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Recent Developments
The Flying Doctors of Canada have just returned from a 2 week excursion to El Salvador where we encountered some of the most needy people in that country. Despite difficult conditions we were able to attend to the medical needs of over 2000 patients and the dental needs of over 300 patients! We could not have done it without the support of our partners in FUDECOM and our Canadian donors, so from FDOC and the Salvadorean people, Gracias!
In addition to the 2300 patients served in medical and dental clinics, we were also able to attend to the visual needs of over 200 patients with the debut of our reading glasses program “Lentes Para La Gente”. A big thanks goes out to LMV and several other supporters of this program who made this a reality!
On the construction site, Simon Boersma and his special projects team worked endlessly to produce 51 Eco-Stoves, two of which were installed while our team was in country. We would specifically like to thank some key volunteers for there tireless efforts which made this feat possible. The gratitude of the two families that received these stoves was truly over-whelming.
Despite our great success on this past trip, it was not without difficulties. Excessive heat, high humidity and torrential rains made the work difficult at times and wrecked havoc with our x-ray and laboratory equipment. However, thanks to the expertise of our specialty teams we were able to overcome these problems and provide full diagnostics services to the majority of the patients seen. As a result of these challenges, we are more prepared than ever to deliver high quality diagnostics and care on future trips, even the most harsh environments.
On Other Fronts
Thanks to the ongoing cooperation of our Salvadorean partners during this past trip, we were also successful in locating several candidate sites for the new FDOC Centro de Salud. Plans for purchase, land preparation and construction are moving forward and we hope to have a permanent location from which to base ongoing and future projects by the end of 2011.
At the present time our plans involve the construction of a simple health centre which will provide free medical and surgical services, including the provision of free medicines. The construction plan is a multi-part project which is planned for completion in 2014. It is our sincere hope that our donors will continue to support our efforts to make this beacon of hope a reality for the Salvadorean people who so desperately need it.
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