The Health Center of La Sagrada Familia Parish in Sabana Yegua (Azua, Dominican Republic) expands its services with a renovated dental clinic, inaugurated in September
The Health Center “La Sagrada Familia” (Holy Family), belonging to the Parish that bears the same name, has been running for thirty years and serving the health needs of the most vulnerable population in the area of Sabana Yegua, in the province of Azua. In 2017 we remodeled the center’s laboratory. Recently, at the end of September, a new dental clinic that operates within the Health Center was inaugurated and blessed.
This renovation has been carried out thanks to Compassionate Dental Care International, and will allow us to provide a better service, complying with the requirements of the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Tom Volm and his team, from Holy Apostles parish in New Berlin, Wisconsin (USA), had the honor of opening the dental clinic’s services. This group arrived in Sabana Yegua for the third year to collaborate in medical and dental campaigns and to strengthen the relationship between both parishes. On this occasion, their visit focused especially on the Haitian immigrants in the area, who due to their socio-economic situation have difficulty accessing health centers. Fifty-six people in need of dental care were attended. More than 140 people with various health issues were also treated. The medical and dental campaign was a success, and personnel from the United States, the Dominican Republic and Haiti were able to work shoulder to shoulder, a true sign of integration.
The inauguration and blessing of the dental office has been an occasion to thank God for this new opportunity we now have to offer an accessible and quality service to the entire population of our parish.
On World Health Day, which was celebrated November 19, the United Nations reminded us that today in the world there are 2,400 million people without access to sanitation, and almost a billion people who take care of their physiological needs in the outdoors.
Since the beginning of the presence of the Community of St. Paul in the Dominican Republic, 14 years ago, we have been involved, from La Sagrada Familia parish, in building latrines for the most disadvantaged families of the region. In spite of the remarkable progress that has taken place, today almost 1,000 families in the parish territory that we serve still have no toilets.
La Sagrada Familia parish and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee have had a partnership for the past 35 years. Last January, we celebrated this 35th anniversary with a visit from the Archbishop of Milwaukee and a group of catholic faithful, who made a pilgrimage to the Dominican Republic. Upon seeing the need for dignified toilets for families, the Archbishop dedicated his Lenten campaign to this cause. Friends and acquaintances generously responded to his call, raising enough money to build 200 latrines.
We are very grateful for this collaboration, and would like to take this opportunity to share a short video, in which the priests currently in charge of La Sagrada Familia explain the process of building one such latrine.
From the 12th to the 19th of October, a group of ten people from Holy Apostles parish of New Berlin, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, visited the La Sagrada Familia parish of Sabana Yegua. Since 2013, Holy Apostles has a twinning relationship with La Sagrada Familia, which over the years has bear much fruit. In the last two years, the most significant result of this relationship between sister-churches has been the medical campaigns carried in Sabana Yegua by members of Holy Apostles, to provide specific attention to the significant population of Haitian immigrants in the parish.
This last time we had the participation of a general practitioner, a pediatrician and a dentist, who served 273 people during the three days of the clinic. One hundred and forty-one patients received general medical care for a wide variety of diseases, especially infections caused by the use of unsafe water and stress-related illnesses. Stress-related disorders are very common in the Haitian community: food insecurity, economic insecurity, housing and immigration status in the new country expose people to much tension, which is reflected in continuous headaches, backaches and stomach ailments.
Fifty-two people received dental services, such as check-ups and minor surgeries of extraction of teeth. Eighty children from the child care program carried out by the Community of Saint Paul were also reviewed and attended. Many were given preventive general and oral health treatments.
We are grateful for the enthusiasm of our friends from Holy Apostles, for their readiness to share their time and medical knowledge with us, and for wanting to contribute a bit to the task of welcoming Haitian immigrants in Sabana Yegua.
The Community of St. Paul continues to develop an environmental health program in the Dominican Republic
“They used to say that the witches ate up the children, but what killed them was in fact diarrhea”. The Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana has built more than 18,000 toilets in 25 years. As part of this same effort, the Community of St. Paul, from La Sagrada Familia parish in Sabana Yegua, has built more than 2,000 toilets in the last 14 years.
A few days ago, the executive director of FUNDASEP (the foundation of the Diocese of San Juan for human development) told us, with great enthusiasm, of the great impact over the years of the uninterrupted construction of sanitary outhouses with dry wells and toilets. Msgr. José Grullón, Bishop of San Juan, insists that they no longer be called latrines, but rather “lavatories”, because with the toilets placed in them now, they gain more dignity. Also, he insists —despite people asking once in a while why the Church concerns itself with such material matters— that the work of the Church and of all Christians it is to be concerned with the whole person.
Indeed, what is more important than the life of a child? And so many children were dying from diarrhea as a result of gastrointestinal illnesses caused by parasites, bacteria and bad drainage. It is no secret that when people take care of their needs in open fields, diseases spread easily. No, it was not the witches or a bad spirit or a curse that ate the children. What “ate them up” and literally killed them were the recurring gastrointestinal infections.
In the last decades, the situation has drastically changed. We could say that our environmental health program has indeed “killed the witches”. We thank many people and institutions for the support we have received for the construction of toilets and promotion of hand washing. Although a great number of families already have their bathroom inside and thousands have toilets or improved outhouses, still 15% of the homes in the region where we work have no bathroom. We are decided to continue with this program until there remains no family without a toilet.
The Community of Saint Paul welcomes the ophthalmological campaign of professional volunteers of Wisconsin in the parish La Sagrada Familia (Dominican Republic)
From the 7th to the 15th of January, La Sagrada Familia parish hosted a group of ophthalmologists from Wisconsin (USA), who has been visiting and performing medical operations here for twelve years: twelve years of commitment and dedication to the well-being of the inhabitants of the region, through the improvement of their health. On this occasion, 26 people from Wisconsin traveled to the Dominican Republic to perform vision checks and surgeries, which are the two central components of the campaign.
