Members: Villages

The conditions in the villages LMV serves vary greatly and in some places are quite primitive. As a result, clinic teams preparing for a trip benefit from knowing what conditions previous teams found on the ground. This page is intended to serve as a repository for that information, drawn from recent post-trip village and clinic reports. Members can contribute to the currency of this information by filling out and submitting village and clinic reports to LMV after the completion of a trip.

Have you volunteered for LMV on a trip recently, but don't see comments here on the conditions? Help us make this section more useful by providing a description of the conditions you found at the clinic, your accommodations and meals, etc. Thank you!

Mexico

Bahía Asunción, Baja California

2006
This is a small fishing village on the Pacific. Aside from roles in healthcare education, LMV does not need MD's for our clinic trips here because medical needs are met adequately through locally available services. Healthcare needs in other areas are significant. October is height of fishing/lobster season and village is very busy then, so not good time for clinic.

Bahía Tortugas & Isla Natividad, Baja California

August 2006-Tom Palmer
Hotel Name: NANCI Hotel Location: CLEAN & COMFORTABLE. HOT H20

Restaurant Name: MERCEDES Restaurant Location: BEACH

Other Comments: RUSS&ISABEL HARFORD PROVIDED GREAT SUPPORT INCLUDING BREAKFASTS

2006
Aside from roles in healthcare education, LMV does not need MD's for our clinic trips in Bahía Tortugas because medical needs are met adequately through locally available services. Isla Natividad is a very small island with a fishing economy located within sight of Tortugas and Isla Cedros. Because if its small population, the number of patients are limited, and LMV has run half-day clinics here in conjunction with longer clinics in Tortugas or Isla Cedros.

Fronteras & Esqueda, Sonora

2006
This is a small village remote from medical facilities. However, some residents have more resources because many work in a local mine. LMV's services focus on dentistry, followed by optometry and healthcare education. Medical needs are adequately met through locally available services.

Guaymas, Sonora

October 2006-Elizabeth Collins
The clinics in Guaymas are exceptionally well run, coordinated by the Padre and Bill Harrison, with help from Dr. David Walker and Dr. Nava. Women's health and diabetes clinics were held in San Carlos, and patients were organized by the Padre for all clinics. Dr. Walker is extremely helpful and generous with his time and clinic. The clinic had electricity, water, and a dental chair. We left prescription eyeglasses at the clinic near the church. Needs: Medical Doctor, Dentist, Optometrist, Hygienist, other specialists. A health professional report is available from Elizabeth Collins.

2006
Aside from roles in healthcare education, LMV does not need MD's for our clinic trips here because medical needs are met adequately through locally available services. The village has significant dental needs, however, so LMV can bring two DDS's at a time for dental clinics. Guaymas can be reached by commercial air.

Huásabas, Sonora

March 2006-Tom Palmer
We left small compressor and 25 foot extension cord with Martha, stored at her house. Martha and David were very helpful, generous use of clinic and supplies. A representatives of the Bours Foundation showed up with a compressor which we used as a standby unit. Bours rep name Baldemar Barrera cel 044662141093. There is a great need for dental extractions. The clinic also asked for a wheelchair.

During our clinic we saw a patient who need a prothesis. Suggest trip by Arne. Tom Palmer has more information.

2006
Aside from roles in healthcare education, LMV does not need MD's for our clinic trips here because medical needs are met adequately through locally available services.

Nácori Chico, Sonora

2006
The village has requested optometry, chiropractic, and more dentistry clinics, in particular. Aside from roles in healthcare education, LMV does not need MD's for our clinic trips here because medical needs are met adequately through locally available services. However, the pasante (recent medical school graduate in general medicine performing government-mandated service) here was scheduled to leave in August 2006, and we do not have confirmation yet that another was assigned to the village.

San Ignacio, Baja California

October 2006-Tom Palmer

Hotel Name: spring b&b. Hotel Location: by lagoon

Restaurant Name: Rene's Restaurant Location: town

October 2006-Art Schmauder

San Ignacio is historic and quaint.
Hotel Name: Ignacio Springs B&B. Hotel Location: Mile and 1/4 from village center. Restaurant Name: Rene's. Restaurant Location: Block off village center.

Other Comments: The B&B is overpriced.

