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Medical Mission A doctor acquaintance from the States, and his family, spent their vacation here, with the purpose of supplying some urgent medical needs for children here in Saltillo. Dr. John is a Prosthesis Technician, so accompanied us to 3 outlying towns to visit the children and measure their eyes, and then later made the prosthesis in his portable lab. We had a reporter who took an interest in this story and ran two articles about his visit and the personal families.
One boy was attacked by a rooster when just over a year old and has been blind in one eye since. Now 7 years old, he has excelled in his school and even baseball but suffered many attacks on his self-esteem from fellow classmates. Now he has a perfectly normal appearance and also the bones and muscles around his eye are supported and able to form properly.
Another 7 year old boy was born prematurely and both his retinas detached when he was a baby. Dr. Jon fitted already made prosthesis for him, the exact fit and color. Another woman who suffered cancer as a child saw the newspaper articles that were published and quickly traced us to ask if she could also be a recipient of these artificial eyes. She came to Dr. John's hotel for the final fit and left a happy new person. Her husband commented that her eyes shine now and look so lively.
Dr. John really enjoyed helping others and asked us to line up 20 children for next summer. He also wants to come back with another fellow doctor to help make limb prosthesis for more children here.
Latest News: Dr. John returned to Saltillo for a second year, again to help the underprivileged have an eye prosthetic. The health department gave their approval and arranged us to be able to use an eye hospital for all the patients. This was a real improvement over last year, when we had to travel to outlying towns and made the prosthetics on the run. Dr. John was very pleased with the facilities, as well as the fact that there is a resident eye doctor who will give follow up and counsel on all the patients that were treated.
Every story is different but each expresses both such heartache in their lives and new joy after their free eye prosthesis. Among those receiving help:
Christina, a 36 year-old mother of 4 children, who was never able to afford a prosthesis since her accident at 6 years of age when she fell in a ditch and a steel pole poked her eye. When she tried on her new artificial eye, she wept for joy at the change in her countenance.
Juan Pablo's wife learned about our mission from a newspaper article (see above) and came swiftly to the hospital to see if her husband could get a new eye. We explained that it takes 2 days to fabricate an eye and I would ask the doctor about it as Dr. John was leaving the following day. After studying the situation, Dr. John said that he thought he had one that would fit and match in color and dear Juan was able to walk away with a beautiful eye. Juan explained that when he was 13 years old and helping with the animals on the ranch, barb wire had blinded his eye. He shared, " I sunk into extreme depression after the accident where I would not leave my room, and grew my hair over my face so no one would see my blind eye. I only wanted everyone to look at me the same as everyone else and be treated like a human being" He stared at his eye for a long time and left the office dazed and happy for a new start on life.
Among others receiving help were 12-year-old Santa Esperanza and 24-year-old Carlos. Visiting the Imprisoned
A social worker friend requested our help to start a library for the men's prison, and we organized a campaign to collect donated books toward this end. We visited the male prison, both to minister and to deliver the first load of books, to stock up the library. These included schoolbooks, educational and research books, dictionaries, Bibles, and assorted Gospel pamphlets.
We also delivered arts and crafts supplies and paper to both the woman's prison and the delinquent home for girls, which they use to manufacture assorted articles to sell and help support their families and relatives. In another prison we visited Justin, an American held for drugs, and found him extremely thankful for our visit. Justin has been here for six months and barely getting by with beginner's Spanish. He spoke a lot about his past and the addictions that he has had since he was 13 yrs old. We prayed with Justin and arranged to bring him a Bible. When his visiting time was up and he was called to leave, we gave him a hug and he said, "I haven’t had a visitor or a hug in six months!" He confided in us that he has been keeping a diary and the night before we came he wrote in it that he really needed to talk and bare his heart.
Other Work in the Community
English Conversation Coffee House Saltillo is a University town, and for awhile we operated a Christian Coffee House, which was a popular destination amongst students looking for a cozy, well equipped, pleasant lounge where they feel free to come and talk with their peers.
We offered 15-minutes of live music per hour, plus reflective
readings, followed by discussions around the various themes addressed.
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