(Water,
the Fountain of Life)
(ks) Christians, as
is true I suspect of most peoples, understand water as a symbol
of life. We use water in baptism and add a little water into the
chalice before blessing the bread and wine. We use water as a
sign of cleansing and renewal. Jesus spoke of godself as Living
Water that gives eternal life. Water is important. Water has the
quality of the sacred. 
Water is a central gift of a
wise and loving Creator. For the visitor in foreign places water
inevitably becomes a focus. Because much water is contaminated,
one can drink only with the utmost care. People tell us to drink
liquids from cans or bottles, not soda fountains; the water is
not clear of bacteria that can bring suffering to the unwary
traveller. In restaurants, they warn, do not accept the
traditional refrescos that come with your meals. The water may
be unsafe. A simple task such as washing dishes can become very
complicated. The pensión where Ed and I stayed in Xela in
Guatemala had figured it out: you could use the regular water
(cold, of course) for cleaning the dishes, but the water for
rinsing must be purificado. To brush one's teeth, one has to use
-- even waste -- purified water to rinse the toothbrush. In the
shower one must avoid getting water in one's mouth. In foreign
places and certainly in Central America water is not dependable.
It may be shut down at any time. In San Salvador due to the many
repairs necessary to water mains after the earthquakes, the
water is frequently down to a trickle. One learns that even in a
stream of water the diameter of a soda straw it's possible to
shower enough to cool one's body and gain a modicum of
cleanliness. Water, on a very hot day, becomes a sign of hope, a
sign of life. In Central America washing machines are becoming a
possibility for middle-class people; however, many, many women
still wash the family laundry by hand in the pila that stands in
a small open area behind their house. One of the days that I was
in the home of our host family here in San Salvador because of
illness, the splashing of the water in the pila hardly stopped
all day. Dishes, pots and pans must be cleaned. Food must be
cleaned. Clothing, bedding, table linens, towels, everything
must be washed, and in hot climates, washed often. Ed's teacher
in Xela could afford a washing machine, but she refused to buy
one. If she did, the woman who came to do her washing would lose
a day's work per week. Water can also be a tool of survival for
poor women. I find myself wondering, as Ed and I walk carrying
our bags of laundry to the nearby lavandería, have we
lost touch with the sacredness of water? I remember that home in
Canada water as a resource has become a big issue, another
comercializaron of something that should be a basic right. Every
human depends on clean water. Water is a resource, it's true;
but water is more. Water is essential to life and breath and
heart and thought.
Fountain of Life, make us good stewards
of your great gift of water. Let us receive it with thanks. Let
us use it sparingly and with reverence. In the name of the One
who is our true and living water, even Jesus the Christ. Amen.
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Health:
THE CENTRAL
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
(ks) Health service in
Central America is both similar and different from Canada.
Having availed myself of emergency service, once in Guatemala
and once in El Salvador, I have a few observations, mostly
agreeable. Both my illnesses were thoughtfully and thoroughly
diagnosed, appropriate and effective medication and advice was
supplied, and in the case of the dengue fever, follow-up was
required. In both cases I went to private hospitals, as I would
not be eligible for the public service. Hospital San Rafael in
Xela, Guatemala, formed one section of a large building, nestled
in the midst of various shops and businesses that lined the
streets while the hospital utilised much of the interior space
of the block. The result was quiet if archaic elegance, with
tiled floors and 20-foot high ceilings that once had been
painted in floral patterns. The well-used furniture appeared as
if from the 50´s or 60´s. The consulting room was
also the delivery room judging from the old examining table with
ancient stirrups and the equally ancient warming machine for
new-borns. The cupboards reminded me of my grandmother's
kitchen. Shining surfaces and hi-tech equipment did not appear.
The doctor, maybe 5´5 in jeans, a knit shirt and a
baseball cap that he did not remove, looked nearer 20 years old
than the 30 I'm confident he was. While there he answered a call
on his cell phone -- an experience in ambience anachronistic!
Total costs including consultation and lab fees and medications:
about $40.00 Canadian. Hospital Pro-Familia in San Salvador had
a more conventional and infinitely less interesting building,
although here, too, the furnishings were, by North American
standards, out of date. The blood pressure apparatus showed
signs of age. However, disposable hypodermic syringes were used,
whereas in Guatemala they were not. Asked to wait for lab
results before prescriptions were issued, I remained on the
examining table almost 2 hours -- fortunately, because I was too
weak to sit for long. In this hotter climate the examining area
was air conditioned, something one cannot count on in this
country. Total cost at Pro-Familia including medications and
follow-up: $73.64 U. S. So where are the problems? Obviously the
major problem is accessibility.
