The Roberto Clemente-Santa Ana Health Clinic: Where the Streets Have No Names
by Julia Guth, Founder Investment U
Friday, December 21, 2007: Issue # 745
This year, I shunned the holiday mall experience…
Instead, I put on the stereo, lit a fire, poured myself some hot cider, and strolled the lit virtual village that is Amazon.com. And given what I spent online this year, it’s no wonder Amazon is such a winner. (The stock is one of our best performing picks at The Oxford Club, up 179% since we recommended it just 14 months ago.)
I bought mostly book and music gifts – from The Daring Book for Girls and a few titles by Gregg Easterbrook and Bill Bryson, to the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss duet CD, Raining Sand.
One of my favorite gifts last year was a wonderful biography from my Dad: Clemente, the Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero. He gave it to me not because I’m a huge baseball fan, but because five years ago I was inspired to help build a much-needed health clinic in one of the poorest villages in the Americas, and name it after the late Roberto Clemente.
On New Year’s Eve 1972, following 18 years as one of baseball’s greatest players, Roberto Clemente died a hero. The “Jackie Robinson of the Spanish-speaking world,” he was killed in a plane crash as he attempted to deliver food and medical supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake.
In this season of virtual shopping, I’m reminded to ask you, a fellow IU reader, to step into the footprints of the late Roberto Clemente – and, by giving online, help sustain a brighter future for our privately funded rural health clinic in Nicaragua…
An Easy Way to Help
Today, Nicaragua remains unknown – and misunderstood – by most of the world, which is why it’s so darn appealing to those of us involved in this community. For the last five years, we’ve felt like pioneers in a stunning country. It’s a bit wild, yet most welcoming and peaceful. So are its people.
For all its beauty, Nicaragua is extremely poor – the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti.
The good news: Medical care given at the Roberto Clemente-Santa Ana Health Clinic is dramatically improving the lives of the people in several small villages…
Take a holiday stroll down the muddy unpaved streets of the Clinic’s village, and you’ll find small, 1- to 2-room shacks made of cement or wood, housing families with several small children. Some of the shacks are brightly colored from the paint we donated the villagers several years ago. You may even see a native poinsettia tree in front of a few strung colorful lights…
The father earns maybe $5 a day as a farmer, fisherman, or construction worker at the nearby seaside development. The mother scrubs the laundry on a washboard, while the children gaze at you in amazement, running barefoot among the pigs and chickens in their front yard. They should be in school, but they can’t afford the $40 they need to supply shoes, a uniform, backpack, pencil and paper. Unfortunately, thousands of children in rural southwest Nicaragua cannot. So the Clinic is expanding our outreach beyond medical supplies to offer health education, English lessons, and educational supplies as well.
Some children and adults are battling chronic respiratory illnesses from dust, or gastrointestinal illnesses from lack of potable water…
You hear the story of one child who recently fell unconscious from an asthma attack right when her mother arrived at the clinic carrying her. Unfortunately, asthma presents a special problem in this area and affects many children. The dusty roads, houses with dirt floors, indoor wood stoves, and mold and mildew from the extended rainy season all challenge the fragile lungs of newborns and can lead to asthma as the children grow.
Dr. Julio Flores, and clinic nurses Martha Miranda and Carlos Peña, were on hand to give the unconscious child a respirator. They hold classes weekly on how to create better sanitary conditions at home.
Strolling on, you meet Elias; he suffered a partial amputation of two toes on his right foot. Quick work by Dr. Flores and the medical staff reconstructed the toes and the patient recovered well.
You hear the story of the worker at the nearby resort who suffered a traumatic facial injury to his face, left eye, and cranium. Dr. Flores performed emergency procedures and stabilized the patient, buying time until he could be safely transported to the main hospital 45 minutes away.
Of course, many of the 700-plus patients seen monthly (7 days a week) are seen for less serious problems, like allergic reactions, routine medical exams, medical tests, minor injuries, colds, and viral infections.
Four babies have been born there, too!
Following in a Hero’s Footsteps
This community needs our help. The Clinic is 100% supported by donations and any fees for service and medicines that the patient can afford. Clinic community outreach and education programs are free. And the high-quality health care is free for children and elders. And it’s available at a very low cost for the working population.
Bottom line, no one is turned away. The Clinic’s team spirit follows the spirit of Roberto Clemente, who embodies the spirit of love for community and sacrifice.
The small sacrifice I am asking of you is only money, and not that much. Even $100 goes a long way to support our Clinic’s growth…
First, we keep our administrative costs as low as we can. Second, your donation is generously matched 100% by Agora, Inc. So your $100 is actually worth $200 to the Clinic.
- A $250 donation will go even further to help us expand our facilities and add another trauma room for surgery and another examining room.
- A $500 donation will help us bring on another full-time doctor so we can provide help for Dr. Julio Flores and expand our hours at the clinic.
- A $1,000 donation will help us buy the $32,000 ambulance (4-wheel drive SUV) we desperately need for emergency cases that require transport to the nearest hospital 45 minutes away. But it must be dependable and able to negotiate bad roads and long stretches of 18-inch deep mud.
Last year, thanks to your generous donations, we fulfilled one of the Clinic dreams: To have a dependable source of electricity. We built a back-up energy unit. Now, the Clinic always has an available supply of power that can take over when the local power goes out. Which it does with frightening regularity.
But we are not content to let past successes carry us forward. We have many more dreams for this Clinic, and always need ongoing support just to continue what we are doing now.
So I’m coming to you – to ask that you escape with me in thought to help a “lovely community by the sea” this Holiday season, and give a donation to the Roberto Clemente-Santa Ana Health Clinic. It serves more than 10,000 patients from 12 nearby villages.
With your help, we will soon become the model health clinic in Nicaragua.
Leveraging Your Gift
As I mentioned, for every dollar you donate, Agora, Inc. will donate an additional dollar – doubling the impact of your generosity.
And since the Roberto Clemente-Santa Ana Clinic is recognized as exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, you can deduct 100% of your donation from your current taxes.
All you have to do is go here and send in your donation today. The Clinic depends on our continued support.
I want to thank you so much for your readership this year. On behalf of Alexander Green, Alex Williams, and the Investment U team – have a wonderful holiday.
Julia Guth
Founder, Investment U
Executive Director, The Roberto Clemente-Santa Ana Health Clinic
www.nicaclinic.org
- Quality Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: QSII): Stock of the Day
- The Investment U Roving Reporter: Live at the Conference
- Doctor Up Your Portfolio With This Medical Communications Company
|
The Single Best Investment for 2009
Forget another stimulus package. Or retreating into "safe-havens" like cash and gold. All you need in 2009 is a small exposure to the "secret" White Cap Index.
It's up as much as 171% straight through Wall Street's meltdown. And one of the latest stocks to be added - an Internet-related venture capital company - is up over 100% since its inclusion into the Index.
Just weeks from now, we'll add another White Cap stock to this market-trouncing index. To get a sneak peek, click here for full details.
Comments
**By submitting your comment you agree to adhere to our Comment Policy and Privacy Policy.Check out our selection of daily Investment Research:
 |
 |
Investment U RSS Feed