This past summer Ryan Thomas had the privilege of being one of the
GROW interns at our partner Clinica Ana Manganaro (CAM). Here, he
reflects on his experiences working in Guarjila, El Salvador.
WHAT IS GROW?
This Summer, over 60 students from 26 different GlobeMed chapters
sent members abroad to work on-site alongside their grassroots partners for 3 -
8 weeks at a time. GROW (Grassroots On-site Work) Internships are a crucial
component of the GlobeMed model, with a purpose to strengthen the relationship
between the chapter and partner organization through a transformative learning
experience that makes a positive impact on the partner's community. After
collaborating with their partner organizations on public health projects and
planning the year of partnership ahead, students return to their chapters and
campuses as improved advocates for their partners' work, equipped with the
tools and passion to better leverage university resources for those denied
access to clean water, proper nutrition, education and access to quality
healthcare.
Reflect on the most meaningful experiences or stories from your
time with your partner organization. What personal impact did it have on you?
Not more than 20 years ago, the people of El Salvador had to live
through one of the most violent, longstanding wars in history. The battle raged
in both neighborhoods and cities, and whole households and family members were
lost; the people lived through a nightmare. Boys were taken to be child
soldiers on both sides of the conflict by the time they turned twelve. Families
were destroyed as homes and villages throughout the country were wiped out. The
people who remained sought shelter in Honduras, but conditions were just as
horrific, as massacres and abuse followed the people into the refugee camps.
When the war was over, those family members that were left were reunited, but
what they returned to in El Salvador was disaster.
But Salvadorans are resilient. Even in the most terrible
circumstances, individuals have the ability to act to make a change. For the
people of Guarjila, this change came through the work of physician Ana
Manganaro and Padre Jon Cortina, two individuals who took it upon themselves to
build a clinic, empower a workforce, and serve a crippled nation.
While the history itself is inspirational, the kindness and spirit
of the people is what moved me most. Guarjila is a selfless community with a
people that embraced our presence with open arms. We walked the streets safely,
striking conversations with anyone who crossed our paths, celebrating their culture,
and most importantly understanding the resilience of the human condition. We
often questioned what we had individually done to deserve such unparalleled
treatment. We could have come as strange students from the states and left the
same way. However, the people allowed us in and we became a part of their
community; we didn't want to leave.
How has your understanding of global health been strengthened by
the trip?
I now realize that as much as I had worked with GlobeMed for
the year since it was founded, I really didn't have a clear understanding of
what global health truly was. Sure the idea of having access to adequate health
care is primary when understanding global health, but what it really means is
something much more intimate and personal. When I became a part of GlobeMed, I would always describe it to
others as a network of universities and students working under the supervision
of a national office to raise funds for the movement for global health equity.
A generic answer, I know, and I thought it covered all the bases. What it
lacks, however, is the fact that we are working with not for our partners, who
took on the responsibility of promoting health equity long before we did.
That could only be apparent to me once I actually walked
through the gate outside the clinic and saw the multitude of patients seeking
medical aid from a group of selfless nurses, health promoters, chemists, and
doctors, who as I saw it, embodied global health in a way I could never
imagine. There is an archive full of patient files and family pedigrees,
identifying all details from the extent of education of each family member to
any history of mental illness or incapacity. This is adjacent to a lab that
works with no A/C and very little ventilation to analyze blood, urine, and
stool samples of patients, opening the door to diagnosing why the patients are
there in the first place. Consultation rooms are occupied by doctors who make a
3 hour commute every weekend from a remarkably different life in a city where
latrines are unheard of. They work for salaries that often don't seem to
justify the years of schooling and work they have to go through. Working right
alongside the doctors are the nurses, most of whom are residents of Guarjila;
they have been at the clinic the longest and had to learn how to be health care
providers in the middle of a violent civil war, taking on positions as surgeons
and pharmacists at different points in their lives. In spite of it all, the
clinic staff is like one big family, celebrating holidays and birthdays with
cakes, drinks, and dancing with the expertise to mobilize together to face
whatever problems threatened the community. Global health is Clinica Ana
Manganaro and its staff who have vowed to preserve life by providing health.