Good medical services are
here, but how do people, even "middle-class" people,
afford them? A language teacher with degree working 10 hours a
day with little or no vacation pay makes between $50 - $70
Canadian per week. My one visit to the doctor plus medications
would annihilate that one-week's pay. While many living costs in
Central America are much lower than North America, other
expenses are equal or even exceed Canadian costs, especially
medications. Most people must use the public services. If they
need surgery they will have to save up or get help from
relatives. The poor may well do without. The costs of medical
insurance are prohibitive both for employers and individuals.
Hospital Pro-Familia is evidently subsidised by U. S. sources
possibly linked with Pro-life interests. Costs charged to
Salvadorans are lower than I paid but still prohibitive. One has
to ask why there is no income tax in these countries to make
health care more accessible? In this time of globalisation and
the commercialisation of even the most intimate aspects of our
lives, perhaps the expectation of communal and co-operative
responsibility for health care seems outmoded to some. However,
in my belief, every human being has the right to the best
possible health care. Many health problems come not from the
patient's own behaviour but from poor or damaged water supply,
chemical products that would not be approved in North American
but are sold by North Americans in less developed countries, and
the lack of effective preventative health services.
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Earthquakes
(es)
Arriving in El Salvador this year means interacting with the
reality of earthquakes. I have heard that people in the north of
Canada use many words to describe various types of snow. In El
Salvador the people have developed a number of words to describe
seismic activity and avoid the main term for earthquake --
terremoto. Some of these words include: temblores, ondas, and
sismos. The recent earthquakes have caused 1,403 deaths, many
injuries, and the disruption of highways, blocking of rivers and
most obviously the destruction of many homes.
Almost
immediately I heard that San Vicente, the town where I served in
1994 as an election observer, is in near total ruin. It's hard
to imagine that this place so familiar to me has suffered such
devastation. Reconstruction there will require enormous human
energy and economic resources.
Kay and I have
been able to visit Zaragoza, another municipality near San
Salvador (the capital) that was seriously affected by the
earthquakes. As we drove into the town, we could see that many
of the houses had been taken down. As we began to walk through
the streets, we discovered that almost all of the buildings had
been seriously affected and would need to be taken down. We went
to a hamlet in the municipality in which all of the houses had
been destroyed. As a part of our visit we dropped into the
Alcaldía (municipal office) and found two Canadians from
CECI a Quebec-based development agency in the mayor's office.
The people from CECI are helping the municipality plan for the
most effective use of resources in the process of
reconstruction.
The solutions
to the problems of rebuilding are not simple. At first glance
one would think that adobe (unfired mud bricks) would be the
worst material to use. Adobe walls turned into dust as they
collapsed in the quakes. However, very few people were killed in
the adobe houses. Concrete buildings reinforced with steel,
especially those that had been previously damaged, caused more
deaths. Among the many helpful observations made after the
earthquake is that houses built with a type of reinforced adobe
withstood the quakes quite well. The University of Central
America along with some European partners has developed a type
of adobe construction that is fortified by additional material.
Ecologically, adobe is a great product since it is almost
completely untreated organic material. I am not aware of the
proper answer to this question; however, much careful work is
going into this problem. In the eyes of many commentators, an
important concern seems to be the lack of planning and
monitoring that has existed in the country in the past.
The
Anglican Church of El Salvador is very much involved in several
aspects of this work. With support from groups like the PWRDF
it is supporting integrated community development programmes.
The Diocese is also offering free mental health counselling to
support people who have been emotionally damaged by the quake.
The effects of this series of earthquakes have touched everyone
in El Salvador. We pray that the people of this small country
will take this opportunity as a means of strengthening the
community.
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About the Anglican Church in El
Salvador
- There are
approximately 2000 members
- About 12 parishes and
missions exist in El Salvador
- Major programmes
include the School for the Ministry of Women, the Vacation Bible
School, Youth Encounter, ecumenical co-operation, scholarship
program, and sports
- Current committees:
Women, Youth, Ministry, Education, Evangelism, Social Projects,
Stewardship, Ecumenism, and Liturgy
Service projects
include schools, health clinics, support for indigenous peoples,
emergencies, immigrants, and pastoral support
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