The Roberto Clemente Clinic Blog

April 17th, 2009
From Catwalk to Clinic
By Jess Blumberg

Last night I attended a benefit/fashion show called “Denim, Designers & Donations,” hosted by Elizabeth Zepp, Jill Peterson and Lisa Surino from Agora, Inc., at Red Maple in Mt. Vernon. The event, which sold out in two days, featured Agora employees modeling clothes from local stores to benefit the Roberto Clemente, Santa Ana Health Clinic in Nicaragua. The clinic supplies free and low-cost medical care to the isolated villages and communities in the southwest part of the country.

When I arrived around 6:15, Red Maple was already packed. The bottom floor was reserved for press and VIPs, but the top floor was general admission and looked wall-to-wall crowded. Attendees were sipping on Prosecco and nibbling on pot stickers and mini bruschetta (food was generously provided by businessman Greg Barnhill). I got a chance to take a peek upstairs where the models were prepping. On the girls side of the floor, Agora event coordinator/model Jill Peterson said she was a little nervous for the show, but more excited than anything. The girls were dressed in fashion provided by Babe in Federal Hill, however owner Lisa Ponzoli couldn’t attend the event because she had to watch the shop. I reached her today and she said this about her selections: “We wanted to go with the whole Nicaraguan theme with bright colors like coral and bright green,” she said. “Of course they also tied in with the upcoming spring and summer seasons. Just fun.”

Over on the guys side of the room, things were a little more low-key. They were grabbing a bit to eat (and drinking away some nerves) before the show started. All of the guys were styled by Reason (the male counterpart to Whimsy in Federal Hill). Store co-owner Jen Solomon and Reason manager Nikki Reese said they picked a broad range for the show. “Some of the clothes have a military theme, with the shoulder epaulets,” Solomon said. “But then we have more preppy looks with more of a boating feel.” Reese explained that they only had a couple of days to put the outfits together (Jean Pool in Mt. Washington was originally slated to dress the men, but unfortunately had financial difficulties because of a recent break-in). “We’ve done events like this before, but this was the quickest we had to work,” Reese said. “We wanted to show that our store really caters to every style.”

As the show was about to start, I got back downstairs and listened to the speakers. The clinic’s operational manager, Juan Muñoz, spoke candidly and passionately about the work that they do. “The idea is about building community in Nicaragua,” he said. “And providing simple healthcare for people who don’t have the money and resources that we have.” He explained that the money people donate goes to paying for doctors, nurses, and equipment for the clinic’s roughly 10,000 patients per year. There were plenty of ways to give last night. Besides ticket sales, Red Maple gave 15 percent of the drink sales towards the clinic and there was a $1 raffle with a chance to win a trip to Nicaragua, a Mt. Vernon prize package, or beautiful Nicaraguan pottery. Plus, Agora matches any donations by 100 percent.

The fashion show went off without a hitch. There were 10 Agora employees walking down the “runway” in two sets of outfits, stopping to pose under the spotlight at the end while Gutter magazine photographer Sarah Beck snapped away. The models walked from one end of Red Maple, up the stairs to the next floor, and back again. After the show, Julia Guth, who helped establish the clinic and oversees some of the financial and travel publications for Agora, gave thanks. “I’m very proud that we are helping to provide better health and sanitation,” Guth said. “We can save lives and uplift spirits in those villages.”

To find out more about the clinic and possibly donate, please see their website: http://www.nicaclinic.org

This is the first trip that I have made to the Roberto Clemente Clinic in late September and October.  I can now understand why the ex-pats who live in the area choose October as the month they go back to the USA for their vacation.

My first visit to the Clinic was in June, 2005 and it rained a lot then causing the roads to be deeply groved in mud and the rivers impassable on two different days.  However, during that trip it didn’t rain many days in a row and eventually the mud dried a little and the rivers subsided enough to cross with a four wheel drive vehicle.

The rains during this trip were daily for weeks and constant for many days in a row.  Needless to say such weather (tiempo) makes it very difficult, if not impossible for the patients and the Clinic staff to reach the Clinic.  However, such excessive lluvia brings more unusual patients to the Clinic.  This past month a baby was delivered in the Clinic because the parents were not able to travel to the Rivas Hospital.  More trauma patients have been seen for machete accidents due to the machete slipping from the intended point of contact. Fortunately, all three clinicians, Dr. Julio Flores, and nurses Carlos Pena and Martha Miranda are skilled technicians for trauma repairs.  It never ceases to amaze me how well these three clinicians execute wound closure, and restoration of function for the patient without wound infections.  Example from this trip:  An older gentleman came in from the muddy field with a deep machete wound to the top of his foot; there was tendon involvement.  After a somewhat lengthy repair with struggles of breaking suture materials, the gentleman left the Clinic with his toe function intact, bandaged with appropriate gauzes, an ace bandage and an orthopedic boot that was a bit too short for his foot.   When he returned for a dressing change some days later, he toes were moving, his wound was intact and healing nicely.  And yes, he had to walk with his orthopedic boot in the mud that was pervasive everywhere.  At the next Clinic visit, some sutures were removed and Dr. Flores gave him an exercise program to strengthen and stretch his foot and toes.

Over the past three years, I have tried to make my bi-annual volunteer Clinic visits at different months so that I gain more knowledge about the weather and how it affects Clinic operation and challenges that the weather creates for patients and staff.  This year was similar to my first Clinic experience but the conditions were magnified by 50%.  I will vividly remember this trip and the roads between Tola and the Clinic.  And I will also remember that if I choose September and October as my working vacation months again, I will make sure that I am not in a hurry to visit other areas and allow two days to get to the airport in Managua.  This trip I was lucky and left in one of the two day breaks in the rain.  Traveling to Nicaragua and working at the Roberto Clemente Santa Ana Health Clinic is worth every minute of effort and challenge.  Try it sometime, although I wouldn’t recommend October as the chosen month.

Margie Fincham, RN, MSN

Welcome to our Health Clinic

Hola amigos de NicaClinic:

There have been many positive changes for the Roberto Clemente Clinic in the past year. The theme for this update is progress.

Since mid-2007 laboratory services were provided one day a week at the Clinic. , a registered lab technician performs routine blood and urine tests including blood chemistry exams.

This service is especially good for the people of the area since many of them would travel to Tola or Rivas for these tests. A Clinic goal for 2008 is to acquire a gynecology exam table through donation so that Pap tests can be performed.

Please Click Here to download our newsletter.

Please feel free to send our newsletter to people that you consider will benefit from this information or may be able to help us in this project. Visit our website http://www.nicaclinic.org to read more about our volunteer program.

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Gracias

Juan Munoz