Reflection from Helen O'Neill on the 2010 Mission

I just feel it shows the team work of our group and that of the El Salvador group. The young mother I saw was in due to her baby loosing weight and she had a sore on her breast. After asking her questions and finding more information, she was breast feeding when she did not have food. We sent her to Mental health and they talked with her and found out she had no income and many days without food. Padro the social worker got her some groceries and is taking her on as a special assignment to help her find ways to earn money or food. That is what I think our whole mission is all about. Follow up is what is most important and with the excellent team we have here and in El Salvador I feel these people are better off.
Many of the patients I saw over the last week had a lot of emotional problems. There were too many without food or a means to supply for their families.
Last year my little girl who was so sick, came back to see me this year! She was doing much better but her sisters and she were complaining of stomach aches when they eat. Come to find out they only get one meal a day and sometimes not even that much. Their mom has 12 children she is trying to feed! I keep thinking of the amount of food that is sometimes wasted by all of us and feel guilty that I have too much and they have none. I sent them to mental health group.

Reflection from Mary O'Neill on the 2010 Mission

It was hot already when we arrived midmorning. People were calmly lined-up to be seen. My assignment was to work with Dr. Daniella. As I arranged a workstation, a woman approached Dr. Daniella to ask a favor.
"My mother is 92 yrs old and cannot walk to the clinic. I think she has an infection in her leg. Would it be possible for you to go to her?" This exchange was, of course, in Spanish and had to be translated for me. All kinds of skin infections went through our heads, some worse than others. It was decided by Daniella that we had to go the house.
Ernesto, our faithful driver, took us down a maze of dirt roads to this woman’s house. It was a humble home, made of sticks and mud. All of the food preparation and cooking, along with the laundry, was done in the yard, just outside the door. The old woman was arthritic, slightly stooped over and had work-worn hands and arms. Her face was tanned and lined with age. You could tell that she had work hard, outside, all of her long life. Yet, she seemed happy!
I was offered a plastic stool to sit on, in case I wanted to rest. Manners are universal!
Luckily, the old woman appeared to have a contact dermatitis, something easily treated.
I think of that old woman and her home often. I believe that I was not sent there to help her, rather she was there to help me. She had none of what we consider necessary to be happy, yet she was! It is a lesson taught early in life, but not realized until my middle age.

Medical Mission El Salvador

The focus of the medical mission program in the Diocese of Central New York is to be in relationship with the people of our companion diocese of El Salvador through education, medicine and compassion. This mission will provide yearly medical campaigns to designated villages. The overlying goal during these campaigns is to provide health promotion, health education and treatment of disease. Medical care involves the treatment and diagnosis of both chronic and acute care. For cases of chronic illnesses which need ongoing pharmaceutical care, medications are provided and left with the diocesan physician. Each year, approximately 1500 people are given medical care through the Mission of Miracles during the week long health campaign.

One of our earliest stories is the story of Flor. Flor is a child from the village of San Juan de Letran. This little girl, (about 10 at the time) held onto her father’s hand in a long line waiting to see the doctor during our medical mission in January 2005. She hobbled over to our pediatrician and her father asked if we had any medicine to help his daughter. Flor suffered from a form of rickets which was progressing to a point when she would be unable to walk. The family had no resources to get help, and the medicine she needed to contain the disease was not available in the country. The medical team returned home thinking there had to be a way to help her. The first step was to provide funding for her to be seen by doctors in San Salvador. She was sent for diagnostic lab tests and xrays; however, none of the surgeons in the country would perform the surgery she needed to straighten her legs. A year was spent in communication with physicians in Syracuse and the U.S. embassy in El Salvador. In January 2006, the medical mission team brought Flor and her mother home with them to Central New York for treatment. After six months with us, she returned home walking and skipping with the hope of a full life. We will continue to provide the medication she requires until she is full grown and no longer in need of it.