Stephen Miller, MD, January 1995
I arrived in San Salvador on Thursday, September 15, 1994. Friday afternoon Jaime (an MDM volunteer and the boyfriend of Patty, one of the medical students Lanny Smith teaches as a visiting professor), drowned in the Rio Chiquito. That was my introduction to MDM. It was a tragedy for everyone and an experience I will never forget.
Being a new member of the team, only understanding a portion of what was being said at any given time because of my limited Spanish, and not having known Jaime, made me feel pretty uncomfortable at times. But watching the other members of MDM act and interact showed me some of the greater aspects of MDM that I came to fully appreciate in the months that followed.
Perhaps most obvious was the family-like nature of this group. This was
not merely a collection of co-workers, but a group of great friends working together
toward a common goal. The support and consolation given to Patty, Jaime's family, and the
other MDM members was sincere and heart-felt, and the pain was deep and shared. And,
although I saw some of the wonderful characteristics of each individual involved, it was
the group's cohesiveness that was the most striking.
DGH, therefore, is founded on a long history of humanitarian aid. So, why form DGH when all these other groups exist? Part of the reason is that many organizations dedicated to solidarity with Central America, were disappearing. There was a need for a trustworthy way for conscientious persons to continue their support of the struggle for human dignity and social justice in Latin America and to keep chronicling human rights violations.
Finally, it seemed that the subject of Liberation Medicine-which I call the conscious, conscientious use of medicine to promote human dignity and social justice-has the potential to inspire medical students, physicians, lawyers, public health professionals and others in the US. Once inspired, DGH can offer them a clear, concrete and manageable way (community by community) to accompany the many peoples around the world (including the US) who have difficulty making their voices heard-the "voiceless," as Archbishop Romero called them. DGH provides a legal backbone and a supportive community that listens, cares and acts.
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