Clinic Equipment: Electricity, water, compressor, and chair all working. Missing amalgamator.; there is a working autoclave but it is very slow and old. Need new autoclave or have to use cold sterilization.

Equipment/Supplies Left Behind: Dental ed materials, some toothbrushes and some dental floss.

Comments: We provided dental ed both to parents and children. Also handed Spanish language dental ed pamphlets to each parent. Also told each parent how bad sodas and colas are for teeth and health. Also distributed both floss and toothbrush to each child and showed how to use.

Needs: Medical Doctor, Dentist, Optometrist, Hygienist, Health & Dental Educator.

Specific Items for Follow-Up: Coordinate with Ruth Ann Duncan about continued dental ed in village.

2006
San Ignacio is a small but pleasant oasis located on Rt. 1 in Baja California Sur. As a result of its location on the highway and its proximity to prime grey whale-watching territory on Laguna San Ignacio, but far from much else, San Ignacio has a fairly busy tourist season in February and March in particular, with services to match. Nonetheless, the needs of the local population are sufficient to keep it on LMV's core village list; this is the only one that needs regular MD services.

Villa Hidalgo, Sonora

May 2006-Elizabeth Schrick

Village does have a pasante. Name unknown.

Clinic Equipment: water, electricity, sterilization, compressor, all working. Dental chair and amalgamator missing. Specific Problems Encountered: Severe periodontal disease. Dentist needed. Hygienist very much needed. Comments on Cooperation, Clinic Condition/Problems/Needs

The clinic just went through a remodeling and an additional room was added (nice). A compressor is available to run the ADEC Dental Unit, although a more powerful compressor would serve us better. An air conditioner is available in the lobby and fans were made available in both rooms to keep everyone comfortable. Meals and lodging were graciously provided by the Presidente. Queta Greer opened up her two homes (main home and the milpa house) for lodging. Cooperation in this village is EXCELLENT!

Other Medical Comments: Our dental team takes their own ADEC Dental Unit, amalgamator and dental equipment and supplies. It would be nice to be able to provide a dental chair for the clinic. Due to the shortage of children being seen and treated since they attend school on Fridays, Clem Schrick made the following recommendation to Queta Greer: ask the mothers if they have children that need to be seen and then provide the mothers with numbers for those children. This will guarantee a position for that child to be examined and treated.Specific Items for Follow-Up

#1 - A meeting with the presidente and Secretary was held on Friday, May 12, 2006 in which LMV was advised that the village had set aside land by the airstrip to build a 3,600 sq. ft. clinic for our use. This clinic will be built by the village at their own expense. The clinic will have electricity, running water and sewage. The presidente only ask that LMV provide them with a blueprint of how we want the clinic constructed (how many rooms, etc). The land will be owned by the people of the village as this clinic is for their benefit. There will be no expense to LMV. The presidente is to send a proposal to Dr. Clem Schrick regarding this.

#2 - There was a discussion with Queta Greer regarding the possibility of providing dental chairs and equipment for the proposed clinic. Queta will be checking into storage units in Douglas, AZ for possibly storing donated items until the clinic is completed. Villa Hidalgo will be responsible for taking care of the required paperwork and sending a truck up to transport the equipment and supplies down to Villa Hidalgo.

#3 - The above are only proposed works in progress and require no follow-up other than through Dr. Clem Schrick. We will stay in contact and work with Villa Hidalgo regarding the above items.

2006
This small village in the Mexican Sierra Madres is a remote ranching community and thus the residents have great difficulty getting to adequate medical resources. They have a pasante (recent medical school graduate in general medicine performing government-mandated service), but no other care. Their needs are across the board, including experienced general practitioners who can provide increased capacity and experience-based guidance to the pasante. Dentistry is direly needed, such that LMV can take two DDS's for a single clinic at a time. Aside from roles in healthcare education, LMV does not need MD's for our clinic trips here because medical needs are met adequately through locally available services.

Additional LMV (non-core) villages include:

Baviácora, Sonora

March 2006-Tom Palmer

Baviácora is a municipality, similar to Fronteras, consisting of the major town of Baviácora and 6 or 7 smaller pueblas scattered up and down the valley. The furthest puebla is Masocauhi (I think pronounced mah so coochi) about 20 KM south. Total population is about 5000. This is ranch country and there are a number of wealthy families around but also a large number of poor senior citizens and struggling families left behind when husbands sought work elsewhere. A common situation in Sonora. There are several restaurants in town and at least 2 motels. I did not visit either motel.

