A Busy first two weeks

So, let's see, what has happened since my last post.

I've been to the Ministry of Health several times to start coordinating my first few months of clinical work here in El Salvador.  As of now it looks like I will be splitting my time volunteering with different ECOS familiares teams throughout the country.  ECOS is a new community health program in El Salvador in which teams made up of a doctor, two different types of nurses, and a community health worker go out to specific communities lacking in resources to provide primary/preventive health services.  I also hope to spend some of my time with the "Programa de Salud Integral" which is the health care program provided by the Anglican church to most of the communities that they serve in.  After my first three months, the hope is that I will start to spend most of my time in a clinic in "La Primera Via Anglicana" in El Pital (one of the Anglican communities, which does not receive health services from the"Programa de Salud Integral" and is in need of re-structuring).  Look back in my pasts posts to learn more about El Pital.

I have also increased my knowledge of the health care system here in El Salvador through political/cultural language lessons, meetings at the Ministry of Health, a visit to Hospital Rosales (the main public adult hospital), and a visit to Hospital Benjamin Bloom (the main public children's hospital). I've met with several different groups of nurses to learn about the role of a nurse in El Salvador (turns out the top dog nurses do have some prescribing rights but only when it come to preventative medicine- such as contraception; they even put in IUD's).  I also met with a group of nurses (Comite de Enfermería Comunitaria) working to establish a nursing health care model based on Dorothea Orem's self care theory (and I thought nursing theory was just something you learned in grad school- turns out the nurse's in El Salvador are putting it into practice).  When we went to Hospital Rosales we met with some nurses in a Union and some of the facts that they shared with us were very shocking; for instance there is about one nurse for every 33 patients, during an eight hour shift a nurse is not allowed to eat or leave to go to the bathroom and if they do they are punished.  I have to say, I would never be able to work in these type of conditions and I feel lucky to work in a country where I have the right to eat and go to the bathroom while at work.  I could probably right another two pages just about the health care system here in El Salvador but that might get boring (the basics are that public hospitals and clinics are over crowded, people have to wait for days on end to get care, and there is a lack of medicine but the new government is trying to work towards positive change).

I've traveled a fair amount.  I've been to the beach both Saturdays and I am slowly learning how to surf.  Last weekend I also went to El Pital with Casey (a Cristosal employee).  We met up with Irma (the priest that works in El Pital) and then made our way to the community house that was re-modeled by  JUL (look back in my past posts to learn more about this group- but in short they are a young women's group working against violence and towards positive change in El Pital) to watch a talent show.  The talent show was great and it was really nice getting a chance to see some of the members of the community again; the last time I was in El Pital was a month ago with the YLA.  It was kind of funny, when they introduced me, they said Reverenda Erika (apparently they were confusing me with Kit, the priest that also accompanied the YLA group one month ago).  Saturday night we stayed at Irma's house and then Sunday we went to two church services, one at San Mateo and the other at El Pital.  Then we took the bus back to El Salvador; I had some delicious Taiwanese food for dinner (who would have guessed) and stopped by a birthday party with a group of gringos and Salvadorans that are quickly starting to become one of my circle of friends here.

Over these last two weeks, I have also been taking spanish classes in the morning at CIS (http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/), which has been a really great opportunity to improve my Spanish, get to know more about the cultural and political situation in El Salvador, and get to know some new people.   I would suggest checking out there website, they're a pretty cool organization.  One subject that we talked about a lot this week was the presence of gangs in El Salvador, which is just supper complicated and the problem is every where.  At this point I'm not really sure how to explain my perception of the gang situation but I do want to share some movie titles if anyone if interested in learning more about this subject: "La Vida Loca", "La Mara", "Los Hijos de la Guerra", "Sin Nombre" (I think these are all in Spanish but probably have English subtitles).  I would also recommend watching "Voces Inocentes", which takes place during the civil war.

Speaking of websites, you should also check out Cristosal's website (http://cristosal.org/), since they're a pretty sweet organization as well and I'm technically a volunteer under  the Anglican church and Cristosal.

Hmmm, I think that's all I have to say for now.  Oh, last thing, I've been adding pictures to my picasa account, so you should follow the link and check them out.