South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, October 20, 2006 Page: 4 of 28
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- South Texas Catholic
diocese
October 20, 2006
MISSION
From page 1
Just over three hours from the Diocese of Corpus
Christi, across the border into Mexico, Reynosa is a town
with neighboring colomas full of abject poverty, observed
first-time missionary and Corpus Christi Cathedral
parishioner, Sean-Michael Hazuda.
He was part of a 12-member team, under the direction
of veteran local missionary,
Sara Merdes-Judd, that
provided cleft lip and cleft
palate surgeries and physical
rehabilitation for three days.
Cramped cinderblock
homes absent of electricity and running water dot the
unsanitary streets in the colonia where the people have
very little available to them, much less health care.
“It was very7 sobering for all of us to be there and see
what these individuals live through,” Hazuda recalled
two months later at his office in Corpus Christi.
No stranger to the plight of the poor locally in Corpus
Christi, Hazuda, who is the Executive Director and CEO
of Metro Ministries, saw this impoverished population as
something completely new. Even working with the poor
in Corpus Christi had not prepared him for the desperate
situation he would face.
“Our poor are much better off than the very best of
what these people have,” he said.
With few means of income and no fundraising abilities,
the small rehab facility in the colonia of Fidel Velaquez,
about 15 miles outside of Reynosa, struggles to survive
with support from Corpus Christi and the Missionary7
Sisters of Mary, Jesus and Joseph who run the daily
operations.
Mariana Gomez is the wife of the mayor of Reynosa
“Our poor are much better off than the
very best of what these people have.”
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and president of the
Desarrollo Integral de la
Familia (DIF), wkich
provides basic services to families that can’t afford to pay.
It is largely her responsibility to take care of the poor and
the rehab centers, Sara Merdes-Judd said. Merdes-Judd
w7orked closely with her to open the rehab center, work
with customs and to continue deliver supplies to Mexico.
She said that people in the colonia were able to see
therapists in the city, but that required transportation,
which was many times unreliable or difficult for some of
the severely handicapped clients.
Dr. Chili Robinson,
M.D., FACS, of the
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
Institute in Corpus
Christi, surgically
repaired or improved
eight children with cleft deformities in three days at the
Hospital Regionale del Rio.
“Because (the deformity) affects their relationships at
home and at school, many of these kids don’t get the
opportunity to show and grow into the smart, creative
kids that they are destined to be,” Robinson said. “School
advancement, employment, and marriage are all more
difficult for them, so they remain a burden to their
families. A burden that can be corrected by surgery
speech
therapy and
medical
attention to
their ear
infections
which can
cause
hearing
difficulties.”
The team
included
two
physicians,
six nurses,
a speech
pathologist,
several
workers
and a
college
student.
The volunteers on the trip donated their time, many
leaving lucrative jobs at home. Team member Juanita
Garcia, Merdes-Judd said, was a valuable help as an
interpreter for those who could not speak Spanish
fluently.
According to Robinson, about 20 people in the reha-
bilitation clinic had evaluations done and treatment plans
made by Dr. Frieda Wosk, a physical medicine doctor
from Boston.
While children were the ones to receive the surgeries,
the physical rehabilitation and evaluations were provided
to children and adults.
Bringing a medical team to Reynosa for the first time,
Sara Merdes-Judd was overwhelmed by it all. In just five
years, she has organized the donations of physical
Patients at the rehabilitation center wait
to be seen by the mission team. Adults
as well as children are provided with
care.
A mother cries as her son's
medical needs are
evaluated by team
members; Dr. Wosk and
Sean-Michael Hazuda.
More than 20 patients
with profound mental and
physical disabilities were
seen and evaluated in
three days. A physical
therapist then comes in
to follow up with the
patients. "The parents
were so happy " Hazuda
said. "It was clear that
many of their children
had never been evaluated
before."
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therapy equipment and worked with missionary doctors
who provide all their services for free.
“It was wonderful,” she said. “You saw new lives being
formed.”
Her next endeavor is to find equipment to help the
blind children in Reynosa, while continuing to keep close
tabs on the clinic she founded in Patzun, Guatemala,
which will open two new air-conditioned operating
rooms in January7.
The Mexico mission was a learning experience for
Sean-Michael Hazuda.
“It helped open my eyes. These people don’t have
material things . . .they will forever be poor . . . yet look
how happy they are,” Hazuda said.
He was also touched by the determination of the
people. He remembers the day he saw a girl named
Myrna with severe cerebral palsy get into a car and drive
away. She had earned enough money and taught herself
to drive in
order to
drive herself
to neighbor-
ing towns to
sell home-
made CDs of
her personal
testimonies
of courage
and determi-
nation.
Dr.
Robinson
felt some-
thing change within him as well.
“I personally had my faith in God strengthened due to
my association with Sara. I felt the intercultural exchange
will enrich my life,” he said.
Representatives from New7 Sound Hearing Aid Center
returned to Reynosa October 16 and 17 to check hearing
and make
impressions for
molds for 80-
100 hearing
aids, thanks to a
donation from
the Starkey
Corp., which
will then be
distributed
around Thanks-
giving weekend.
“This mission
was a great
success due to
the work of
many dedicated
people who love
to serve the
Ford by serving
others,” Dr.
Robinson
summarized.
For more
information, or to learn how to support the mission in
Reynosa, please call Sara Merdes-Judd at 361-855-9577.
Dr. Chili Robinson, Sara Merdes-Judd
and assistant, Pat Evans. Of Merdes-Judd
Robinson said, "(She) is the saint that
seeks out ways to serve the Lord."
^ j
HU
tf
An anesthesiologist from Mexico,
who works in Reynosa and
Monterrey, came to work with the
team.
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Goldapp, Paula J. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, October 20, 2006, newspaper, October 20, 2006; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth856034/m1/4/?q=iraq+reconstruction: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .