Diary

Friday, August 17 Guatemala and travel to Quetzaltenango
Saturday, August 18 Quetzaltenango
Sunday, August 19 Guatemala
Monday, August 20 El Salvador
Tuesday/Wednesday August 21/22 El Salvador/Guatemala
Central America 2001 Home
LifeNets Home

Pictures

Set 1 Guatemala and travel to Quetzaltenango
Set 2 Quetzaltenango on Saturday, August 18
Set 3 Guatemala City August 18-19
Set 4 Guatemala City August 19
Set 5 Guatemala City August 19
Set 6 Guatemala City -- at Senor/Senora Perez's
Set 7 We enter El Salvador August 20
Set 8 El Salvador Dental Office
Set 9 Social get-together at Cisneros in San Salvador
Set 10 Earthquake damage at Las Colinas August 21
Set 11 Goodbye to El Salvador and back to Guatemala

At breakfast we had another very interesting and absorbing conversation about life in Central America. Saul Langarica's wife Carmen is a medical doctor and describes many situations from that standpoint. The new pastor in Guatemala, Luis Mundo, is also a medical doctor. In fact, there are six medical doctors in the Guatemala churches. Carmen recounted emotionally a new person who came to church and whose baby was dying. Luis Mundo went over after services to see the child, but it had died….had died of malnutrition.

We are taken aback some that the people here do not ask for help. They are not accustomed to doing that. By investigating conditions in Central America ourselves we are able to find out more completely what is needed and start the process of helping truly needy people. Saul and I agreed that providing basic shelter through completing the concrete floors and leaking roofs and helping some overcrowding and substandard shelter was the first priority.

We drop in elevation from mile high Guatemala City to the Pacific coast. The border crossing took nearly 45 minutes. It's like any other border crossing with trucks and cars lined up crossing slowly one by one. We come to the home of long-time pastor Herbert Cisneros and his wife Conchita. They have four children: Jadiel who still lives at home and three married children - Natalia, Patricia and the eldest Walter. Walter works for the president of El Salvador. Another member Roberto Parado works for Walter in the same department.

The devastating earthquakes and the damage they caused are the focus of our assistance in El Salvador. The most intense damage done was on the volcano overlooking the capital San Salvador. Eighteen members of the United Church of God live there. Four homes were destroyed and two damaged. They are now being rebuilt and repaired. Elder Jaime Ortiz is overseeing the project. Construction can only take place during this rainy season that comes to an end in November because this is the only way they can get water for mixing mortar. Also, the rain brings down the volcanic ash that is mixed into the mortar as sand and this speeds up the construction. The road to this volcano settlement ends about one mile before the first destroyed home and it's two and a half miles to the furthest one. Materials were delivered to the end of the road and then carried to the construction sites. While we wanted to go to the volcano, Herbert Cisneros advised against it because the government has no law enforcement up there. In fact, the people living on the volcano are called the "forgotten ones." Tourists going up there have been robbed. A delegation of Japanese returned down the mountain in their underwear. Everything was taken! Also, there are marauding bands that come down from the volcano to steal in the city. Recently a band of 18 people from there volcano were captured in San Salvador. Fifteen people come down from the volcano to weekly church services in San Salvador.

Donated Dental Office is in Operation in El Salvador

Submitted by Roberto and Barbara de Parada

The LifeNets container shipped to Central America in February 2001 contained a complete dental office. The equipment and supplies were donated by a dentist and everything was in working order and in great shape. A dental clinic was set up on May 16 in San Salvador, El Salvador, in the home of Herbert D. Parada. Herbert, age 23, is finishing his fifth year of dental school. He and a sixth year student, Veronica Ruiz, offer low cost or free dental service to members of their church as well as professional service to members of their community. Herbert and Veronica intend to move the office to a commercial district and open a practice after they complete their six months of thesis preparation and one year of mandatory free community service for their government. Veronica will finish in the next year. Herbert and Veronica are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to have this equipment in their possession. No other students in their university have an operating clinic of their own, and such equipment would cost more than $40,000 if they were to purchase it where they live, a price impossible for students to afford. Herbert is the top student in his university program, and his fellow students often visit the clinic to learn from him and practice using the equipment. His example of working at low cost to the poor in his country is an excellent example to his fellow students. Several of the students have the opportunity to use their skills to help orphans at a Seventh Day Adventist orphanage in the town of Opico. Raul Ramirez, a third year student, benefits from the use of this clinic as well, and will eventually join the practice. To date, ten members of their church have received dental care, some during multiple visits. Herbert, Veronica, Raul, and the members of their church wish to thank LifeNets for their incredible donation.

In the city proper of San Salvador one home is being rebuilt, the Cubillas residence and one home was damaged.

We did go out to the Luis and Rosita Cubillas family to see the reconstruction of their home. There were three earthquakes in El Salvador. The first was a 7.9 on the Richter Scale on January 13, 2001. The second was a 7.9 on February 13th and the third was a 7.1 on February 17th. In between there were more than 7000 aftershocks. Luis and his son are doing the work. Because of the severe shortage of building materials, only now can get the materials necessary to put up the concrete block walls for their new home.

Then we went to Jose and Maria Teresa de Parada Polio home where the dental equipment shipped on the container earlier in the year is up and running. It was impressive to see what was a functioning two chair dental office in Central Pennsylvania now being used in El Salvador.

The Parada's have two other children Carlos Eduardo and Kara. Plans are to move the dental office to a more proper office location in San Salvador. They commented that it takes five years for a graduate from dental school to acquire such equipment. A special thanks to LifeNets Board member Suzan Johns from Lititz, Pennsylvania who was able to arrange for this donation and shipping to the container in Houston.

At the Parada home we met another son Roberto and soon-to-be-wife Barbara Nickels. Both of them were instrumental in helping our LifeNets container get cleared and distributed.

They discussed the upcoming Fall Festival in El Salvador. The first days will be at a resort on the Pacific Ocean and then the venue will move to San Salvador.

In the evening we went over to the Cisneros home for a social evening with the elders and members. There we met elders Mauricio and Scarlet Pinto and Jaime and Flor Ruiz. Pintos daughter Alida was also there. She is studying architecture at the University. We also became acquainted with Jose Antonia Orellana and wife Sylva.

Conchita served a dinner of pupusas, a kind of pocket-like tortilla stuffed with meat.

We looked at some newspaper clippings of the horrible January 13th earthquake. Tomorrow we go to see the ruins....