Health in the borders: joint effort and tangible benefits
Victor Amaya

In the border between Colombia and Venezuela, fraternity is not only geographical. It is also reflected in the joint efforts to benefit a community. In this case, the Venezuela-Colombian Economic Integration Chamber, Cavecol, together with Fundación Sanitas de Venezuela, Fundafarmacia and Nestlé lead an ambitious medical assistance event in the bi-national border of the Zulia State, in needy communities of the Wayúu ethnic group, one of the largest in Latin America.

The three day event was sponsored by the Wayúu Tayá Foundation, presided by the Venezuelan model and actress, Patricia Velásquez. “We needed a strategic ally in the area with in-depth knowledge of the ethnic group, which was well respected and could open the community doors for us. They were in charge of delivering the information and calling the communities”, says María Lidia Gomes, manager of Fundación Sanitas Venezuela.

After a few preliminary visits, tours and coordination with other involved persons, such as the Mara Mayoralty and the Paraguachón Customs Office of the Seniat, the logistics were defined among the Cavecol members and guests and the Wayúu Tayá Foundation was contacted. On the starting day, more than 50 volunteers and technical equipment were placed in three points along the border area: Guarero, located 15 minutes away from the border, Los Lechosos and the Tamare Church.

Aid and lessons
“Fundafarmacia brought a mobile unit for gynecological attention. We brought pediatricians and general physicians, we conducted parasite control events and provided anti-parasite medication to over 400 children under 12 years old”, says Gomes proudly. The executive further says that the activities included the vaccination of children, health, nutrition and hygiene information as well as general medical information to everyone. “This was the result of the joint effort of many collaborators, including the Red Cross”.
Gomes holds that as a result of the previous work, there were no surprises. “There is a high index of malnutrition. The Mara Municipality accounts for the highest number of infantile death from parasitosis and malnutrition in Venezuela and the second place in Latin America. Nestlé brought the Nutrimóvil, where they can weight, measure and size children to verify if they are within the normal range”. General malnutrition was verified and gave the organizers a better understanding of the situation for future events to face this problem and parasitosis, which is present in most cases. “Next time we have to bring dermatology experts and associate with a laboratory that can offer these treatments. We learned that too”.

Principal challenges
Just listening to the stories of María Lidia Gomes gives us an idea of the many hardships they had to overcome. The intricateness of the area, the remoteness of these places and the logistics of the entire event required much time and effort of the organizers. But there were other additional conditions. “Many persons don’t talk or understand Spanish. We required the permanent support of translators to speak to them in wayuunaiki, the indigenous language of the population. This is important in a medical event because you need the data, you need to talk to them, learn their symptoms, the name of the person and the child, their age and much more”.
In fact, the informative lectures offered to the beneficiaries were given in Spanish and in wayuunaiki, with the aid of the Wayuunaiki Diary. Also, other cultural habits had to be understood. “Their medicine is handled by a lady who is like the herbperson. They have that belief. We are thinking about how to offer them better assistance in the future”.
 
The future
Cavecol and its allies are already working in the organization of the next border events. They will be held at San Antonio del Táchira next November, where they will associate with the Red Cross once again, “who know the work and give medical assistance but require support”. This will be an opportunity to apply what was learned during their first visit to this area and which is now proposed as a permanent scheme: November in Táchira and May in Zulia. “We want to reach other places where there is need, such as Apure, but that is still under study because of security issues”, concludes María Lidia Gomes, manager of Fundación Sanitas Venezuela.

Health in figures