Roaches, faith and rice mark 'vacation'

He also saw roaches on his bed, gunshot wounds and parasitical diseases.

The nursing home administrator was a volunteer for Catholic Health East's Global Outreach program, which takes medical professionals to underprivileged villages in Peru and Guatemala. Mercycare Corporation, parent company of Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, is a member of Catholic Heath East.

New appreciation

"It gives me an appreciation for what we have in the healthcare system," he told The Evangelist.

The village where Mr. Hale and three other volunteers were based had not had a doctor in 16 years. The volunteers' goal was to provide primary care services to the community. Other team members included a doctor from Pittsburgh, a nurse from Fort Lauderdale and a translator from Philadelphia.

Needed help

The team used donated supplies they collected before the trip, including antibiotics, pain medication and blood pressure medication.

"We treated children and families for malnutrition and parasites," Mr. Hale said. "If they had parasites, we had to treat the whole family."

When the team made house calls, it became evident how the families were becoming infected with parasites. The adobe houses had dirt or tile floors; in the back yards, farm animals were penned up. "It was not uncommon to see pigs or chickens walking through the house," Mr. Hale said.

Bananas and rice

Breakfast included fried bananas, black beans and mush. "I got real fond of mush," Mr. Hale said. "It was like really watery oatmeal, but at least it was boiled."

Lunch consisted of black beans and rice, a tortilla, and fruit. "We had some meat, too," he said, "whatever had been killed recently."

Dinner was rice, beans and some cucumbers. "We also had some flowers that tasted like artichokes," he said. "The Guatemalan coffee was good. I drink it light, but even black it was great."

Violence

"The civil war is over," he said. "They've had peace for 18 months. Because of the war, there are a number of widows in their twenties. The violence in the culture reminded me of the wild west. We took public transportation and two guys on the bus had .38's. In the village, guns were going off all day and night. One woman's husband had been killed days before. He'd been hacked by machete. People take the law into their own hands."

One of the victims of this violence required a house call. "There was a man who was shot weeks before," Mr. Hale said. "The bullet was left in and was working itself out. He didn't want to come to town to be treated, so we went to him."

Family pride

"They had great concern about family and community," he said. "Their sense of faith and community is stronger [than ours.] They also had a good sense of self -- self-esteem."

He was also impressed by the way people dressed for their medical appointments. "They all came in their Sunday best," he said. "The women had dress shoes on."

Faith displays

"There were many public displays of faith," Mr. Hale said. "We were near the Basilica of the Black Christ. People make pilgrimages there. I went into the Basilica, and there were tens of thousands of candles. It was a church the size of the Cathedral [of the Immaculate Conception in Albany] with candles everywhere."

He was also impressed by the way the villagers welcomed the team. "Everyone treated us with respect and were friendly," he said.

At six-foot-two and built like a football player, Mr. Hale was one of the biggest people the children had ever seen. As he walked through the village, they would follow, trying to match his stride or shake his hand to see how theirs compared to his.

Worth the trip

"I'd tell them to go for it," he said. "I'd do it again, too."

In fact, he's done it before. This was his second volunteer excursion with Catholic Health East. He went to Peru last October.

What can happen

"We have systems like Medicaid," he said. "In Guatemala, the majority of the population earn less than a dollar a day. When I was in Peru, a lady had a nine-pound tumor in her stomach. The surgery cost $150, but she had to wait nine years until she had the money.

"The trips gave me an appreciation of the system we have," he noted. "If we as a society don't provide health care, it wouldn't be too far to have these situations here."

He sees his trips, like his work at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, as an extension of his faith. "I view my work here as a response to the Gospel message to care for the sick," he said. "Through outreach, we recognize that there are others in our community who need help."

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