Mission Possible: Nurses Volunteer in Mexico

Martha Garcia (left) and Laura Carter (center) with three Angeles Comunitarios.

They had wanted to volunteer in medical missions for a long time. That mission is now in progress.

Last summer, Laura Carter, a public health nurse with the County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), stumbled onto LIGA International, also known as the Flying Doctors of Mercy. Carter was looking for an organization that would accept some medical equipment her friend no longer needed.

Carter researched the organization and learned the non-profit would take it. But that was not all. She also discovered dozens of LIGA International volunteers offer monthly free health care and education to residents of Sinaloa state, in northwest Mexico.

This was it, Carter thought-the medical mission she and her friend and colleague Martha Garcia had been looking for. Three months later they were boarding a small plane at Montgomery Field on their first trip to El Fuerte, a small city of about 30,000 residents.

“We were both really excited. We really wanted to do this,” said Carter, senior public health nurse at HHSA’s East Region. “We ran with it and it turned into something really wonderful.”

During their first mission, Carter and Garcia met audiologists, physicians, surgeons, podiatrists, nurses, translators and many other volunteers who gather in El Fuerte the first weekend of every month. They arrive in small planes from California, Arizona and Nevada, something they’ve been doing for almost 80 years.

During their 48-hour stays, LIGA volunteers lend medical aid to about 1,000 patients, some of whom walk for days to get to the monthly clinic.

Carter and Garcia’s mission at El Fuerte is not to provide medical services. Some area residents are surprised by that but El Fuerte has welcomed them with open arms nonetheless.

The clinic at El Fuerte had been looking for public health nurses to join the corps of LIGA volunteers. Carter and Garcia are the first public health team to do outreach and education in communities in the area.

“What Laura and I are doing is completely different,” said García, public health nurse supervisor at HHSA’s South Region. “We do public health outreach in the outlying communities. We visit ranchos and ejidos (ranches and communal lands) and conduct assessments to determine what their needs are.”

These are some of the things Carter and Garcia are looking for. Do these communities have clean, running water? If not, are they boiling or bleaching the water they do have? Are they washing their hands appropriately? What are some of the most common diseases in the area? Are there doctors or clinics in the area?

“We hope to figure out the most crucial needs and find out ways to tap into local resources,” said Garcia, explaining that once they determine what medical services are needed they hope to be able to offer them through mobile clinics.

Carter and Garcia recently returned from their second visit to El Fuerte and they are already getting a clearer picture of some of the more pressing needs of communities in the region.

For example, one of the two communities they’ve visited has an irrigation canal where residents also bathe. Some who get drinking water from the canal boil it or bleach it, but others don’t. The result is a lot of diarrheal illnesses and skin issues.

They’ve met with about 50 people and families, including the school principal and a group of 15 women from three nearby communities who told them that there are no clinics or doctors or any kind of medical services in some areas. And if there is a doctor, there are very limited supplies and resources. The majority of people in the area are poor so even if there is a doctor, they don’t have money to pay for a consultation or medicine.

To survive, some residents barter chickens for food and other items. They forage for things to eat, typically nopales (cactus) and quelites, a leafy green vegetable similar to spinach. They grind their own maize to make masa (dough) for tortillas. They cook in wood-burning makeshift ovens. They live in houses or huts with dirt floors.

Teresa Meza Cota, 77, lives in Chinobampo, one of the communities where Carter and Garcia are volunteering. “They need help and education on how to do things themselves. They want to support their communities,” said Carter, referring to the 15 women who decided to call themselves Ángeles Comunitarios (Community Angels). “They are amazing women. They are not well educated but they are very smart.”

Like the rest of LIGA International Volunteers, Carter and Garcia not only volunteer their time but they also pay for their travel, lodging and meals—about $400 each trip.
The monthly cost, both said, is well worth it.
 
“It’s an amazing blessing. It’s humbling. They are so grateful. Their gratitude gives me gratitude,” said Carter, adding that she is not only offering a much-needed service, but the interactions are helping her improve her Spanish. “It’s really awesome because the people are so kind and so loving and so sharing. They are amazing.”

Both are looking forward to their January trip and to being able to bring mobile clinics into more remote areas next year.

“It’s been nothing short of amazing. I feel so much joy when I am there,” said Garcia. “I feel very humbled by the people who live there. I am grateful to have the opportunity to share with them whatever skills and knowledge I have.”