Medical Clinic
Medical care is provided by a local Guatemalan pediatrician, Sandra M. Acajabon Monzon,
every Monday, Thursdays and Friday from 9:00 am to 12:30pm at the school
with the following objectives.
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Evaluate 100% of the children enrolled in kindergarten, grade
school and middle school twice a year.
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Attend 100% of the children that require
emergency medical attention.
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Provide medicine without any cost.
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Provide references for special cases
in which an appointment with a specialist would be beneficial, covering 100% of
the costs of the consult and any required treatments.
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Perform a vision test on all of the
children (buy glasses for the children and adolescents that require them.
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Attend 100% of parents of children enrolled
in this project that require medical attention.
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De-Parasite 100% of the children twice
a year.
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Cover the costs related to any additional
lab work or special tests that are required.
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Provide vitamins without
cost daily to 100% of the children in attendance.
Escuela Integrada - Antigua provided free basic medical care and medicine for all
of its students and their immediate families. More than 125 kids and adults are
treated each month.
Psychological Clinic — special counseling is available for all of our students.
This is a serious need as many are subjected to all kinds of abusive home situations.
For the past four (4) years Escuela Integrada has been supported by
Save
the Children
Denmark with monies that have been donated by a Danish corporation,
Multidata.
Multidata
is the largest human resource and
payroll systems company in Denmark servicing nearly 90,000 companies which
represent more than 1.3 million Danish employees. They are responsible for making
possible the functioning of the school’s Medical Clinic and Psychological Clinic.
All equipment, medicines and salaries associated with these two clinics are covered
by their donation. In 2006 the amount of money given to Escuela Integrada by Multidata
was 250,000 kronar or just over 300,000Q in Guatemalan currency or
approximately $40,000.00 US. This represents 25% of the
school’s budget. In addition to the support given to supplement the physical and
mental health care available to the children and families of the project, Multidata’s
support covers a percentage of: school activities, teacher’s salaries, accounting
salaries, investments in equipment, and purchases of books and supplies.
Perhaps after reading the life story of Luis Angel who is enrolled in Escuela Integrada,
you will get a better idea of why an on-site medical clinic is such a necessity
and why we are so grateful for the support that makes it possible.
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Luis Angel Marroquin Fajardo |
Class Photo 2006 |
My name is Luis Angel Marroquin Fajardo and I am 7 years old. I live with
my mother and my 7 brothers and sisters. I am the next to last. My father does not
live at home because he used to hit my mother a lot and made me very afraid because
he also used to hit me a lot. Because of this my mother would cry and cry and then
he went to live with another woman. My father was not nice and I did not like him.
He used to scold me and my mother would try to defend me and he would push her.
I love my mother because she is very pretty. My mother loves me very much because
I do my homework and she does not hit me. When she asks me to do her a favor I do
it like going and getting fire wood with my brothers. I like to watch television,
the cartoon Pokemon. I like my brothers and sisters because they loan me their toys.
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When I am in school my leg hurts very much because I have a bad one. When I walk
a lot it hurts me more. I was born like this says my mom. I am happy to study in
the school, I like it a lot because there we play and it is very nice and I like
it because they give me a lot of things. We also get to do our homework and play
on the swings. I like my teacher very much. |
The following is a write-up by our on-site pediatrician whose salary is covered
by Save the Children Denmark and Multidata. The family had not sought medical help
for their young son because they were intimidated by the enormity of the problem
and because they knew that they would not be able to pay for the treatment required.
Medical Report: LUIS ANGEL MARROQUIN FAJARDO
Age: 8 años
Grade: First Grade
Medical History: Luís Ángel
is a child in our school with a chronic problem of the hips.
According to the information that the mother has given us, she is unaware
of when the problem started. Apparently
he was developing well and more or less when he was about 5 years old she noticed
that he was having trouble walking.
The child to date has not received adequate medical attention and his current state
is the following:
Monday the 9th of October Luís
Ángel was evaluated by Dr. Marco Antonio Ruiz, who is a specialist in orthopedics.
Luis Angel’s lastest X-ray gave as a result the following diagnosis:
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Dislocatión of the Left Hip,
with shortness of the same leg.
Right Hip: Vascular Necrosis
of the head of the fémur (Syndrome -- Legg Perthes Calvé).
Diagnosis: Luis Angel’s bilateral
disease has been found to be in an advanced state because of this Dr. Ruiz recommends
that the child be attended in the National Orthopedic Hospital in Guatemala City.
Because of the severity of the damage the child will need treatment over a long period of time.
There does exist the possibility of offering him surgery but his entire rehabilitation
will require a long process. It is because of this that it is necessary to visit
this hospital as soon as possible with the family to begin the treatments for Luís
Ángel.
This report has been put together
by Dr. Sandra Acajabón, Pediatrician of Escuela Integrada de Niños Trabajadores.
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Escuela Integrada is proud to be a project supported by the Save the Children worldwide
alliance and we participate wholeheartedly in their campaigns and initiatives. We
are currently working with Save the Children Guatemala on the Global Challenge for
Quality in Education.
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