I visited the clinic, a typical SSA clinic with a pasante and a nurse. My hostess, Ana Ma, mentioned that her husband, the village presidente, is a dentist and had a small office in town but did not practice regularly and that we were welcome to use it for our dental clinic. I also visited that office and found a dental chair, sterilizer and air system that we could use. The xray was inoperative. I assume that we would bring all our own stuff anyway but the chair and air system would be nice. There is very little space for waiting patients, though, so we might have to improvise some adjoining space.

Punta Abreojos & La Bocana, Baja California

2006
This is a small fishing village on the Pacific coast. They have a social security dentist and a general physician, both of whom see a certain subset of patients, but the village has specifically requested that LMV not send DDS's to run clinics here, requesting instead a gynecologist and an internist, plus optometric services. For that same reason, LMV would use MD's only for healthcare education roles. Note that October is height of fishing/lobster season and the village is very busy then, so it is not a good time for clinics. Non-healthcare requests for assistance include children's baseball equipment.

Ensenada, Baja California

2006
In the past LMV has served Canyon Buena Vista south of the city of Ensenada. Residents are very poor; many are refugees from the civil war in southern Mexico. Medical facilities are not very far, but the residents' limited resources prevent their access. Needs are across the board despite the fact that three general medical practitioners are now present in the village; the local doctors have requested LMV's help in the past because they've been so overwhelmed by demand. There is a fully equipped dental clinic in the village. The site is also reachable by automobile from the United States. LMV clinics have also treated a great number of patients from the indigenous tribal area in the mountains above Ensenada. There are a number of other healthcare nonprofits serving the Ensenada area, and that service led LMV to remove Ensenada from our core villages list in 2005. Nonetheless, sufficient need remains that as resources permit, LMV will seek to continue to serve the area.

Isla Cedros, Baja California

October 2006-Dave Fulton
Restaurant Name: El Marina Restaurant. Location: downtown
Other Comments: not cheap, but nice service

October 2006-Tom Palmer
Hotel Name: salt co. quarters. Hotel Location: next to clinic
Restaurant Name: only one in town. Restaurant Location: town

Other Comments: quarters nice- gratis; restaurant adequate but pricey

Dr. Rubio very helpful and gracious in sharing his clinic, produced a new compressor when old one failed. Eduardo helped by producing first compressor and then allowing us to use the air pressure on the decompression chamber when both compressors overheated. This worked fine. Police dept helpful in transportation and arranging fuel. No cooperation or assistance from village. No attempt to notify town we were coming nor to help with patient triage.

The clinic had electricity and water. Relatively little need compared with other villages.

2006
Isla Cedros is an island just north of Baja California Sur, not far off the coast and within sight of some of the other villages LMV serves. Emphasis has been on medical specialists rather than family practitioners. Although the island is very isolated, residents seem to be more affluent, most likely because many work for a large salt shipping company located there. Although at one time Isla Cedros had high enough demand for a two-dentist clinic once or twice a year, LMV removed Isla Cedros from our core villages list in 2006 after it became clear that there was greatly reduced need for dental clinics there in particular, and reduced support from village authorities in general.

Some Mexico clinic teams choose to add an additional day to their trip for R&R. Villages commonly visited include the following:

Mulege

August 2006-Art Schmauder
Village Name: Mulege. Village Comments: Tourist town (cave paintings)
Hotel Name: Serenidad. Hotel Location: Adjacent to runway.
Restaurant Name: El Patron. Restaurant Location: On river opposite lighthouse.
Other Comments: Great fish restaurant.

Punta San Francisquito

August 2006-Tom Palmer
Village Name: PUNTA SAN FRANSQUITO Village Comments: NICE BUT FLIES AND HORNETS
Hotel Name: PALAPA ON BEACH Hotel Location: $20/COT/NITE
Restaurant Name: MESS HALL Restaurant Location: $20 DINNER & BREAKFAST
Other Comments: NO TOWELS

El Salvador

El Paisnal

May, 2005-Barbara Gerletti-Weiss

Father Orlando met us and explained that his new community center, adjacent to the church, was set aside for our use. It was spacious and clean, and the medical team/pharmacy decided it would be perfect for them. The education team found a great location in a room next to the kitchen. There was a set of two rooms that were used by three dentists and Ed, who was doing triage and an occasional difficult extraction. In addition to that dental clinic, we had a mobile dental van and a motor home that was equipped with a dental room and a mammogram machine. The altar of the church was used for the eye clinic, while the pews were used as a waiting room. There was additional waiting space under a large tarp erected between the dental and medical clinics.

