hospital director briefly to explain the donation, but it was really in speaking with the individual doctors who see patients at the hospital every day that we understood the importance of our donation. One doctor told me that sometimes they can’t even find a clean needle for what they need. And while one small box seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the enormous volume of patients that need assistance, maybe we helped a few people to avoid and infection or allow the hospital to use their limited funds to buy a new piece of equipment. We will probably never know, but either way, we know it is needed.

Amy

"No guns"

Day 1 - volcanoes & pupusas

Wow, what a day! We have only been here in El Salvador for about 24 hours, but we have already experienced two different host families, visited two volcanoes, and eaten too many delicious pupusas.

We arrived in San Salvador around 9pm yesterday, and were whisked from the airport to beautiful homes for the night. We met this morning at Insaforp, a national workforce training center, and learned all about their programs. Then we toured a volcanic lake, hiked a bit to view two volcanoes, had a nice lunch, visited Santa Ana and its historic theater and cathedral, and tried some local food. Then on to our Santa Ana host families and then to an evening Rotary meeting. The meeting was outdoors in a lush backyard. We did our first GSE presentation here, and it went well. The meal was pupusas, those yummy Salvadorean tortilla-like cakes, filled with meat, cheese, and/or beans. This Rotary club was small, only about 20 members, and very warm and welcoming. Another very full day for us will start early tomorrow.

Rolando, in Santa Ana, El Salvador

Breathe In, Breathe Out (repeat)

In less than 24 hours I will leaving my home in Colorado and venturing in to the unknown of Central America....

Okay, so I probably don't need to be so dramatic, especially when so many great plans have been made for us, but I can't help but feel like I am jumping into a pool with out testing the water first. The last two days I have experienced every emotion possible. I have been scared, joyful, anxious, frustrated, hopeful, nervous, overwhelmed and excited. After experiencing such a broad range of emotions in a short time I have one more feeling - exhausted! I know that once I am on the plane my nerves will settle down and I will be able to enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity. Until then, I am following the advice of my Mom... "keep breathing" :)]

~ Jessica

Snow, schedules, & warmer cultures

It's snowing and blowing in Frisco, Colorado today. I had a client here from Florida, and we went out to look at some properties this morning. Not only was the poor guy freezing, but he took one step off a footpath and ended up in snow deeper than his knees. It was a wet socks, cold feet welcome to Colorado. I held back a chuckle, and remembered that in two short days we will be in a much warmer place. Not just warmer in temperature, but in many less measurable ways too.

This week we finally received our schedules of events and meetings for our first week in Central America. The nice Rotarians in El Salvador have clearly taken our visit seriously, and they have put together an action-packed week for us. I have been pestering them for over a month to send me the details, and I was beginning to get nervous when I got no reply. Turns out that this is just an early example of the kind of cultural differences which we are about to experience. How presumptuous of us here in the USA to expect anyone else to agree that plans need to be firmed up weeks in advance. They came through, probably thinking that they actually delivered ahead of time. And then yesterday we got the schedule from the Nicaraguans, for the next week. Same deal:"in-the-nick-of-time" for us might just be extreme advance planning down there. Reading their emails and the descriptions of their plans for us, I can already feel their warmth and friendliness.

It seems almost too simple: cold climate equals uptight, and warm climate makes folks easy going. Maybe there's more to it than that, but then again, maybe not. OK, if you know me then you're wondering how a half-Cuban-raised-in-Miami-married-to-a-Mexican can claim to be a product of a cold climate. Good points. I'll have to look into that.

It's easy to put on a sweater or coat to take off the chill when it's cold outside. Over the next four weeks, we are going to be forced to learn how to slow down and take off the schedule-obsessed chill we have inside. The hard part might be relearning promptness upon our return. By the way - the dude with the cold wet socks - he was early for our appointment. And so was I. Now can someone explain why "chill" means relax?

My next post will be from El Salvador...

Rolando

Almost gone...

After a great meeting at Connie and TK's home in Boulder last Sunday, I think we're finally ready for this trip. We were lucky to be presented with Rotary Foundation Alumni pins by Steve Cantrell, which are difficult to come by. Steve shared with us how it's one of the most rare pins associated with Rotary... we are lucky to be part of a select group!

My thanks and appreciation goes out to all the people that have made this trip possible!!! From all of the RFI donors, to the coordinators (Connie and Ilona) and our hosts in District 4240... everyone has pulled together to make this trip happen. THANK YOU!

I'm excited to get my things in my suitcase.... I'll worry about what I've forgotten later!

See you soon,
Molly

Four days and counting...

Can I just say that time seems to have flown by since we first started preparing for this trip?!? We are only a couple of days away...it snowed last night in Denver, and I have a pile of skirts and summery shirts waiting to be packed away in a suitcase.

And we are going to be busy - today we received a revised agenda for our first week in El Salvador, and I'm already tired just reading it. But, by the same token, it's going to be so amazing. I've already been in touch with the club in Santa Ana (the first we will visit), and I am confident that we will get a big, warm welcome when we arrive (trust me Rolando, they are ready for us!). I reached out to the club because I am planning to carry with me a CURE Kit from Project CURE (www.projectcure.org - please check out this amazing organization!), which is a box packed with donated medical supplies. You carry the box with you as a piece of luggage to donate to a local community clinic or hospital, and I'm coordinating the donation with the Rotary club in Santa Ana. They've made sure that I'm in contact with the right people, down to the Director of the hospital that will receive the donation - and they made it happen within 24 hours!

By the way for all the Rotary folks, I learned that since 2001, Rotary clubs have donated over $24 million in medical supplies through Project CURE.

So, I still have to pack my suitcase, but with the CURE Kit going with me, I have extra incentive to pack lightly!

- Amy