Saturday 2/4/12

San José Villanueva Paz Salud Medical Mission, February 4 – 13, 2012
http://www.pazsalud.org/
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Paz Salud (PeaceHealth) medical mission leaves Seattle International Airport at 0800. It is a time of day, having arisen at 0400 for most of us (if not earlier) we would otherwise be working, starting Saturday house duties, catching up, snoozing, or some other activity that we look to renew or refresh our spirits over the weekend. Instead, 30 of us, wearing the bright yellow lanyards with our names, eagerly await the flight to Houston. From Houston, we will traverse to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador.
I start my day working; it is one of my passions, my own deep pathos as well. Perhaps the rain has caused me to stay inside my shell (like a turtle) more than I might if I lived in a sunnier/warmer climate. I have said the only thing that cures my addition to work is sunshine. I shall see plenty of that in the next few days. Regardless, I have email to catch up with as usual, and a few small projects/communications that needed to come off my plate given that work connectivity will be nil for the next 10 days. I work at the airport too, for about an hour, after meeting a few fellow travelers early at the Continental counter. The blue Rubbermaid tubs, filled with supplies and vitamins are piled one on top of the other, so I recognize my group quickly. I am non-clinical and along for the role of photo-journalist. May I live up to my own expectations and those of Kathy Garcia.
The day dawned beautiful and sunny, almost warm for a Northwest place in the winter. The sun was not high in the sky, but filled my eyes with light as we taxied down the runway and gave birth to flight. Occasionally the wing would block the sun’s brilliance as we gained altitude. As always, I finger my Guadalupe (the Mexican Virgin Mary) who protects us as we lift. And internally, I say the words to the Lord’s Prayer, slipping into Our Mother who art in heaven… (once a feminist, always a feminist).
It appears from the in-flight magazine that we will fly over the following states once we leave Washington: Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oklahoma, then into Texas. From Houston, we will fly to San Salvador crossing, perhaps Mexico (the tip where Merida is located) and Honduras or Guatemala. At one moment not too far into the flight I look down and see sparsely populated miles of pure-brown, rolling terrain. The next moment I look down and see all white, snow abounding on low areas as well as mountains. I am doing all my catch-up reading on El Salvador once I know we are firmly air-bound. The flight to Houston is four hours and the flight to San Salvador; three hours. Flying is a lovely experience for the views. I sit next to a Salvadoran woman living in Eugene and working as a caregiver at PeaceHealth. Her name is Elba and she has a Paz Salud lanyard on. She is travelling with her elderly mother who is introduced as Angelina. She is a tiny frail woman, her beautiful face lined with the years of time and experience. Mrs. Angelina wears a pretty, lacey embroidered dress and a ski cap to keep her head warm. The wedding band on her left ring finger is well worn, smoothed with the touches of each year. I shake her cold hand and tell her my name. I respect the daughter’s kind attention to her mother. This is the way that it is supposed to be.

Before I sign off this entry, a few facts about El Salvador (see footnote a):
· The population is about 6.1 million.
· El Salvador as a country is about the size of Massachusetts (8008 sq. miles).
· Mountains separate the country into three regions, and reportedly the mountains helped make the guerrilla fighters effective for their hiding places and camps during the 1980s civil war. Here the U.S. Government sided with the El Salvadoran government and fought against the FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) now a reformed and ruling political party under President Funes, elected in 2009. Six political parties are represented in the El Salvador legislature. El Salvador participates in several free trade agreements and is in close political favor and alliance with the United States.
· About 77,000, many of them innocent citizens, were killed during the period of civil unrest.
· The Peace Accord was signed in 1992.
· Approximately 22% of El Salvador’s population lives in the U.S.; most formal post-high school education is received in the U.S., and remittances to families from members living in the U.S. supplements the income of many working families.
· The Government is now a republic. President Obama made a trip to San Salvador in spring of 2011.
· The predominant religions: Catholic and Protestant and about 6% of the population are Caucasian.
· The educational system is free to all children through grade 12 (mandatory to 9th grade). Literacy is 86.1% nationally.
· Per capita income $3431 with purchasing parity of $7200.
The following is a direct quote (see footnote b):
· Health care in El Salvador for most people comes through one of two government-run programs. The Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare is responsible for about 80% of the population, including people who work in the informal economy, campesinos, families living in poverty. ISSS or Seguridad Social is a health insurance program which provides coverage to workers in private enterprise or government employees; ISSS maintains clinics, hospitals and specialty centers and takes care of about 17% of the population. The well-to-do – the remaining 3% of the population - usually go to private doctors and private hospitals.
· San José Villanueva has some large pockets of poverty which are shown in a study of Urban Poverty and Social Exclusion published in 2010. The map shows areas around the town center as having extreme and high levels of poverty, with the town center itself having a moderate level. This year a national newspaper, La Prensa Grafica, described a UN study that showed San José Villanueva as one of seven municipalities in the country with the highest levels of malnutrition among children under 5 years. El Salvador’s national average for malnourished children is 19 % in urban areas, 24 % in the country. In San José Villanueva malnutrition was measured at 38%.


We were delayed at the airport for about an hour and a half, some difficulties with a tub and its match to someone who had already cleared security and customs. The elderly Angelina meets her family at the curbside. All have arrived to honor her. From smaller children, to teenagers to middle-aged parents and siblings. I introduce myself and they all shake my hand. A child of about four or five years of age reaches out her hand and shakes mine. She says “I am pleased to meet you” in perfect English. She is pretty, chubby, dark and wears a chocolate brown sleeveless dress covered with white pom poms. This child is the vision of El Salvador and their hope too. Angelina has taken off her knit cap and sweater and several darkly-colored yellow roses are in her lap. She is surrounded by her family and the smile on her face is richly expressive of her joy. Her hair is still brown with some gray, at least this is what I see. I ask Elba if I may take a family shot and do get a couple taken but the light is low and I don’t have a tripod, so it may be a bit soft around the edges. Later as I watch the family together, I see such joy that their grandmother is with them; they touch her head and stroke her hair. She is visibly happy. As the family gathered, awaiting their transportation, a young member of their family, “Fernando” approaches me. He asks me questions and we talk together. He is explicitly polite and interested in me, as I am in him. He is in University and is studying economics. I remark that he is smart and he replies back, everyone here is smart. He has been to the states to visit his aunt in Oregon, he remarks “it is too cold there.” I am grateful for his outreach, I wish I spoke Spanish, but his English was perfect too.
Paz Salud arrives at the retreat house, officially named: Centro Salesiano Ayaguala, and also called the “compound” at 11:40 PM. Centro Salesiano Ayaguala has lovely, granite tile floors throughout. From where the rooms tee off and up, in its center is a lovely covered but open-air plaza, filled with leather-covered chairs and simple tables topped with what appears to be Guatemalan embroidered cloths. The compound appears to be built on a hill, as some of the rooms are level with grounds. One entire wall of this plaza facing the grounds is up one story and overlooks the valley and here looking out the open wall we are surrounded by the lush tropical environs of the countryside.
The volunteers are given their room assignments with pre-selected roommates. My roommate is a nurse-midwife; Deb, and I her roommate, too . People gather after settling in and soon we hear voices. I exit the room and the open-air plaza “living room” is filled with the volunteers. Beverages and refreshments are out and volunteers are excitedly talking with one another, checking out the wireless status. Sometimes I believe that technology is bestowed by the luck of a draw. Two i-phones have no service, but mine detected a service called “movistar” (purportedly good by someone’s account) and I am able to make a call home. I have turned on the international service for a month. Finally, about 1:30 am, it quiets down and we try to put our grateful hearts to sleep.