Élida explains how people were organized inside the Mesa Grande refugee camp in Honduras and describes her return to Arcatao.
- Chapter:
- Chapter 4: Refugee Experiences
- Interviewee:
- Élida
- Places:
- Mesa Grande Honduras
Transcription
[What was life like there, Ms. Élida?
It was organized. For every tent, there was a coordinator, a coordinator of healthcare and education. Everyone had to do something; it wasn't just about sitting around, but about doing something. If I knew how to do something, I could share it with someone else. There were some who were teachers and who taught children who didn't know. Those who had finished third and fourth grade were the teachers. The internationals did the same thing. They trained people to teach others. There was the religious part also, through the church, which was nice. We also had healthcare workers. I participated in that and liked it. Since then I have liked it so when I came here I became the health promoter. I was a health "guard" and visited people who had a fever. They gave me a thermometer to take people's temperature, and the doctor, who was there, Dr. Begoña, gave us talks every eight days. Some people still know her; she was a Spaniard. I think she may still be in the country. I don't know if she left for Spain. She trained us health guards in basic care. On how to detect a fever, how to take someone's temperature, how to treat diarrhea by going to the health booth to give people rehydrating liquid. So I felt we were pretty organized. We had food, cabbages. We had a nutrition center for children who were malnourished, and a tailor's shop. Well, there were a lot of jobs people did there, but as we would always say, the objective is not just to be there, but also to keep struggling. That is why I returned here with the group of people that was coming back.