by Xochitl Campos
Daily Lobo
A school in the region of San Luis La Herredura, El Salvador, is not the most suitable location for children to learn, student Megan Fitzpatrick said.
"So, we're going to knock it down and rebuild," she said. "The school houses about 500 students. There are two functional classrooms but no functional toilet."
In the spring 2006, Fitzpatrick started the International Medical Delegation, a student group that aims to provide health care services to Third World countries.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Fitzpatrick and 12 members of the group went to San Luis La Herredura in the summer of 2007 to provide health care and education.
The group brought medical care to the community and is now raising money to help rebuild the school.
"We're going to buy the materials," she said. "They're going to provide the labor."
She said that as a pre-med student, she learned a doctor's role is educating patients as much as it is to treat them.
"The idea was to go as kind of strictly service, but it quickly became realized that it was as much education as it was service," she said. "We just learned so much about health issues and how to approach them as a foreigner."
Fitzpatrick said the group members worked with APRODEHNI, a nonprofit organization in El Salvador that promotes human rights and education to connect with the people in San Luis La Herredura.
"The community has about 35,000 people but is lacking in basic health services," said Gil Pintin, executive director of APRODEHNI.
Pintin said five doctors serve the community.
The students have made a positive impact on San Luis La Herredura, he said.
"The community has been directly affected and certainly the young children," he said. "The students developed various ways to benefit at least 1,500 families with free consultations and medication in the community."
Fitzpatrick said the group held fundraisers to pay eight doctors to work in the community for three days.
She said that instead of paying U.S. physicians to serve the community, the group pays doctors in El Salvador to serve the impoverished region.
"The specialists in a lot of the major clinics happen to be in urban centers," she said. "We try to support the El Salvadorian physicians to come down and provide the services that are much needed."
Fitzpatrick said global health is neglected in Third World
countries.
The group educates the people of San Luis La Herredura on art therapy, first aid and CPR so they can help their community, Fitzpatrick said.
"Things like HIV and AIDS are such huge issues around the world, but that doesn't mean that people shouldn't address that, even if they are in small ways," she said. "One of our biggest projects in El Salvador was doing HIV and AIDS education in middle schools and high school there, and I think it is slow, but sure, and education is very
important."
Fitzpatrick said it is difficult to educate people about medical issues because many of them leave school at a young age to help support their families.
"APRODEHNI has a scholarship program where they will fund kids not only to go to school, but they also compensate the family for the lost money they would be getting from that child if they were in the work place or the textile fields," she said.
Student Manuel Hernandez has studied computer science at UNM for the last two years.
Hernandez said he grew up in El Salvador, but he had to leave school because it was too expensive for his family.
"I worked in a sugar cane field for four years until APRODEHNI chose me for a scholarship,"
he said.
Fitzpatrick said the scholarships, like the one Hernandez received, pays for the students schooling, provides them with materials and compensates their families.
Cheo Torres, vice president of Student Affairs, said the group asked his office to support their initiatives last year.
"I am a firm believer in service - community service by students, by everyone - but especially by students at the high school and university level," he said. "That is when they start to appreciate giving back to the community."
Torres said his office donated $2,000 for the students to visit El Salvador. In return, the group gave Torres a report about their accomplishments in the country.
"I'm really proud of this group," Torres said. "They will become better doctors and nurses because they can sympathize with people from other cultures."
Torres said he was impressed by the students' drive to make the trip happen.
"This is a student initiative," he said. "People sometimes don't realize the power of students and the ability of organizing something significant and important in people's lives."
