Although Matamoros remains unsettled, it has been peaceful at Casa Bugambilia this summer.
Each day, we continue to treat colonia residents at the Casa Bugambilia clinic. We hold exercise classes to help control diabetes (the Bollywood dancercise videos are still the most popular), and care for the 11 ill and abandoned staying at Casa Bugambilia. Most of them have limited mobility, some are completely paralyzed and helping them eat and bathe and keep comfortable through the heat of a Matamoros summer takes a lot of effort from our caregivers. We coordinate with specialists to provide treatment for the complex cases. Just next week, Dr. Nancy will be taking two little girls, Alexsandra and Alejandra, to a clinic in the Valley hosted by Shriners Hospital of Houston.
In the colonias, treatable conditions often go untreated. Many colonia residents don’t seek medical care until they are already ill, with sometimes devastating results. Rather than wait for patients to come to them, the Casa Bugambilia doctors reach out to help educate and prevent, as with our diabetes program. Women’s health is another area of intense focus for our doctors. In the colonias, the loss of the mother almost always means the loss of the family. Dr. Nancy is working with Dr. Libni to hold a women’s health campaign in October where we will screen for illnesses like cervical cancer and follow up with any needed treatment.
Over the summer, we deepened our relationship with Con Mis Manos (With My Hands), a school for deaf children from the colonias led by Michelle Zuniga, a missionary from the United States. (You may remember Ricardo, a Con Mis Manos student with foot malformations we were treating earlier this year.) Because of the limited resources of colonia families and the local public schools, the education of deaf children is often completely ignored. They live in isolation, unable even to communicate with their parents. Con Mis Manos teaches the students (and their family) Mexican sign language, as well as academic subjects and gives them vocational training.
Our mission is to eliminate barriers to physical and spiritual wholeness. The barriers we find in our work with students are not just in the classroom. It’s also getting students to the classroom in the first place. The ability or willingness to transport the student may simply be lacking, or the home situation can get in the way. Our local construction team, including 14-year old apprentice, Chuy, is leading the construction of new classrooms and residential living quarters for Con Mis Manos with materials being provided by Con Mis Manos. The new residences will eliminate a very real barrier to education for many deaf students, like Ricardo. Ricardo will be living at Casa Bugambilia starting next week until the Con Mis Manos residences are completed. He will be supervised by Vicki and her husband, Ramiro. I’m sure many of you remember Vicki from your trips to Casa Bugambilia. She worked in the kitchen, and always had a big smile. The impact of her steady presence these last few months cannot be overstated, and now she and Ramiro will be staying at Casa Bugambilia full time.
Paco, also a student at Con Mis Manos, is also staying with us for the time being. Paco had become a leader among the students, but was finding it difficult to continue at the school because of an abusive home. He, his younger brother, Jose, and their mother, Delfina, are at Casa Bugambilia now while they build a different and better future. The Con Mis Manos school is only about a mile away from Casa Bugambilia, so it will be easy for Paco and Ricardo to attend classes until the living quarters are completed.
Soon a new school year will start at the Derechos Humanos public school, and soon our Las Estrellitas and La Escuelita students will be returning to Casa Bugambilia. Saira will continue to lead the Las Estrellitas program for pre-elementary children. A few weeks ago, the 2011 Estrellitas held an open house to show their parents their work for the year, as well as introduce the younger children who will be in the 2012 class. We’ll be posting photos in the photo galleries at our website so check back. Cecilia and Charys will tutor the older children.
The need for Casa Bugamilia’s mission of healing has never been greater. Thanks to modern technology and many friends, Dr. Nancy and Larry have been able to guide all these activities at Casa Bugambilia from the United States side of the border. Still, the spirit Dr. Nancy brings by her presence has been missed and, when circumstances permit, she will return to Casa Bugambilia on a daily basis. We hope that will be by year end.
In the meantime, we continue on and strive to grow in our capacity to respond in a violent environment.
