Pfc. Sushil Ram of the 593rd Corps Support Group, Fort Lewis, Wash., laughs along with some new friends at the St. Vincent de Paul Society Children's Home in San Salvador, El Salvador. Pfc. Jason Northcutt, USA

 

Eagle Force Soldiers, Marines Brighten Orphans' Days 

  By Staff Sgt. Todd Oliver, USA, and Spc. Aaron Reed, USA

Special to the American Forces Press Service

 SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- The baby was no more than two months old and she was cradled on the hip of a nine-year-old girl. Both are  orphans. The baby clearly needed medical attention -- nearly 80
 percent of her body was covered with sores and rashes. Her plight is
 heart-rending, but she is luckier than some people on the other side
 of a 10-foot-high gate.

 The St. Vincent de Paul Society Children's Home is an oasis in San
 Salvador's rough-and-tumble San Jacinto neighborhood. Its blue and
 white walls stand at the end of a winding, rutted, trash-strewn road
 lined with open-sided bars and the wooden stalls of a busy open-air
 market. Swarms of flies engulf slabs of meat that hang on hooks in
 the scorching mid-morning sun.

 A blue El Salvadoran air force bus trundles through the gauntlet and
 a raucous chorus of car horns and revving engines. Its cargo: gifts of
 medicine and food from Joint Task Force-Aguila, based 30 miles south
 of town at Comalapa Air Base -- and task force members packed three
 to a seat and standing in the aisle.

 The visitors arrived with a mission: Bring aid and comfort to the more
 than 450 children in the home. In addition, a medical team from the
 86th Combat Support Hospital would put skills to work -- and gain
 valuable data.

 The visit gives the Americans a chance to see what medical problems
 seem prevalent locally and what to expect with the children in other
 places, said Army Lt. Col. Lillian W. Williams, hospital deputy
 commander and chief nurse. Twice weekly she sends teams to areas
 identified by El Salvador's Ministry of Health as having been
 critically damaged recently by Hurricane Mitch.

 "We have the specialists, so why not use them?" she said. "These
 people don't have a lot of other resources to fall back on."

 Almost half the children in the home are orphans, some the enduring
 victims of El Salvador's 12-year civil war. Some were placed by social
 workers because of abusive parents. Some belong to families that are
 too poor to feed them. Others were simply abandoned -- police found
 one infant boy on a trash heap six months ago. 

 "We are here to make these children happy," said Sgt. Maj. Edgardo A.
 Menjivar of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 593rd Corps Support Group, Fort Lewis, Wash. In his hand, he carried a flight bag filled with clothes, medicine and other items for the children.

 "It won't be enough, but it's something. It's a start. I asked the
 nurse here what kind of things they were missing. One of the things
 they need is cotton balls. That tells you how much we take for granted.
 I buy cotton balls to shine my boots," he said. "I can't guarantee
 what the conditions will be here two years from now. I can tell you
 that things will be better for the next 90 days, though.

 The medical team examined children in the home's clean, bright
 infirmary and found most of the problems were relatively simple:
 skin disorders -- rashes and scabies -- and secondary infections that
 would respond readily to donated antibiotics. They also took note of
 cases needing follow-up attention.

 "The people here seem to be on top of the problems, and they follow-up
 well," said Capt. Barbara Agen, a pediatric nurse practitioner. "They
 just need some help with the medicines."

 "The kids look great," said Dr. (Capt.) Rob Atkins, the hospital
 unit's family practitioner. "They're very well-nourished and healthy.
 Obviously these children are well cared-for."

 Those children seemed to care only that the Americans were there, not
 why. They surrounded the visitors, a cross section of Army and Marine
 Corps personnel deployed to the task force for hurricane relief work.
 Some waited as the Americans opened ration packs and passed out the
 contents. Others sipped bottled water, while others asked to hold hands
 or to be picked up. Giggles and laughter intermingled with questions
 asked time and again in Spanish to non-Spanish ears.

 "I heard about this trip and I was dressed, waiting for the bus, five
 minutes later," said Sgt. Demetrius Jackson, a food service specialist
 in Menjivar's company and father of three. "I love kids. I just wanted
 to see how these kids were. I knew they didn't have that much. I just
 wanted to see if I could bring them a little happiness with my smile."

 Cecilia Ramos, a shy 11-year-old orphan, and her friend, 13-year-old
 Marta Ramos (no relation), sat in the shade with Pfc. Grisel Ruiz.
 "We've just been chit- chatting," the Fort Lewis legal specialist said.
 "I've been talking about my daughter, who's 12, and we've been talking
 about school.

 "They were pretty quiet at first," Ruiz said. "It took them a while
 to start opening up to me." Cecilia, she learned, wants to own a bakery
 someday, while Marta's not sure what she wants to do when she grows up.

 "You could just see their faces light up," said Pfc. Jennifer Hernandez,
 a 593rd Corps Support Group administrative specialist. "All you had to
 do was hold their hands or give them a hug. They're little kids and
 they want to be loved. One little girl went on the swing with me and
 wouldn't let me put her down. She just wouldn't let go."

 Menjivar went around trying to get an accurate head count of children
 and their ages. "I needed to know how many were boys and how many were girls so that we could come back here for Christmas," said the sergeant major, who grew up in San Salvador and recalls playing soccer where the orphanage now stands. "We're going to start a collection so we can purchase some toys."

 "The kids were happy," Menjivar said. "You could hear it in their
 laughter and see it in their smiles. None of the children spoke English
 and most of our people can't speak Spanish, but after a while it didn't
 seem to be a problem. With children, you can always find a way to
 communicate."

 [Staff Sgt. Todd Oliver is assigned to the I Corps Public Affairs
 Office at Fort Lewis, Wash. Spc. Aaron Reed is assigned to 100th
 Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Texas Army National Guard.]