Project MAESTRA

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

Introductory Note: MAESTRA is a project from Friendship Mission, one of the Global Mission partners in Paraguay.

Another year has passed. Much more has been learned.

Last year when I was working as doctor for the annual church camps I told Marianne that next year if I was not busy enough doing other things and had enough free time to do the camps again we would not stay. This year I was not able to work the church camps because of busy time with Project MAESTRA. We are still here.

Introductory Note: MAESTRA is a project from Friendship Mission, one of the Global Mission partners in Paraguay.

Another year has passed. Much more has been learned.

We have come a long way with MAESTRA. A year ago we were struggling with locations and numbers of patients. These problems were resolved when we learned about the many government health clinics that have all but been abandoned due to lack of monetary support from the government. There are 86 in and around Asuncion. They were started in the early 1990’s after the fall of the dictator as a means to address the problems with long lines of patients waiting at the hospitals to see a doctor. But as corruption has grown through all areas of the government, support for the clinics has suffered. Now most of the clinics are staffed with a nurse’s aid who gives free vaccinations. The salary is 500,000 guaranies (about $100.00) a month even though the legal minimum wage is 1,200,000 a month. Most of the clinics do not have services provided by a doctor. Once again people wait in long lines at the hospitals to see a doctor. In May of last year we met with the governmental director of these clinics and explained to her what MAESTRA is about and she liked the idea so well, that she opened a previously abandoned clinic and hired a full time nurse even though we only wanted to go there one afternoon a week. When we realized success at that site we expanded to two more, and subsequently a third site. We now are seeing about a hundred patients a week at five different sites. The charge is 4,000 guaranies (80 cents) of which half goes to the clinic to help pay the cost of maintenance. If a patient cannot pay we wave the fee. We had occasion do some free clinics but were overwhelmed with patients, many of whom did not need to be seen. By charging this token amount we are able to effectively eliminate the “necessaries” and also give value to our services. There are low cost medications available at the clinics and we also have a supply of our own which we sell at or below cost. Again, if a patient cannot pay, we wave the cost. We also try to keep a supply of samples to give away. If funding becomes available we hope to expand to at least 15 clinics a week.

This month Project MAESTRA will fulfill one of our initial goals by expanding into the area of education. The Friendship Mission School of Nursing has been doing surveys in the communities surrounding our clinics. This month they will use the results of these studies to begin education in the communities. Depending on the need, the classes or workshops may include the importance of vaccinations, hygiene, nutrition, preventive health care, diabetes, or hypertension. This also fulfills a requirement that the nursing students need in order to attain their license in nursing technology. In addition, it lets us live up to our name, “MAESTRA,” which means “teacher” in Spanish.

Marianne’s work also is growing. This month she will start back to work from summer vacation in a full time position. (Previously she was just half time) She enjoys teaching English literature in the private school environment mostly because of the staff and administrative support.

Since she will be working full time she has informed the director of Friendship Mission that she will not be volunteering to teach English at the mission. Last year her program started well with several students in 5 different levels or age groups. But there was no control or guidelines from administration, and they kept signing up new students in whatever class time they preferred without regard to level of speaking ability. As a result students who started the year got frustrated when new students were added. New students could not make the progress they desired because they could not keep up. The number of students varied day to day and by the end of the year only a core group in two of the five classes remained.

We continue to search for new ways to experience the culture here. Last week end we went to Mbu Tuy to visit the families of Delia and Nelida who work with MAESTRA. The homes are built of wood with dirt floors and thatched roofs. There is electricity but no running water. The outhouses are like nothing that I’ve ever experienced. There is no seat, just a 6 inch square hole in the floor.

Other projects I am involved with include finding a mammogram machine to start a breast cancer screening project; and exploring the possibility of building a nursing home.

Our “mission” has taken shape and is alive. We enjoy being with the people and especially for me working side by side with them. The Spirit has been good to us and we are grateful for this chance to share with others.

Bendiciones,
Paul Jacquay

Paul Jacquay serves as a long term volunteer at Mision de Amistad (Friendship Mission) in Paraguay. Paul works as health consultant for the medical department and is a nurse trainer at the Mision de Amistad School of Nursing.