CHIMPS in Abelines

Founded and organized by pediatric residents, Children’s Health International Medicine Project of Seattle (CHIMPS) collaborates with ENLACE's church partners in the Abelines region to provide medical care and public health interventions. Over the past seven years members of the CHIMPS teams have helped administer care in the Abelines region while also providing training and encouragement to the multiple Health Committees in the area. In addition, the teams have helped gather vital medical information including a multi-year iron deficiency study.

This year's trip, in mid-April, was focused on dental hygiene. The CHIMPS team conducted dental exams, applied fluoride varnish and distributed dental supplies for more than 400 children. They also gathered important information about the state of dental hygiene in the area while training patients and Health Committee members on prevention of future dental problems. 

Kim administering fluoride treatment in AbelinesENLACE volunteer Kim Frederick reports that the trip was "a true eye-opener to the incredible need for dental health in rural poverty-stricken areas. By the end of the first day, the need for dental care and caries prevention was painfully apparent, as 96% of the children we saw had at least some form of moderate tooth decay, with the average number of caries being greater than four per child. Also, after the first day, 34% of the children were noted as having severe caries in which the tooth or teeth were fully eroded or the roots exposed."

The Abelines region has seen remarkable change in the health of its community members since local churches actively began to serve with ENLACE's accompaniment. Teams like CHIMPS not only provide technical and practical assistance but are an encouragement to the church and community members who are working daily towards community transformation. 

Click here to read Kim's blog entry about her experience in Abelines...  

CHIMPS and Newlyweds Collaborating in Transformation

CHIMPS team member seeing one of the hundreds of patients seen during the weekIn June the Children’s Health International Medicine Project of Seattle, CHIMPS, arrived for its annual medical trip to Abelines, a remote, rural village in El Salvador’s northeastern mountains. Since 2003, groups of doctors, pediatricians and medical students from Washington have collaborated with ENLACE to support its ongoing efforts in this region. Not only do they bring thousands of dollars worth of much needed medicine to address the curative medical issues, but they also focus on preventive education in an effective way by preparing charlas, training sessions, for the local health committee. The health committee, established with ENLACE’s help 11 years ago, continues to be the primary health educator for this village of approximately 2000 people.

Anya and Shane Wimberly in Abelines

Anya and Shane Wimberly are newlyweds volunteering with ENLACE for this year (and hopefully longer). Anya had this to say about her experience in Abelines with the CHIMPS medical team. 

"Over the week we were able to hear how people felt, and how they hurt. We realized how much wouldn’t be treated and how much could have been prevented. We saw very clearly that while aid from the outside can ease the pain, it will never end the suffering.

The North American doctors worked hard examining and treating hundreds of people, but their greatest impact was with the local health committee, for whom they provided encouragement and guidance. This committee is a group of organized community members who volunteer to promote public health in the area. We heard a story about two women, each over forty years old, whose involvement in such community organizations gave them both the courage and the motivation to go to school and learn to read. There was no Adult Ed at that time, but these women were so determined that they enrolled in elementary school and studied alongside the children.  

Abelines is a community in transformation, empowered by faith and mobilized in hope. Abelines demonstrates that when war and poverty has done everything in its power to corrupt and destroy, faith has the power to restore. Faith in action is nothing short of a miracle, as people transcend their broken selves to love and serve others."

Click here to read the entire blog on wimberlyjournal.wordpress.com...

Click here to see Anya's photos from the week...