Greetings from El Salvador!

Our brigade on Wednesday was in a small, very poor village. The brigade was held in the church, which set upon a hill. The dirt road leading to the church was mostly mud and pot holes so the bus had to park at the foot of the hill and we walked between the puddles to get to the church.

Each family had donated a chicken in order to prepare lunch for us. The lunch was made from all natural ingredients---huge chunks of squash, potatoes and carrots. Muy rico (very delicious)!

Today is Thursday and we have just returned from a day and a half at the beach. We spent the night at this fabulous resort at the beach. A drastic change from the poor communities we have been visiting. We relaxed by the pool, in hammocks, and in the ocean. Everyone got a LOT of sun. The food was great---in the traditional Salvadoran style. At one point during the day we had to share the beach with a herd of cattle moving very, very slowly to their next grazing site.

While we did enjoy our stay, it was depressing and a little embarrassing having to drive past all the poverty in order to reach this resort.. The resort had air conditioning and tile floors. The neighboring homes had leaky tin roofs and dirt floors that turned to mud when it rained. The resort had clean bathrooms with working toilets. The people living in the shacks surrounding the resort have outhouses with toilets that are not much more than holes in the ground. We each had our own bed at the resort; the poor families living close by have to sleep on the floor or 4-5 on a dirty mattress.

Tomorrow is our last brigade. Our last opportunity to provide free medical care to people who desperately need it. Then it will be time for use to pack up for our journey back home.

Happy Thursday,

Eddith Dashiell

Tuesday, August 24, 1:51PM

Greetings again from El Salvador!

Today the Ohio University team is in a town called Juayua. We will be relaxing today near the waterfalls and staying in a nice, comfortable hotel. Tomorrow we will have an all day medical brigade in this area. Thursday we will have another relaxing day. . . .this time in a hotel near the beach. The CEDEINFA team is really spoiling us this year. However, the medical team has earned every minute of relaxation. They had their largest group of people to come for free medical assistance on Saturday. We were only expecting 150...but the actual number was closer to 300. We almost ran out of medicine and we definitely had to purchase additional medical supplies for our second week here. We have two more medical brigades scheduled this week before returning to the United States. The medical team has probably seen close to 1,500 people so far. One doctor expressed frustration over seeing some patients with special medical needs but not having the necessary resources to help them.

With the rainy and cloudy weather, we have not been able to tour to see the mountains like we planned. Also, with the rain it has actually gotten chilly here at night. . . .chilly for me anyway...I caught a cold. Sunday night the temperature was around 50 degree F.

Many of the students were very happy to be able to go to the mall yesterday. Some went to McDonald´s. Others were excited to see a Subway.

Everyone is still safe and healthy. The one cultural shock that I hear the students talking about the most is having to put the used toilet paper in a trash can to avoid clogging the pipes. But I am grateful that they are willing to make this sort of sacrifice to help the ¨poorest of the poorest in El Salvador.

I will send another update over the next couple of days.

feliz lunes de (Happy Tuesday from) Juayua, El Salvador.

Eddith Dashiell

Saturday, August 21, 10:25 AM

We have just completed our first week in El Salvador. So far we have had five medical brigades and we have already seen more than 1,000 people. Yesterday, the doctors and medical students saw more than 300 patients in one community--many of them with upper respiratory problems. The name of the town we visited yesterday was Piedras Blancas ("White Stones"). This was the first time a medical team had visited this village and people from seven surrounding villages were already waiting for us when we arrived. The brigade was held in their community school. Even though this village was located "in the middle of nowhere," this center (and even some of the homes) had all the modern conveniences-----computers, cell phones, air conditioning (upstairs only) and clean, functioning bathrooms-. The principal of the school cancelled classes for the day so we could meet in their building and the students could gain community service hours by helping us (mopping floors, removing trash, running errands, etc.). The women of the village prepared a fantastic lunch for us (chicken, rice salad, and, of course, tortillas). They even had a closing ceremony for us in which each of us was presented with a certificate of appreciation (complete with select photographs from the day). It was a long day and a long ride back---but a VERY rewarding experience.

Despite the advances in new technology, sometimes it is difficult to get access to the Internet. At Casa Bethel (Bethel House) where we are staying we have WiFi (pronounced: "wee fee"), but we cannot always log on. At the main office, there are 30 of us having to share six computers while the CEDEINFA workers are trying to use the same computers to do their jobs. :)

While we are "in the field" at our medical brigades, other CEDEINFA staff members stay at the office working on their other projects---community meals, craft workshops for teenagers, math and English tutoring, food pantry, sponsorship donations, etc.

Everyone is safe and busy helping the people of El Salvador.

More details next week.Happy Saturday from (feliz sadado de) El Salvador,

Eddith Dashiell
 

Wednesday, August 18, 3:50 PM

Everything is great. Everyone is getting along well. We saw 97 patients today. I haven't heard the doctors talk about any unusual illnesses yet. Eating lunch now. Headed for a water park this afternoon.

No illnesses among the team. They are a good group. We are scheduled for a full-day brigade tomorrow.

Eddith Dashiell
 

Tuesday, August 17, 8:02 PM

Dear family and friends,

Hola from El Salvador! Our trip is off to a great start. Our flights went smoothly, as well as customs and our bus ride to Casa Bethel, our home for the duration of our trip. On Monday morning we traveled an hour away for our first medical brigade. Everyone was assigned to a post and our teamwork combined with hardwork throughout the day resulted in helping over 200 people. Such a successful first day! Today was our second medical brigade, which was just as rewarding and successful. Being only a half day brigade, we had the opportunity to do some site seeeing. We traveled to Puerta del Diablo, aka the doorway of the devil. This tourist site included hiking and many photo opportunities. Overall, we had a great day!

Tomorrow brings another medical brigade close by. On Thursday we will be doing some heavier traveling and staying the night at a hotel.

Just wanted to let you know that we are all doing great and already having an amazing trip. We hope things are going well and we will send another email in a couple of days.

Adios!

The CEDEFINA team