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By Rita María Roesch
Part 1 Published on February 5,2010
Part 2 Published on Feburary 12,2010
Translated from Spanish
Part 1
Ventana
"Compañero en Salud" offers a new model to save lives through surgery," sang the Clarinero, a known bird in Guatemala
The Fifth Angel
"The story I write today is intended to find the fifth angel," whispered Clarinero. I tell you why. Thousands of Guatemalan families in rural areas suffer health problems. Hernias, tumors, cysts. Women rarely receive gynecological care and children chronically malnourished; suffer from defects such as cleft lip and palate to name a few of the many health conditions. They are low-income families and a surgical operation is beyond their means. Death looms nearby.
It is no secret that our public health system, especially in the rural areas, is inoperative. It really is a disaster. Hospitals lack medicines, surgeries, if any, are not properly equipped. Doctors are hard to find. Are there health centers? In many populations these centers are an ornament.
If you are a 'Chapin' with heart and feel the pain of a fellow Guatemalan, surely you would dare to take his hand to seek help to cure him. Where do you take him? Who pays for the surgery? Who accompanies the patient during his recovery? Who keeps track of his medical history?
The first angel arrived in 1999 to Paquip, a village in the department of Chimaltenango, a 23-year-old Todd Peterson. He was a Peace Corps volunteer. People easily liked him and Todd was accepted as part of the community. Todd discovered the health problems that many people in the village. As he had earned their trust he asked the sickest of them to accompany him to the city of Antigua Guatemala to seek medical help. Todd never imagined the difficulties he would have to overcome so that his friends were served. However, their joint intention opened doors. He managed, against all odds, that his friends were operated, accompanied them during recovery and returned with them to the community already healed. At that time, his service in Guatemala had ended, and Todd had to return to the United States.
Second angel appears. In the U.S, Todd, asked his parents, Frank and Linda Peterson, to continue the work he had begun in Guatemala. The Petersons came to Guatemala with the commitment to grow the spark of love that Todd had left on. Frank is not a doctor. He is a retired engineer with a heart out of this world. Frank visited Guatemala. He learned Spanish and became familiar with our painful shortcomings. As a good engineer he knew that to carry out efficient action was necessary first to imagine a future that works. That's how he dedicated a year (from 2000 to 2001) to develop a successful model, a roadmap, to build his mission of saving lives through surgery in rural areas. He painstakingly supervised each phase from beginning to end of the process to get every part right.
In the U.S., Frank found support from the Rotary Club to purchase medical equipment. He also established excellent contacts with doctors to donate their time and money to visit and organized surgical days in Guatemala. Then Frank founded an organization called "Partner for Surgery (Fellow in Surgery) to consolidate its vision. However, the next link in the chain of solidarity was still missing. He needed a quality place in Guatemala to perform the surgeries.
The third angel appears. Frank starts the Foundation, Partner in Health.
Part 2
Ventana
"Partner in Health is looking for sick people living in remote villages that are cured only by surgery," sang the Clarinero
The Fifth Angel
It appears the third angel. "Energy follows thought," whispered the Clarinero. Frank Peterson dreamed of a "small hospital." Sync or miracle? Frank met Guatemalan eminent surgeon and philanthropist, Dr. Rodolfo Herrera Llerandi who had the same dream and that is why he created the Foundation Fellow in Health. "Dr. Rodolfo Herrera (RIP), founded several medical institutions in Guatemala: Hospital Medical Center, Hospital Herrera Llerandi, Hope University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Francisco Marroquín and the Foundation Chusita Llerandi de Herrera. Frank could not have found a better partner.
In 2004, in San Juan Sacatepequez, the Foundation inaugurated Chusita Herrera Llerandi Health Center Barbara. This clinic, is excellently equipped, it serves the population of the municipality and all surrounding communities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Dr. Herrera had left two empty classrooms at some point to serve as surgical modules. The meeting with Frank launched the equipment of the two modules. The U.S. Rotary Club generously donated over two million dollars in equipment with the latest technology. According to medical operating rooms are a "work of art."
One link in the chain of solidarity remained to be made, for the system that allows hundreds of Guatemalans to transform their life through surgery: was in need of a shelter. Patients traveled from remote villages, and needed a place to sleep, eat and feel safe during the pre-operative stage and during recovery.
Fourth angel appears. Dr. Herrera delegated the management of the Foundation of Partner in Health, his wife, Mrs. Evelyn Gonzalez de Herrera. Mrs. Herrera is a woman, as we say here," de armas tomar", which means that she sticks to her guns against all odds. She made a commitment to fundraise to build the shelter quickly. The United Kingdom Fund and the Foundation Chusita Llerandi supported her. Within a year the San Gabriel Care Center has been built and was operating besides the Health Center. The shelter can accommodate 50 patients with a partner, it includes a kitchen area, dining and laundry.
The Fellow System Health Foundation works well from start to finish. One of the key pieces of the model lies in their cooperative work. "It is the seed sown example Todd Peterson left," whispered the Clarinero. The Foundation recruits and trains men and women that are leaders in their communities (the people trust them and speak the local languages), these leaders look for people who need surgery to heal. These leaders speak with the family, explains the entire process, and then the patients get transferred via bus to the Health Center and return to their homes when they have been operated.
And who is the fifth angel? That is you dear reader. Partners in health can reach more people in need of surgery with your help. During each 'surgery journey' in rural areas, over 60 surgeries are performed. The goal is to perform 24 of these journeys annually. Fifteen hundred children, women and men that are currently ill could be cured and be happier every year. What can we do? Donate basic grains for the San Gabriel Care Center, or if you can make a financial contribution or want to be a volunteer, please call 23 66 18 72.