by Chris Cottle, Community Liaison to Laguna San Ignacio, Baja
August was a month of health, heat, and shade! We tackled the Rural Health Promotion Program despite the worsening heat. No surprise that the most consistent expressed need is for dehydration treatment, and information on how to keep from becoming dehydrated. Thankfully, we finished building a palm-frond porch/shade on my own place that made a great difference in my own personal comfort, and attempt at keeping hydrated.
My girlfriend Diana, a nurse from Australia, arrived fresh off a three month tour of South America and was a great help in gathering information on the health programs in the lagoon, and in beginning to design mini health “courses” that will be given under the direction and organization of the local health coordinators. These courses will include topics such as basic first-aid and CPR, dehydration, poisonous insect and animal bites, exercise, etc.
We traveled to Santa Rosalia to visit the hospital, which is the closest hospital to the lagoon (two hours away), and were able to speak with the director of all the hospitals in the area. He provided great information on the ongoing rural health programs that are in the area, including a number of fully equipped trucks that visit the isolated ranchos about three times a month. These trucks are staffed with a driver/promoter, doctor, nurse, and sometimes a dentist. It would be a great opportunity to go on a ride-along with one of these trucks, and we hope to do so.
We were also able to introduce ourselves to the people at the Cruz Roja Mexicana (Red Cross) in Santa Rosalia. They too offered help, support, and any materials they may have at their disposal. Both the hospital director and the Red Cross were very excited to hear about Philanthropiece’s health efforts here in the lagoon. The lagoon is so isolated that it is very difficult to have consistent health care. In the case of an emergency, one must travel the two hours to Santa Rosalia, or the six hours to La Paz which has a much larger and better equipped hospital. Many people seem to forgo Santa Rosalia and head straight to La Paz for serious medical attention.
The government does provide twenty health consultations a week here in the lagoon, free of cost, at la Casa de Salud. In August, the health team came as scheduled, every Thursday. What the team offers is minimal, yet sufficient. The pharmacy appears to be stocked with enough medicines for the most common ailments: flu, cold, dehydration, parasites, and gastro intestine infection.
A Mexican couple, a paramedic and a nurse from the Mexican Marine’s just moved to the lagoon as well. Through their contacts throughout the country, they are working hard to secure an ambulance for the lagoon. They are also excited to be working with Azalia and Yvon, the health coordinators here, on the mini health courses that will begin in early October.
Despite the relentless heat and sun, we were able to start an informal “Summer Club” that consisted of anywhere from two to eight kids who remained in the lagoon for summer vacation. Bingo was a big hit, despite the kids not knowing what Bingo actually was, only that you get to yell BINGO! when you win. It turns out, they did in fact know what Bingo was, but it is called Lotería and you yell BUENA!. Regardless, the kids loved the hand drawn photos Diana painstakingly drew while battling the scorching heat of Santa Rosalia. The most common question was, “is this the spoon, or is this the spoon?”. We played a lot of baseball. The no-slide rule doesn’t seem to keep anyone from diving face-first into the bases, despite the rocks and sticks we use for bases; nor does the backhoe that has stood between 3rd and home all summer. The Beach Day had the largest turn out. As expected, it was nearly impossible to convince the kids to leave. We finally left with a bag of fresh scallops and handfuls of seashells the kids “found” for us. We learned how important it is to check the shells more thoroughly for living creatures, as the next day we found two hot, shell-less, hermit crabs crawling around the porch…. Don’t worry, we gave them a ride back to the beach.
The most difficult thing these days, is finding ways to explain to the kids, who stop by throughout the day, why we can only go to the beach once a day…. That, and staying sane in the relentless summer heat (and hydrated, of course).
Chris Cottle is the newest member of the Philanthropiece team and has been working as the Community Liaison in Laguna San Ignacio, Baja, Mexico, since June 2011. Chris is looking forward to using his Masters degree in International Development, his extensive background working on development issues, and passion for international development to the communities of La Laguna. He will be focusing in the areas of small business loans, Community Banks, environmental education, rural health promotion, appropriate technologies, and English language lessons, just to start.
Tags: Baja, Laguna San Ignacio, Red Cross, rural health promotion, Santa Rosalia