Today we were in El Palmar - a VERY remote village way up in the mountains. The ride up was the stuff stories are made of - some of us standing in the back of a pickup, climbing a grade so steep the trucks were skidding and slipping. We were bounced around like ping-pong balls. It was great fun. We arrived to lines of school children, all in their uniforms, answering to the mayor´s greetings. The ride back took a little longer than it should have - we had a flat 5 minutes outside of the village. It took AAA, in the form of Marco the other truck driver, a while to respond with help.
El Palmar is a village which literally hangs off the edges of cliffs and rock ledges. Picture a Dr. Suess-like village. Despite the lack of electricity and running water, the white school uniform shirts and socks were bright and spotless when we arrived. These people are very resourceful! For example, today a woman with an infant and toddler walked 10 K over these ridiculously steep and rocky roads to come to the clinic.
We are blessed with some guardian angels in the form of Mila Lara and her son Ramon. She is the mayor and he is her son. He attends college for enviromental engineering in Canada. He has returned after his 1st year and we are constantly impressed by his presence and maturity. He takes charge of setting up the Red Cross and our operations and acts as a constant interpreter. He is really amazing. Thanks to his mom, the seasoned members of our team have been impressed with the improved conditions in Las Vegas. The streets and town in general are so much cleaner.
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