Author: David

After a long hiatus due to Covid and other issues beyond our control, Mission of Miracles will once again be traveling to El Salvador for another mission.  The dates are set for January 20^th to 28^th 2024.

This year’s mission will be in memory of three fellow committee members and longtime friends. In 2022, we said goodbye to both Jim O’Neill and Debbie Donigan and in 2023 we said goodbye to Maria Dawson. All three were active with the mission for several years in both the preparation leading up to the mission and traveling to El Salvador to help make each mission a success.  Jim was our photographer and was always there when a helping hand was needed. Debbie was our pharmacist which in itself is a full-time job. Maria was a translator for the team for years as well as a translator for pastoral care. The mission will miss their dedication, compassion, hard work, and their smiles. Most of all we will miss our friends.

More details to follow as the plans for the Mission are updated.

So much has happened in the world since the 2020 Mission of Miracles campaign was completed and we apologize for the lateness of this posting. With all the sadness the world is facing today, we are happy to report that this year’s mission was another success story. From the time the early team arrived in San Salvador on January 29th to the time the entire team left on February 9th everything went as anticipated. It’s almost like we have done this before.
As with any organization, the success of the Mission can be attributed to several groups of people. First is the generosity and support of the people who donate to the Mission as well as the parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of CNY. Without all the support the Mission would not be able to help the people of El Salvador. Next is the dedicated and focused planning committee who work through out the year to make the Mission a success. Finally, are the providers, nurses, support workers, interpreters, cooks and drivers that make up the team. This group of hard-working people are the key to the success of each Mission and this year’s group was no exception. The days are long and hard but every day these people were there to make things happen. It is a blessing to have them be part of the Mission.
The Mission again set up it’s clinics in five rural villages in El Salvador; Izalco, Salinas, El Maizal, El Congo, and Las Bromas. In each village we set up a medical team, dental team, vision team, nutrition team, and pastoral care. EGK’s were also done. Below are the totals for each team as well as the top diagnosis for each.

Medical Total: 473
Hypertension 142
Headaches/Migraines 113
Muscle Aches 75
Allergies/rhinitis 71
Diabetes 71

Dental Total: 151
Cleaning 103
Extraction 38
Filling 31
Restoration 30

Vision Totals: 319
Artificial tears 183
Dry eyes 153
Glasses 89
Pterygium 50

Nutrition Totals: 43
Diabetes 23
Hypertension 15
Obesity 14

Pastoral Care Totals: 35
Anxiety 19
Fear 15
Stress 15
Sadness 13

EKG Total: 53

In a previous post, I told you about the packing day, the final preparation for the Mission team before departing for El Salvador.  On the designated Saturday, after several hours of travel, the team arrives at the San Salvador airport.  Walking off the plane, the first thing you notice is the heat. This is especially noticeable considering the team boarding the plane in the middle of the winter.  This is a good thing.  After paying the tourist fee, getting the passports stamp and the several bags of luggage through customs, the team meets the welcoming committee of Dr Daniella, Dr Roberto and some of her team. The bags are loaded into pickups and people are loaded into the buses and after a 45-minute ride, the team arrives at San Juan, the Missions home away from home in El Salvador.

Waiting for the team at San Juan is the early team, a small part of the team that arrived in San Salvador three days before. The early team setups San Juan for the upcoming Mission.  Each area is set up for pharmacy, central supply, dental, vision and village gifts.  Supplies needed for the week are purchased and the final details for the team are completed. 

To minimize the confusion of thirty people unpacking 30 or more bags, an area is setup for the luggage to be unloaded.  Another area is set up for the distribution of all the items in those bags.  This area is a covered circle with a wall around the perimeter. Tables are set up in the middle.  The tables and the sections of the wall have empty bags on them for each areas of the Mission; Dental, Vision, Village Gifts and Central Supply.

After a quick lunch and a few minutes of showing the new people the “highlights” of San Juan such as where each area is (i.e. pharmacy or central supply) and more importantly where the bano is located, it’s time to unpack. After a few minutes of instructions on how this will be done, everyone grabs a bag and starts unpack and distributing each item into the appropriate section.  Soon the dental bags are filling up with toothpaste and toothbrushes and vision bags are filling up with glasses and readers.  Over the counter medicines are placed in the pharmacy section, flip flops and coloring books are overflowing in village gifts and all sorts of medical supplies are overflowing in central supply.  As a bag is filled it is brought to its assigned area and another bag is put into its place.  All this is done in what seems to be a fury of active but before we know it all the bags are unpacked and put into their assigned areas.

The team splits up into their assigned area and begin to organize and start getting things ready for the week.  This includes counting pills and filling the bottles for the pharmacy. After an hour or so, dinner is ready for us. After dinner and a quick meeting about the next couple of days, it’s on to the Hotel to check in and unwind.  After all there is a lot more to do before the team is ready to visit the villages.

A couple of weeks before the team leaves for El Salvador the final preparations are made. The entire team gathers together, everyone bringing a couple of empty suitcases. All around the room are 20 to 30 tables filled with all the supplies There is toothpaste and toothbrushes, readers and prescription glasses, flip flops, muscle rub, medical creams of all sorts, gauze, children’s Tylenol…. all the supplies needed for the upcoming mission. After meeting some of the new members (newbies), socializing with friends, old and new, everyone is instructed on how the bags are packed. There is frenzy of bags being packed and weighed, packed again (or unpacked) until the desired weight for each bag is 45 to 50 pounds. The first bag is packed and you get your second bag and repeat the process.

Once the bags are all packed and there are no supplies left, the bags are set to the side and an informational meeting is held. A slide show is shown and the newbies are told about the history of the mission, typical days in El Salvador, problems we may see, the importance of being safe while in country, not drinking the water… information so everyone knows what to expect.

Packing day accomplishes two steps for the Mission. First, all the supplies needed for the Mission with the exception of the prescription medicines which were done early by the planning committee, are packed up so each team member can bring them to El Salvador. The second step is team building. It is the first time the team is together. Everyone gets a chance to see friends from previous Missions and get to know new friends. This is the beginning of building the team. They are working together to achieve the purpose of the Mission, to help the people of El Salvador.

The 2020 Mission team is getting ready to go.  Saturday, January 18^th, we are meeting at St James in Skaneateles in the morning for packing day. For more detail on packing day please read the previous post to the website on the News tab titled “Packing Day:  The final step to building a Mission team”.  Once everything is packed the team is ready to go.  The early team leaves for San Salvador on Wednesday, January 29^th to start setting up the Mission.  On Saturday February 1^st the rest of the team arrives to help finish the setup.  Sunday is dedicated to meetings to review the processes, making final preparations and getting supplies ready to be packed up on the trucks and van.  Also, this in when our translators arrive, most of them already great friends.

We are all excited and can’t wait to get started.