Zacatecoluca

2005
This rural area has a school that served as an LMV medical and dental clinic site in 2005; demand was very high.

May, 2005-Barbara Gerletti-Weiss
We learned that this little village had been inundated by the storm and in spite of all that, they had erected shelters for us to work under and had set up chairs for us, as well. The village was abuzz with activity and there were already lots of patients waiting to see us.

We were treated so nicely in all the villages. We were always cordially and formally recognized by speeches in a way that made us feel warmly welcomed, as well as feeling like we were a part of the community. The women in the villages worked very hard to provide us with hearty lunches. Even the poorest village offered us canned fruit nectar and packaged crackers which must have been purchased at quite a cost to them.

La Playa Sunzol

November 2006-Art Schmauder
The clinic in La Playa Zunzol thirty yards from the ocean. It was open air and without working toilet facilities. Food served at the clinic lunches was adequate, typical El Salvadoran

May, 2005-Barbara Gerletti-Weiss
We learned that this little village had been inundated by the storm and in spite of all that, they had erected shelters for us to work under and had set up chairs for us, as well. The village was abuzz with activity and there were already lots of patients waiting to see us.

We were treated so nicely in all the villages. We were always cordially and formally recognized by speeches in a way that made us feel warmly welcomed, as well as feeling like we were a part of the community. The women in the villages worked very hard to provide us with hearty lunches. Even the poorest village offered us canned fruit nectar and packaged crackers which must have been purchased at quite a cost to them.

Izalco

November 2006-Art Schmauder
The clinic in Izalco was held in a doctor's clinic there (not the same place we used three years ago, but rather three doors north) next to the house where eyes set up three years ago. Both eyes and the pharmacy set up in the same house (the one where we were entertained by dancers three years ago). The village of Izalco is a place worth returning to, as is La Casona De Los Vega where we again stayed. Food served at the clinic lunches was adequate, typical El Salvadoran.

Santiago Torres

May, 2005-Barbara Gerletti-Weiss
The village is somewhat remote and took quite a while to get to. We parked the bus and got ready for a short walk. I was amazed to see that all the children from the village had come to greet us. We were carrying bags of shoes and toys and a piñata for a later celebration. They immediately pitched in, helping us carry everything down a path and across a rather precarious looking suspension bridge that was missing several boards.

Los Cobanos

November 2006-Art Schmauder
The beach house made accessible to us in Los Cobanos is owned by a stately woman of German ancestry, Maria Elena, who's family founded coffee and other industries in El Salvador before WW II. Her estate is right on the beach front. She was a truly gracious hostess, provided us with free accommodations, meals and beverages, and worked with us as an interpreter in the clinic we held in the school house in Los Cabanos. Salvador Madione (former soccer player who works in La Pampas Restaurant near the American Embassy in San Salvador) is a very pleasant man who guided us to his home (about three places back from the beach in Los Cobanos). He lives in what used to be the cabana and outside entertainment portion of an estate. It is now separated by a wall and sub-divided from the road front manor house land of which it used to be a part. The minibus parked in the lane outside his place. We stored our clinic supplies at his house (although we could just as well left them in the bus) while we were enjoying Maria Elena's hospitality on the beach front. The clinic at Los Cobanos was held in the school there. It was clean, airy, and adequate for a future clinic. The beach-front site was beautiful. Food served at the clinic lunches was adequate, typical El Salvadoran.

El Espino

November 2006-Art Schmauder
The clinic in El Espino was held in the school there. The physical facility was adequate but required significant cleaning. Baños were available but in great need of cleaning as well. The beach-front site was beautiful. A hotel across from the beach in El Espino was a nice place to stay for trip team members, (although not a good place to eat, according to those who stayed there, because food service was almost non-existent). Food served at the clinic lunches was adequate, typical El Salvadoran.

