Jennifer Vazquez Summer Project 2004

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Jennifer Vazquez Summer Project
2004 Proyecto Vamos Adelante Looking
back on my summer, I believe it was one of the
best experiences I have ever had. Throughout my
past experience I have been exposed to poverty
and lack of access to healthcare, among other
things, both here in the US and in Mexico, but
this adventure was like nothing I had ever
experienced before. I went and volunteered at an
organization called Proyecto Vamos Adelante, or
Project Going Forward, based in a town called El
Zapote in Guatemala between the cities of Antigua
and Escuintla. The people in El Zapote and the
eleven other surrounding towns are extremely poor
and try to make their living from the limited
amount of work available harvesting sugar cane
and coffee. This organization does many things
including giving out scholarships to children so
that they can attend school, giving out food to
help fight the battle against malnutrition,
bringing a doctor in from Antigua to see
patients, and has established a system of health
promoters that give health education to the
people of the towns. With my limited
knowledge of medicine, I knew I would not be able
to do very much, but my main goal was to go and
learn and see something new. During my three
week stay, I accompanied three different health
promoters and had an opportunity to see what they
do on a day to day basis. Four days out of the
week, visited families making sure they were
following along with the requirements of the
program which include boiling their drinking
water to avoid infections, keeping their house
clean, and feeding their children the food they
are given. I also helped the health promoters
with the health education sessions they held once
a week. On Wednesdays, I helped the doctor who
came in from Antigua to see patients. Our day
started at 7am and went straight through with
about a 20 minute break to eat lunch until every
single patient had been seen, meaning about 30
patients. The first time I helped the doctor we
were getting a little behind so they had me start
seeing patients. Really all I could do was take
their medical history and take their vitals, but
it was a huge help for them. I got a chance to
see so much. I saw patients suffering from
malnutrition, parasitic infections, I saw a boy
suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a
woman suffering from hyperthyroidism, and so much
more. We were based out of a house and had
limited equipment. We did not have the
facilities to do ultrasounds on pregnant women or
even do a simple blood glucose test, so I learned
how to deal with that and treat patients based on
their clinical symptoms. The entire experience
was just amazing. In my little free
time, I had the chance to do a little bit of
traveling and was able to see the beautiful
countryside and experience Guatemalan culture
through their markets and the distinctive Mayan
attire. This was an experience I will never
forget that has opened my eyes to so much more.
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Little boy needing a wheel chair. Diagnosis has
not been made, but I believe he may have Duchenne
Muscular Dystrophy.
Kids I met while visiting families with the
health promoters.
Giving out food to the kids in one of the towns.
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Working with pediatrician from Antigua during the
programs monthly weight and measure sessions for
the malnourished children. Many of the kids
involved in the project were doing much better,
other still needed a lot of help.
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Baby and her mother during one of the Wednesday
doctor sessions. The baby was slightly
malnourished because the mother had no more
breast milk. The mother was diagnosed with
hyperthyroidism and had already developed a large
goiter.