The Second Mission -- February 2002

The second mission took place in February 2002. In addition to the Brody/Liegner family, 15 other volunteers traveled to Chiapas where they were met by Sister Ernestina and 6 Mexican university students who would serve as translators. Over 1500 patients were treated in Ocotepec as well as in several of the surrounding villages. Additionally, contacts were made with two doctors and their families from Tuxtla Gutierrez.

The Volunteers

(Click for enlarged image)

The group from the U.S. included:

• Dr. Maria Ruiz, a pediatric ER physician from New York
• Dr. Pari Bhayani, a gynecologist from Newton. NJ
• Kate Pilewski, a high school student
• Laura Habel, an RN
• Paul Habel, an RN
• Cindy Seamans, A retired teacher
• Sam Seamans, a retired director of welfare services
• Sarah Puccio, a high school student
• Mary Morgan, an RN
• Eileen Neilan, an RN
• Jake Peters, photographer/volunteer from Massachusetts
• Dr. Catherine Zacal, a dentist from Toronto, Canada
• Judi Gannon, an RN, EMT
• Dan Gannon, cook extraordinaire
• Shari Geuther, an RN

The increased size of the group allowed us to provide more care to more people, but also demanded greater organization and planning. 36 suitcases and boxes of 70 pounds each were transported to Chiapas. These were filled with medicines, supplies, portable examining tables, portable dental chairs, and a pediatric wheelchair for Ernesto, the eight-year-old crippled boy we met on the first trip. In advance of our trip, donated funds were sent to the Sisters to purchase items that would be needed to accommodate such a group (e.g. refrigerator, water filter, bedding, etc.) Also sent was a donation of $1500.00 made by the student council of Kittatinny Regional High School (NJ) to purchase a generator to operate the dental equipment.

Each day, two medical teams spent their day hiking over mountain trails to provide care in the villages to those people unable to make the trek to Ocotepec. In the abandoned school, the other volunteers worked steadily to meet the needs of the masses that appeared each day. Patients were first seen in the triage room and then referred to the gynecology, pediatrics, general medical, or dental rooms for definitive care. A pharmacy was set up in another room and staffed by Kim Brody and Kate Pilewski, our two youngest volunteers.

Volunteers stopped in Campainala to treat the girls at the Salesian home for the sexually abused. We also treated the boys at the Salesian boys’ orphanage in Tuxtla. Drs. Ruiz and Liegner brought Ernesto and his parents to Tuxtla Gutierrez to have x-rays taken so that he could be evaluated in the U.S. In fact, we are currently awaiting a visa for Ernesto so that he can receive surgery at the Shriners’ Hospital in Philadelphia and follow-up therapy at Newton (NJ) Memorial Hospital. Ernesto will stay with the Brody/ Liegner family until he is well enough to return to his family in Ocotepec.

The trip brought together volunteers from different backgrounds and with various skills and expectations. The group functioned well, and it seemed that each person came away from the experience better for having taken part. The Mexican students added so much to the mission with their commitment to serve their poorer countrymen and to improve their English, not to mention their love of life. The family of Dr. Carlos Aquino showed our group the hospitality that Mexicans are famous for. The evening dinner party at their home in Tuxtla was a welcomed change from the difficult time in Ocotepec. The final evening in Tuxtla was spent at a typical Chiapan restaurant where we enjoyed great local food and drink and a surprise visit from a 10-piece Mariachi band.

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