Home visits - Finding community health needs in Nuevo Peñasco

On our second and third day in Puerto Peñasco, our group traveled from the center of town about 3km (1.8 miles) to a section of town called Nuevo Peñasco, splitting into two teams for home canvasing the neighborhoods' medical needs for several hours each day.

Nuevo has a stark conditional contrast to other parts of Peñasco. Cracked pavement turned to dirt as we entered. While there was litter strewn through Peñasco, it is common to see piles of garbage all around, with a noticeably larger street dog population.

According to Saul Veladiz, the city gave plots of land to residents who needed a place to build a home. Many took the city up on the offer, erecting houses and sheds with what they could afford and what is available.

In multiple neighborhoods it is common to see blocks of houses made of corrugated tin, particle board, cinder blocks, wood pallets and the like, housing their families in small, often dirt-floored, domiciles. All of these houses are set next to one of the city's sewage treatment reservoirs.

Our group split into two, aided by bi-lingual assistants Eddie and Vianey, tackling Nuevo Peñasco a block at a time. Our goal during this period was to gather information about the residents of the area, how many people lived in the house, what amenities they had (such as indoor or outdoor toilets), if anybody had long-term medical issues and more.

Many of the locals were eager to talk with our EMTs and assistants. Several of the residents thanked us for what we were doing after being given a flier about our upcoming neighborhood clinic.

As we went door-to-door the local children could be heard telling others up and down the street that there were American doctors around, with some of the kids eager to chat and followed by a dog or three typically.