THE PLACE
FLY DESTINATION
El Salvador is located on the Pacific coast of Central America. It is gifted with beautiful beaches, lush vegetation and impressive volcanoes that make this country a tropical paradise in the middle of the South American continent.
The country is divided into 14 departments that has inspired the name of our organization, FOURTEEN ANGELS CO. EL SALVADOR, with a vision to unite all Salvadoreans around the world towards fulfilling our mission to help the children of El Salvador.
El Salvador is one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Latin America. Its current population is approximately six million that is only slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts. The country has experienced several recent dramatic changes, including twelve years of civil war, a reconstruction period, devastating earthquakes, wild storms and many other natural disasters.
The economic growth has not resulted in economic well-being amongst the population. At least 4 out of every 10 people still live under extreme poverty conditions, which affect mostly all children and adolescents especially in the rural sectors. This has a significant impact on children with disabilities or terminal diseases, especially in terms of access to adequate nutrition, water, sanitation and not to mention health care.
BENJAMIN BLOOM NATIONAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.
In El Salvador, there is only one public hospital dedicated to children that serves different necessities for at least 80% of the children’s population in the country. This hospital is known as the Benjamin Bloom National Children’s Hospital, commonly referred to as Bloom Hospital, which is located at the nation’s capital, San Salvador.
Built in 1944, the institution tends to young patients who always fill up their 382 beds, aside from 800 to 900 out-patient daily visits, providing most services for free. There is a waiting period for non-emergency procedures of one to two months and the number one cause of death among patients is asthma. The building has undergone reconstruction after the 1982 earthquake but some machines have been damaged beyond repair. As a result, the hospital has received aids from Germany in the form of imaging equipment and pumps but when repairs are needed, instructions are written in German, and the parts that need to be replaced are usually unavailable in the country and/or unaffordable for the government to provide.* In addition, most medical equipments have not been renewed for over two decades.**
One of the most affected areas is the Dialysis Treatment Center, where there is lack of supplies, medicine and equipment to provide standard service. Such delicate and life-saving treatment is vital to the life of the young patients but because of the expensive cost, many of the children face fatality. The parents make every effort possible to cope but unfortunately it’s not enough.
During our founder Reina Serrano’s visit to the hospital, she has learned that 230 children who receive dialysis treatment twice a week live in poverty conditions with families that are unable to afford the medical treatments on their own. Most of these children suffer from renal insufficiency or chronic kidney disease that is usually incurable and if left untreated would result to fatality.
Despite these challenging conditions, the doctors, nurses and staff of the Benjamin Bloom National Children’s Hospital are known to be wonderfully kind, patient, loving and devoted to children making Bloom Hospital to be regarded by many to have remarkable quality care in comparison with other medical facilities available in Central America.**
However, the Bloom Hospital medical team and staff cannot do it alone. These realities are the inspirations for the vigorous efforts carried out by our foundation, FOURTEEN ANGELS, whose sole ambition is to offer a helping hand to many Salvadorean children in dire need of medicine, medical equipment, therapies, transportation and moral support.
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