For four days they checked 850 people, and prescribed 204 glasses. They also reviewed the view of 300 children from the José Francisco Bobadilla primary school in Sabana Yegua.
On the other hand, the surgical operation was carried out —as in previous years— in the public hospital of Azua (located eleven kilometers away from the parish), with the help of local medical personnel. A total of 92 cataract surgeries and 32 pterigium surgeries were performed for a total of 124 patients, making this 2017 campaign the one in which most surgeries were performed.
A secondary component of the campaign is that the volunteers involved commit annually to raising funds for the construction of a home for a needy family in the parish. This time the beneficiary family has nine children and they live in very precarious conditions.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to the volunteers from Wisconsin as well as the volunteers from the parish who helped this Campaign become a reality. With more than 1,000 people attended and 124 surgeries performed, we can say, without a doubt, that it was a big success. Thank you!
Renovations at the parish’s Health Center in Sabana Yegua
The Health Center run by La Sagrada Familia parish opened its doors more than 30 years ago. Since then, it has offered health services to thousands of sick people from Sabana Yegua and the entire parish area.
With the passing of the years the center, which originally was just a pharmacy, has gradually expanded its services. Currently there is a general physician, a dentist, a gynecologist, a pediatrician and a nutritionist, in addition to the laboratory and the pharmacy.
This year, thanks to a generous donation from the people of Saint Patrick’s parish in Racine, Wisconsin, the facilities of the Health Center have been completely renovated and extended. The “new” center meets the demands of the people and the need for a high quality service in this town of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Patients do not have to go to Azua (10 miles away) for a blood work or other lab tests; why should they? Next door they have a modern, well equipped laboratory!
After 30 years, La Sagrada Familia Parish, run by members of the Community of St. Paul since 2003, continues to support health awareness and health care in this vulnerable area, in the Southwest of the Dominican Republic.
In the rural villages of the Dugda District (Ethiopia) there are no health services. The sick must travel in a cart pulled by mules or horses to Meki, the capital of the district, located 15 miles away. Now, however, in the towns of Grissa y Meja Lalu, the 451 children of the “Mary Catholic School” and the “School of the Holy Spirit” can count on primary care and health education.
Indeed, in these two schools a classroom has been renovated by the Community of Saint Paul in order to conduct medical exams, monitor nutritional status and deworm all of the children twice per year, as well as treat them when they are sick. Furthermore, health education classes have been initiated as part of the academic load of the children. These classes are intended to teach the children about healthy habits available to them so that they will become sick less often. Educating children about basic hygiene and sanitation can significantly reduce water borne illnesses as well as malnutrition.
At the end of January, the Dominican authorities confirmed the first ten cases of zika virus in the country. As it has been reported in the media, the disease, transmitted by the mosquito Aedes Aegypti, which also transmits dengue and chikungunya, is spreading in Latin America and the Caribbean.
There has been a lot of alarm about the disease, which provokes fever, rash, joint pain and symptoms which are similar to those caused by chikungunya. The most serious threat is the reported microcephaly in children in Brazil.
The Health Ministry has started an awareness and preventive campaign through talks, cleaning garbage, and advising pregnant women about the risks of this virus.
In the province of Azua, where our parish is located, there have been no cases reported so far. However, we are starting talks about zika. For us it is a good opportunity to insist on sanitation in the villages and houses, thus creating a culture of cleanliness. It will serve not only the zika prevention but also to avert future cases of dengue, chinkungunya, and so many gastrointestinal and skin diseases that normally affect the population.
It will also serve to educate young women about the risks of unwanted pregnancies. Azua is one of the provinces in the country with a higher number of pregnancies among teenagers. Awareness about the zika virus can help an always necessary awareness about pregnancy at a young age.
To sum up, we want to turn the zika threat and its extensive impact on the media, into an opportunity to keep talking and working for a better health of those we serve in Azua.
Last July, we reached out to find good hearted people to help save the life of Altagracia Pujols, a 27 year old young woman from the Dominican Republic who required an urgent cardiac surgery. We needed economic support to pay for her operation. The generosity of many friends of the Community of Saint Paul was well demonstrated again. We received the funds that she lacked for the procedure. The response was so overwhelming that the expenses of Altagracia's surgery were completely paid, with some money left over to for general use in our health center in Sabana Yegua.
There was a long waiting period, since Altagracia was underweight and had an infection that delayed the date for surgery. In addition, we had to find twelve blood donors. To those blood donors we want to express our sincere gratitude. Finally, on October 6, she had the operation in CECANOT, in Santo Domingo. The surgery was a wonderful success, and after some days of recuperation in intensive care and a hospital room, Altagracia was again in her home... happy with a healthy heart.
On behalf of Altagracia, her family and our team in the Dominican Republic, we thank you all... from the bottom of our hearts!
25/05/2015 -
Rapid Expansion marks the Student Health Program in Ethiopia
Only in its second year, the Community of St. Paul's Student Health Program in Meki (in the Southeast of Ethiopia) has grown to serve 2,640 students. In addition to continuing the program in the Catholic School of Meki, work is now performed in the Kidane Mihret Nursery also in Meki and in St. Gabriel School of the neighboring town of Gabra Fila.
Each school has a nurse who performs medical exams and deals with these children and teenagers of all grades. In addition, for the 4th through 8th grades, 640 students have a class called Health Education, where they learn basic concepts about hygiene and health. The purpose is to teach them that they, themselves, must put into practice healthy habits and thereby exercise greater control over the conditions that threaten their well-being. Each week, these children and youth learn how to care for their health and prevent illnesses.
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