Building Relationships for Better Lives


La Clinica Hilda Alas de AMUDESCO

By Lisa Johnson and Ruth Cruddas, St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Santa Cruz, CA

On our 2005 trip to El Salvador, we discovered that Santa Cruz al Salvador is the sole financial supporter of the clinic and the women's group, AMUDESCO, that serve our sister communities, the largest of which is Guillermo Ungo.  It is a small clinic with one doctor who works three days a week (for $20/day) and two active health promoters ( for $8/day) who are sort of like medical assistants and provide basic preventative healthcare when the doctor is not at the clinic.  The women who are not Health Promoters are active in the areas of mental health and education about family violence.

The new president of AMUDESCO, Gloria Esperanza Miranda, has been a positive influence in the clinic.  Under her leadership, the women are becoming better at planning, organizing and keeping medical records of patients who come to the clinic. Gloria works closely with IMU, the non-government organization who provides guidance on how to run the clinic. 

In an eight month period (96 days), the doctor saw and treated 732 patients.  The top 10 causes for consultation and treatment are:
  1. Respiratory
  2. Diarrhea (parasites, GI)
  3. Family Planning
  4. Skin disorders
  5. Trauma
  6. Urinary Tract Infections
  7. Mouth Infections
  8. IBS
  9. Childhood Malnutrition
  10. Migraines, depression and problems with the nervous system
We're searching for a more permanent way to fund the clinic, because we have seen how very important it is to these people.   The rural communities served by the clinic are an hour bus ride away from San Salvador, and a 20 minute bus ride to the nearest town of Suchitoto, which has a very tiny hospital.  It should be noted that to get to the bus stop from the community, it is a mile walk over dirt roads.

When we met with IMU we asked what was the appropriate salary for a medical doctor and were told that $500/month would be adequate.  This would include house visits throughout the community.  We have discovered in our partnership over the years that keeping a doctor  in the clinic for 2-3 days a week has been problematic due to the lack of funding.  

Dr. Morena Guadalupe Velasquez has been with the clinic now for three years and is very committed to staying, but $20/day is not enough for the doctor to survive.  She also works part-time at the Social Security Hospital to supplement her income and her sister, who lives in the U.S. bought her a vehicle and sends her remittances regularly.  

Normally there are five health promoters, one for each day of the week.  Currently there are only three, two of whom continue to give their time without pay.  One health promoter, Santos Victoria, had to seek a house cleaning job outside the community.  Pedrina Rivera works one day a week  and Gloria Esperanza Miranda fills in the other days.

For the last three years, delegation member Lisa Johnson has had fabulous support from her workplace, MSR4 Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital in Salinas.  The unit has chosen to keep the AMUDESCO women and the clinic as their Christmas Project and have raised $500 annually in support of the clinic.  This years donors to the clinic are:  Laurence Perras, Mike Hutchinson, AJ Barel, Maribel Gomez, Mariela Sheppy, Jocelyn, Amelia Martinez, Rebeccas Pullen, Pam Pipitone, Maria Miguel, Joann B., and a special thank you to Neena Moriyama for her contribution to school scholarships.

P.S.  Thank you, Dr. John Rinderknecht for contributing the nebulizer last year.

Added by Kent September 6, 2007 (7:08AM)

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