In light of the current safety concerns in Honduras, Salud Juntos members from the United States will be taking their first “Virtual Trip to Honduras” this coming week. Using basic internet communications (email, ePhone conferences, and Skype) meetings will be held with Salud Juntos members and collaborators in Honduras. This will be a first iteration of what will hopefully mature to me a successful communication and sharing strategy between our members and collaborators which has implications for efficiency, long term volunteerism, ethical participation, and (unfortunately) safety.

More updates to come on this as the “virtual trip” progresses.

We have heard from a few of you that have had trouble donating. This problem has been resolved.

Also, you can send in a donation by check or cash via snail mail to:

Salud Juntos
2811 10th Place W
Seattle, WA 98119

Thanks!

See the attached newsletter! Happy New Year!

SJ Newsletter 2011

We recently completed an evaluation of the hypertension group in Punta Ocote, which has now been running for more than a year and a half. Follow the link below to see the statistical evaluation. It looks like the group is helping its 60 members to lower their blood pressure and connect them to a consistent source of medications and care!

HTN Group Poster Nov 2011 Bilingue

Hey all,

Just wanted to welcome you to the new webspace. It clearly features a blog very prominently, and we feel that this works best so that we can keep you all updated and informed on what we are up to. It also allows for more open conversations. More posts will be coming soon, but below on this post you can find some basic information on Salud Juntos – who we are and what we do.

SJ Overview (English)

SJ Revista (Espanol)

The University of Washington Department of Global Health will be hosting a movie screening tonight of “First Do No Harm,” which is about the ethical, socioeconomic and health outcomes gray area that exists with medical work by people from the “Global North” who help in the “Global South.” SJ Executive Director Sheridan Reiger will be helping to moderate the discussion afterwards.

First Do No Harm (Click here for full video)

Brochure for First Do No Harm Event

The latest from the Global Summit on Non-Communicable Disease:

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/29/135833372/new-republic-treating-a-silent-global-epidemic

Things have gotten off to a wonderful start on the waste management front! Riding the encouraging wave of Ryan and Rob’s Search Conference, Carson and Nate met with the waste management equipo on Sunday to discuss how to move forward. It seems there has been much promising progress made by those in Punta Ocote since the waste management pilot, of sorts, of last summer. Carlos, a teacher at the school and member of the patronato, presented a document describing a complete plan of action: from whom to purchase land for the site of the new crematorio, where to acquire a tractor to level the land, a monthly tax of L2 per household to pay for the salary of a worker to haul the trash, where to put the new barrels, etc. He and Alexis, another member of the patronato, took us to look at the site about ½ mile from town, on a slight incline and accessible by road. Currently, Nate and Carson are researching simple, straightforward means to set up waste disposal sites, and on Tuesday they will visit the crematorio in Yoro to learn about local waste management: how locals chose their site, how and when they collect and burn the garbage, and so on.

- Carson and Nate, your friendly local garbage men

Yesterday, in Punta Ocote, Salud Juntos held its first Search Conference! A Search Conference is a meeting where a group of people define issues observed in the community and come up with realistic action plans to address those topics. Many different communities and businesses have used this model to visualize a future with discernible outcomes. Members in the conference share an equal voice when reflecting upon their experiences or what they’ve observed. We recognized that bringing community members of Punta Ocote together to talk about health would be a valuable approach to gauge what the community thought was important and what needed fixing.

Several members of the patronato (“town council”), the health committee, and the hypertension group participated in the meeting. The conference went incredibly well. The small talking groups started identifying nutrition, garbage maintenance, and water maintenance as aspects of the community that required attention. Around these, we formed working groups that will meet this Sunday to come up with action plans. The groups are excited about the potential for change and we believe they’ve become a little more empowered to bring about that change. The Search Conference was a real success and we hope to host several more in other Honduran communities.

Participants present drawings of the history of their community.