My first week of working with the MDM mission started off with much activity. My main responsibility during this first week was to help in the clinic [in El Tablón]. My first day in the clinic went very smoothly as we weren't too busy and I was able to just observe. But that changed quickly the following day when I was in the clinic alone with Irma, one of the doctors.

The cost of eyeglasses is prohibitive to the people is this area. The MDM/MDS Optometry Program trains Visual Health Promoters to exam the patients’ eyes for disease, test their acuity and, hopefully, match them to a donated pair of used glasses. (MDS was DGH's partner organization in El Salvador between 1995 and 2004.)

Since there were only two of us I was forced to see patients on my own, which was a little more than challenging when my Spanish was far from fluent and I had difficulties understanding the country colloquialisms, especially when some of the patients did not have teeth to enunciate. Furthermore, after studying Spanish in the quiet town of Xela for seven weeks, I felt out of touch with medicine, particularly outpatient rural medicine. Fortunately, when placed in moments of need and desperation, one usually rises to the occasion, and that's what I did. But, in addition to rising to the role of doctor, Irma and I were also receptionists, pharmacists and janitors, as after a long day of seeing 24 patients we also had to clean up the clinic to prepare it for the next day.

After the excitement of my first week in the clinic and meeting all of the Health Promoters, I finally noticed the natural beauty of El Tablón, especially the scene behind the clinic. I had never dared to think that there could be such a beautiful view of breathtaking rolling hills to look out upon in between seeing patients. My prior reference of the crowded, dirty streets of the Bronx made this clinic setting appear almost surreal.

My second week in El Tablón was more relaxing than the first. There was another week of studies for the Visual Health Promoters, but there were fewer of them and Fatima, the physical therapist, and two optometrists, were responsible for their education. I observed the difficulty of teaching optics to a group of people with minimal formal education. Optics is challenging simply by its nature, but imagine the difficulty of grasping such abstract concepts without a science background or, for that matter, much formal education. But, Fatima and her team are a creative and patient group of teachers and soon these Health Promoters will be performing visual exams and bringing eyeglasses to communities that would have never had a chance for improved vision.

–Julie Taw, MD, December 1996

Contents:
• President's Letter
• In Loving Memory of Dr. Jonathan Mann
• DGH Locally: Talking to Children
• Promoter Profile: Ramiro Cortez-Argueta
• Volunteer Update: Jennifer Kasper
• A Day’s Life... Julie Taw
• Human Rights Around the World
  • Burma
  • East Timor
  • Nicaragua
  • United States
• Creative Fundraising
• A Day’s Life... Matthew Belcher
• DGH Announcements