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Community OutReach and Education in El Salvador Members Promote Health Education and Practices for Fifth Year

	Pictured above, the student-run group Community OutReach and Education in El Salvador (CORE). CORE has traveled to Isla de Mendez, El Salvador to do health-related community service since 2002.

Since 2002, the student-run group Community OutReach and Education in El Salvador (CORE), has traveled to Isla de Mendez, El Salvador to do health-related community service. This year’s group consisted of 18 first- and second-year EPH students. They arrived in the village on March 9 and worked for 10 days on a wide-range of health interventions.

CORE has spent many years establishing itself in the village and coming to know the needs of the community. One of the first things the students did upon arriving in Isla, was restock a small village clinic with medical supplies - ranging from bandages to syringes to gauze. The community clinic became the focal point of CORE’s work because of its central location in the village. CORE worked closely with the clinic’s physician and village leaders to better understand the needs of the community and the ways in which they could help improve the lives of those who live there.

In previous years, dental hygiene in children has been shown to need improvement. For months leading up to the trip, CORE collected donated toothbrushes and dental supplies. Once in the village, the students held a dental health “teach-in” for both the elementary and alternative schools. The teach-in taught 140 children how to correctly brush their teeth and wash their hands. All children who attended received a toothbrush and will be able to receive a replacement toothbrush at the clinic in months to come.

The women and men of the village received a reproductive health education talk focused on understanding the male and female anatomies, protecting oneself from sexually transmitted infections, and preventing pregnancy (when desired). As most of the population has had no exposure to health education in this way, these teach-ins were well-attended and comments received from the community indicate that they were well-received. “This information is so important to one’s overall health,” said Shaan Chaturvedi, a first-year student. “It is great to be able to reach those who would otherwise have no outlet to this knowledge.”

Since there is no running water in Isla, it was important to both CORE members and village leadership to better educate the residents on how to protect themselves from water-borne illness. CORE tested the water in the village for E. coli and coliform. When it was shown that much of the water in the village was contaminated, CORE worked with the village doctor to distribute bottles of Puri-Agua to the residents and instruct them how to purify their water before use. As the contamination in a residents’ water was positively correlated to the distance of their home to the clinic, future CORE groups will work with Isla’s village leadership to ensure that all residents have access to the benefits of water sanitation.

One of the main ways the group can assess the interventions needed in Isla is through the annual health survey. “Surveying is one of the most important ways that we ensure that our work is relevant to the community we serve,” stated Jennifer Fitzgerald, a joint degree B.S.-M.P.H. student. This year CORE interviewed over 100 heads-of-household regarding the health problems in their homes. The survey instrument was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Yale University and the village physician helped CORE develop a survey that was culturally-appropriate. The results are now being analyzed to better understand how to improve health in Isla in years to come.

The 2006-2007 CORE group would like to thank all those who have helped in their work this year, especially the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America, a non-profit organization working with on-the-ground in Isla. Together CORE and the Foundation are working to improve the quality of life of those in rural Central America.

CORE is funded through donations and fundraising initiatives. Project development and fundraising efforts are mentored by professors at the Yale School of Public Health and the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department. To find out more information about CORE, please contact Shaan Chaturvedi at shaan.chaturvedi@yale.edu.

-Story by Brandis Belt, M.P.H.‘07