Comunidad’s First Health Fair Serves Over 150
No Comments →The dilapidated basketball court was transformed by folding tables and colorful banners into six medical stations, as volunteers took blood pressures, tested for diabetes, dispensed vitamins, discussed women’s health issues and modeled proper dental hygiene. A few yards away, part of the 3-room schoolhouse had been converted into a dental clinic, with the line for treatment at the three bays spilling out onto the sidewalk. Next door, a room full of Nativo women—many of whom will not consult a male physician because of modesty—heard a lecture from Elizabeth Roman on contraception. The first annual Comunidad Health Fair had come to Santa Catarina.
Over the weekend of October 8-10 a group of 24 Comunidad volunteers flew or drove to Baja California, set up a fair with six medical stations, and educated or treated over 150 members of the local tribes, including Santa Catarina, Kiliwa, Cucapah, San Jose de la Zorra, San Antonio Necua and Pena Blanca. There were even some fun activities such as a giant pinata for the kids, hot lunch prepared by the women of Santa Catarina, and a raffle of food baskets to those with ‘passaportes’ attesting that they had visited every medical station.
The health fair served over 150 Nativos, while the dental clinic treated over 20 patients, as did the medical clinic, while over 50 patients received fluoride treatments. Bill Rush and Pam Pearson met with Santa Catarina elders to review progress of the water system that Comunidad is sponsoring, as well as plans for the clinic that will begin construction in the next quarter.
The trip concluded with a meeting between Comunidad and the members of the Tribal Council. Tom Hogan and Diane Manning presented Comunidad’s charter and activities to date, then listened to the tribes’ hierarchy of needs, both medical and educational. The session closed with the delivery of the latest donated van to the people of Cucapah, who will turn it into a school bus.
Both the tribal leaders and the Comunidad team view the weekend as a tremendous success. The tribal women, in particular, had high praise for both the fair and the seminar, asking us to return soon. And while everyone worked hard to pull it off, special recognition goes to Dr. Meg MacDonald for structuring the event and Diane Manning for serving as logistics coordinator.