San Salvador

LMV has held clinics in various outlying areas, including two communities sponsored by the Kiwanis club; the Chattarrera, a large refugee camp on the edge of the city, and La Espina, where mostly displaced coffee plantation workers were in great need of our services.

Guatemala

Quetzaltenango/Xela

August 2006-Barbara Gerletti-Weiss
Upon arrival we were impressed with the work that had been done by the local Lions Club members and the medical students. The room where the clinic was to be held was a large auditorium, complete with a stage, kitchen, upstairs break room, and a separate building that was to be the OB/GYN clinic. The students, at the direction of Dr. Chiqui, had put up partitions along one wall, separating each section with sheets and making each section into a room. Each room had an exam table, a card table, a scale, and at least one chair. It was a wonderful setup.

Adrian Fenderson and Ed Weiss set up their dental equipment on the stage; the other dentists (Fred Hecht, Joe Nelson and Tyler Nelson) set theirs up nearby just below the stage so that all could work in proximity, sharing equipment and supplies, as needed.

The first day brought some technical issues with the compressors that were needed to run the dental equipment, and LMV member Bob Schmidt and Otto (Dr. Chiqui's husband) both ended up with cuts on their hands deep enough to require stitches. The compressors continued to be a problem, but the dental team persevered. The medical team saw mostly rashes, children with distended tummies (indicating malnutrition and/or intestinal parasites), and bug bites.

San Felipe

Volunteered for LMV in San Felipe? Help us make this section more useful by providing a description of the conditions you found at the clinic, your accommodations and meals, etc.

Santa Cruz La Laguna, Lago de Atitlan

August 2006-Barbara Gerletti-Weiss

We stayed at Villa Sumaya. We awoke in the morning to the sounds of soothing music and chanting, all of which was a part of a month-long yoga conference at the villa. Birds could be heard, but few could actually be seen or identified. It was quite pleasant to have breakfast on a patio that was amongst the trees and had a great view of the lake and its three volcanoes. I have to say that we had hoped to get to the clinic by 8 a.m. for our first patients, however we were on Central American time, and breakfast arrived nearer to 8 than to the 7 o'clock time we had requested.Judi, Ruth, and I had our first view of the clinic after traveling the narrow path to the base of the hill and then hiking up the steep hill, accompanied by dogs and children, none of whom were as out of breath as we were after reaching the top.

The village was modest with two small stores that sold mostly sweet and salty snacks, a central communal spot for washing clothing, a library, a school, and an outdoor soccer/basketball court that we had to cross to reach the clinic's front door. The clinic was being painted by a group students from Great Britain who had signed up to travel in Central America doing community projects.

The population of the village appeared to be Mayan, with the women wearing traditional dress that consisted of a black skirt embroidered with their village colors and blouses of brightly colored material, also designating their village. The men of the village seemed to be dressed more in Western style clothing.

In the clinic we needed Ruth's skill to translate Ed's questions and explanations from English to Spanish but frequently we also needed a second translator to translate from Spanish into the local Mayan dialect and then back again. For many of those treated, this was the very first visit to a dentist. We saw a lot of rampant decay in the children which looked to be a direct result of soft drinks and candy and a lack of education about the importance of brushing and flossing.

Honduras

Monjaras, near Choleteca

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United States

Oasis/Thermal

October 2006-David Morgan
Clinic volunteers arrived at the Plaza Inn Motel in Indio, California, by car from home or the airport at Thermal. Some only met us at dinner Friday night at Ciro's for dinner, which was donated by local sponsors, as with much else that's part of the Health Fair. We caravanned to the Oasis school in the morning. We found our work locations and after breakfast there at the school, we went to work. Health Fair sponsors hosted a dinner Saturday night at a top restaurant. Also thanks to fair sponsors, the Plaza Inn Motel only charged us a $20 per night per room fee.

October 2006-Bob Lamkin
Hotel Name: Royal Plaza Inn. Hotel Location: Indio
Restaurant Name: Cactus Jacks. Restaurant Location: At Hotel

2006
Thermal is a small town near Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley of southern California. The Oasis Elementary School in Thermal hosts a large Health Fair twice a year here in which LMV is a major participant. The site is the elementary school itself, with a large tent in the parking lot serving as a registration and triage area. Healthcare volunteers are assigned school rooms for examination rooms and work areas.