A Mission with Heart PazSalud in Tamanique, El Salvador February 14-23, 2015

2 © 2011 PeaceHealth We went to the small town of Tamanique, set in the coastal hills of central El Salvador

3 © 2011 PeaceHealth We held our clinics in this spacious building The motto for this vocational education center was perfect for our mission: “With God in our hearts and minds, we serve the people”

4 © 2011 PeaceHealth On Sunday Hernan crammed us all into his Coaster and we set up clinics with our great group of local volunteers

5 © 2011 PeaceHealth Kathy and Darren’s months of preparation were about to pay off.

6 © 2011 PeaceHealth In our beautiful new T-shirts, we were ready to serve!

7 © 2011 PeaceHealth And on Monday our patients were waiting for us.

8 © 2011 PeaceHealth The pharmacy was stocked and ready

9 © 2011 PeaceHealth And our farmacistas offered “service with a smile”

10 © 2011 PeaceHealth Piles of eyeglasses awaited customers

11 © 2011 PeaceHealth Docs and interpreters were ready

12 © 2011 PeaceHealth And we were off and running

13 © 2011 PeaceHealth In General Medicine

© 2013 PeaceHealth 14 Interpreters and providers worked together to make sure communication flowed.

© 2013 PeaceHealth 15 And providers who speak Spanish learned some new idioms from Salvadoran patients.

16 © 2011 PeaceHealth In Pediatrics we saw the most beautiful and most vulnerable patients

17 © 2011 PeaceHealth Including a few with conditions that would have been treated long ago in the U.S.

18 © 2011 PeaceHealth The women’s clinic, a private space created by tarps, was popular once word got out that the doctor was also a woman!

© 2013 PeaceHealth 19 When a patient needed a referral to a specialist or hospital, our local partner, Dr. Fredy, managed the process and will follow up.

20 © 2011 PeaceHealth The eye clinic always draws a big crowd Our optometrists kept a rapid pace, helped by the new autorefractor purchased with donations in memory of Sister Eleanor Gilmore.

21 © 2011 PeaceHealth With an experienced team member running specialized equipment, we were able to pre-test 87 people with cataracts or pterygiums for our May Eye Surgery Mission. Then our friend Rosa, a Salvadoran volunteer who joins us every year, explained the surgery process to each potential patient.

© 2013 PeaceHealth 22 Our Optic Shop volunteers searched for the closest fit for each prescription.

© 2013 PeaceHealth 23 And found a few glasses that were past being recycled.

© 2013 PeaceHealth 24 Three Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and two Associates joined the mission and offered an Ash Wednesday service for the team.

25 © 2011 PeaceHealth Sisters Susan and Amalia were floaters, pitching in where needed

26 © 2011 PeaceHealth Our two physical therapists, though working as photojournalist and interpreter, got to use their skills.

27 © 2011 PeaceHealth Sometimes we offered consolation and counseling

28 © 2011 PeaceHealth And sometimes we made it fun!

29 © 2011 PeaceHealth We ate well

30 © 2011 PeaceHealth And enjoyed the beauty of our evenings at the retreat house.

31 © 2011 PeaceHealth We loved meeting the people of Tamanique

32 © 2011 PeaceHealth hopeful, curious, proud, young and old

33 © 2011 PeaceHealth They honored us with their trust and we honored them with the best care we could give.

34 © 2011 PeaceHealth In our 4 ½ days in Tamanique, we saw 1425 patients in a total of 2071 clinic visits

35 © 2011 PeaceHealth And then we rested...