Rolling with the punches ... a new frontier!

The rollercoaster ride that is this summer wouldn't be complete without a big TWIST in the middle...

Due to strikes and protests in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, the location of our project has been moved from isolated multiethnic area of Sahsa to Leon Province's poorest sector of El Sauce. While we likely would not have been particularly unsafe had we remained in Sahsa under current conditions, the potential roadblocks and other transportation issues would have made it difficult for us to evacuate the area had the situation escalated or had there been some other kind of medical emergency or natural disaster.
Though I am terribly disappointed that we will not be able to work the population in Sahsa, I am happy that we will at least be able to continue our work in another area of Nicaragua that can use our help. UNAN already identified El Sauce as an area where a health surveillance system should be developed, and we will be helping the University in their endeavor. We plan use the same health surveys we developed for Sahsa (with a few tweaks to suit the new population) and we will work with the administrative health staff in El Sauce to set up educational charlas on reproductive health and sexual health issues. We plan to send some of the medicine and medical supplies we purchased to Sahsa with an UNAN representative, and we will also purchase more medical supplies for El Sauce depending on their needs. This is an exciting opportunity for us and for El Sauce, as the area has been identified as needing improved health infrastructure and better data on the health issues in the area. We are ready and willing to help.

More info on El Sauce to follow....