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I'm still here in San Juan La Laguna and I'm getting to see more and more each day how good we really have it back home. So many of us take things for granted, but being here has opened my eyes and made me thankful for what I have and also motivated to help out where I can. I can't put into words the hardships that I am witnessing. The town of San Juan is a lot better off than some of it's neighboring communities. Each day during driver training, I pass through all of the towns surrounding San Juan. The streets are full of young children who are living in poverty-stricken conditions with the likes that I've never seen. I'm sure there are many places in world with similar or worse conditions and it really makes me sad. Every child I see in San Pablo is covered with dirt and worn out clothing, their play ground is the trash covered street, but that doesn't stop them from greeting me with a big smile and an "Hola".

Taking Things For Granted

Jeremy Curl
2006-08-28 16:15:07

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a man from Spain who was drunk and obviously on some drugs and had attacked someone with a machete. The local police had thrown him into a dark, dirty stairwell and had locked him up there for 12 hours straight. Some of his friends had called us because they were afraid he was going to die. On scene, Rich talked with the police and me and Joel (the nurse) tended to the man. We had to wear headlamps because it was so dark in the stairwell. I have never seen someone so messed up in my life. The man was unable to speak, had puke and urine all over, was trembling and rocking back and forth. The guy had actually scratched his legs so much that he had worn a hole through his pants. I will never forget the look in his
eyes. There was some obvious mental damage. There was nothing we could do for him there. We had checked his vitals and we recommended transport to a hospital, but the police refused to let him go because of his crimes. The police said that they would transport him themselves and we were asked to leave. The mans friends were extremely upset and begged for us to take the guy, but the police refused and we had to leave. Two hours later, the department was called because the man had died and they want an official confirmation of death. This was a big reminder for me that I am in a Third World Country.

The last few days in San Juan, I continued to train the guys on the stick shift which is quite the task to be done on roads such as these. On many occasions we have stalled out in the middle of the road while other vehicles laid on their horns and waved their hands about. Not to mention the numerous hills throughout the area that we rolled backwards on; nearly smashing into the vehicle behind us. Hey, well at least these stressful situations have improved my
Spanish. After training on Thursday, I attended a meeting in San Pedro with three of our guys, The head man in San Pedro (we'll just call him the mayor), and numerous other big wigs in ...