When SQ Foundation first visited the community of Canton Ojo de Agua, aside from there not being a school, we also saw that there was barely any access to medicine.  With the help of the community organizer, we got in touch with the Department of Health to establish and fund routine visits from a doctor and nurse twice a month for the local families.  It wasn’t long before a space was cleared and the “El Guaje” clinic was opened.  Like the new school, the clinic’s success—as well as its survival—lies not only in sustained funding from SQ Foundation but with the cooperation of many people in the community working together.  Even the doctors’ driver volunteers to hand out medicine and weigh children, as every two weeks the little clinic is packed with children and their mothers, the elderly, and others who need medical assistance.
 
Thanks to our ongoing support and efforts we are all collectively contributing to improving the living conditions in El Salvador. Below is a just one story that illustrates the power of our energy, love, and financial support in action, as told by an SQ member overseeing the projects:
 
After a quick visit to the community Canton Ojo de Agua, and the beautiful new little school in the heart of the community, we began walking towards the car, readying to head back to San Salvador.  Just then a sweet little woman with her infant child in one hand and her 6 yr.-old daughter in the other, came out of the corner of the road and approached us. .
 
“Do you like cabbage?” she asked. “Yes of course” I replied.
She slipped away for just a moment and returned with a head of cabbage in her hand and a huge smile.
“Please take this as a gift.”
Knowing that this was probably a big sacrifice for her, I graciously accepted her generous gift with a huge thank you. “Do you like beets?”
“Yes” I said.
Again she ran into her home and returned with two large beets. “Here,” she said, “these are from my sister’s garden.”
I gave her an enormous hug and waved goodbye.
And that was how I met Riena Isabel, a beautiful 24 yr.- old woman, who stands at a tiny 4 and ½ feet, but whose heart and courage are enormous.
 
When we visited the clinic a couple of days later, she was there with her two children, ready for her visit. That’s when the doctor shared with us the story of Riena’s 6-month-old son Luis Angel, who almost didn’t make it.  But thanks to the clinic and the incredible commitment of the volunteer nurse, he is growing healthier everyday.
 
Luis Angel was born at 24 weeks, between 10 and 11 weeks early, at an astonishing 2 pounds in Riena home in the village of Canton Ojo de Agua.
 
The representative of the Department of Health, who regularly checks in on the community, came to her home when Luis Angel was only 6 days old and immediately called the doctor to bring mother and child to the hospital. They spent 3 weeks there, caring for her tiny baby and bringing his health to a stable condition.
 
Since that time, with the help of the visits from the doctor and the representative of the Department of Health, Luis Angel has been steadily growing and getting healthier everyday.
Riena says, “Now that the clinic is here, I thank God that I don’t have to travel so far away with my children. My son is okay now.”