Mission of Healing 2015

The Misión de Sanación Integral: Norte (Holistic Mission of Healing in the Northern Micro-Region) has concluded.  More than 630 men, women and children received attention, and 66 people volunteered to make the 4-day event happen.  There were a few challenges, as always, but overall the people who came from across the north-central part of the country seemed healthier and more in touch with their local healthcare providers than ever before.

We rented school buses and brought people to Fe y Esperanza - a former refugee camp owned by the Lutheran Church.  Volunteers came from the participating churches, our US companion synod and the Salvadoran healthcare system.  The event was set up as a rotation, and families were invited to pass through different stations during their half-day experience.  Each day brought different communities in the morning and in the afternoon.

Here is a photo diary of this year's Mission of Healing...
The team with the Mission of Healing Banner

Natural Medicine - this year's feature was the aloe plant

Charla about purifying water with UV rays from the sun

The Mesa Final - final table where folks could ask any
questions about medications they received from us
or from their doctors - and heads of households
received family health kits

Children's Area


Dental Charla (Conversation)

The Spiritual Healing Team on Day 1 - Additional pastors rotated
in and out of this team as they accompanied their communities

Local health promoters and nurses and physicians provided
direct care and held educational charlas about HIV, Diabetes
Hypertension and other topics

A little one practices brushing teeth while a member of the
team gives a charla about nutrition and the amount of
sugar and sodium in different beverages

HIV/Aids and Sexually Transmitted illness charla was given to ALL

Plastic dishes!  No disposable items as we work to care
for creation

High school students in their third year of study in
the area of health joined us for one full day - learning
and helping out in all areas

Fun!

Pharmacy

Registration lines as different communities arrive

Waiting for his first reflexology customer
Health checks - photos of exams are not posted for privacy
reasons, but we were blessed to have awesome Salvadoran
physicians with us throughout the week - nurses did triage

Thank you, Unidades de Salud!  We posted photos from
the October visits Deb and Linda did in various health
clinics and folks had fun finding their favorite health
professionals in the photos!
Hurray for artwork!

The adult activity center produced this thank-you banner
which features the names of the participating communities

 The series of stories from the adventures of Deb and Linda in the Salvadoran healthcare system will continue after a few posts from the Mission of Healing, which concluded this week. Photos in this post were taken by Linda Muth and Jen Jerbi.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Plant that Came from Nowhere and Grows Everywhere

Image
I am a plant person - a plant person without a garden or a yard or a farm. We have porches.  Porch Pot (©Linda Muth, 2023) It's pretty amazing to see what will grow on a porch.  I like to experiment with what might be considered garbage from things I get at the grocery store. Most Salvadoran produce is not hybrid, so saved seeds will germinate. Herbs are sold with the roots, so it sometimes works to cut off most of the herbs and stick the roots into a pot. I am currently experimenting with some little chunks of ginger that were no longer edible.  After a couple of weeks in the soil, the roots are sprouting nice little stalks and leaves. Ginger sprouting (©Linda Muth, 2023) Frequent travel makes porch gardening extra challenging. One option is to grow for a while and then give plants away.  One time, I left a bucket of basil, rosemary and other herbs with Pastor Santiago's mom, and it produced abundantly until Santiago cut off too much. (He told me he was grateful for...
Read more

The Morro Tree

Image
Cihuatán is an archeological site which lies just north of Aguilares. Amidst the Mayan ruins, which are definitely worth seeing, you will also find some of the local flora and fauna of the area. This area north of Guazapa has become cattle country, and, according to the locals, some of the wealthy cattle producers have their eye on this property. The security guards and barbed wire fences do a pretty good job of keeping cows off of the site, but nothing can keep the goats from enjoying a good run in the field. The wide variety of bird calls, the tinkling of the goat bells, and the low moos in the distance create a peaceful atmosphere in which to enjoy the ruins and have a relaxing, yet very hot, walk with friends. Surrounding the large hill which was constructed to support the main temple, there is a broad, grassy field, dotted with trees. Pablo, our driver and friend, said that during the war, there was a lot of looting of this site. People drove big trucks in to take the rocks ...
Read more

The Legend of the Priest with no Head

Image
Tales of mysterious encounters with a headless priest in the dark of night are not uncommonly told among the Salvadoran people.  After the time of the Spanish invasion, when conquerors wielding swords or carrying Bibles established their power, there emerged a legend of an imaginary priest who wanders in the streets and pathways as a lost soul. He appears to those who are out walking in the evening. He is searching for his head.  He, or perhaps his head, lets out screams into the night. Those who see him feel cold and are sometimes paralyzed with fear and cannot speak for days. The story of the Priest with no Head is well-known and frequently told in Tonacatepeque.  Some say the ghost of El Padre sin Cabeza (the headless priest) is real. Some say the story was invented by the church in order to scare indigenous people into becoming Christians. Some who study traditional, Salvadoran tales say this legend was created by enemies of the church.   A painting of ...
Read more