El Salvador nominates medical mission for Nobel Peace Prize

It's the country's way of honoring the life-saving work for its people by Tampa Bay area volunteers.

By ROBERT FARLEY
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 12, 2001

TAMPA -- For years, dozens of Tampa Bay area doctors, nurses and volunteers have gone to El Salvador to provide free life-saving medical treatment for thousands of poor people.

On Tuesday night, a Salvadoran official came to Tampa to return the favor.

"We believe it is important to recognize that effort," Salvadoran congressman David Trejo told a roomful of Mission of Mercy volunteers at the Tampa International Airport Marriott.

Trejo then read a proclamation nominating the Mission of Mercy for the Nobel Peace Prize. From Tampa, he is headed to Oslo, Norway, to submit the nomination formally.

"With your work, we believe a better world can be construed," Trejo said. He said he decided to stop in Tampa to meet some of the volunteers who have done so much work in his country.

He met Mission of Mercy founder Dr. Roberto Araujo, an oncologist and hematologist with offices in New Port Richey and Tarpon Springs. Araujo is a native of the mountain town of Jucuapa, where the group visits each year.

About 60,000 Salvadorans have been treated since Mission of Mercy first came to the country in 1993. Doctors perform cataract surgeries and remove malignant tumors.

"A group of volunteers set out to change the world one day at a time, one patient at a time," Araujo said.

Trejo also met Harold Haftel of Tarpon Springs, a retired orange grove owner who has helped collect eyeglasses to take to El Salvador.

Two years ago, the mission brought 10,000 pairs of glasses, which were then splayed across a table. Poor people with bad vision simply picked through the pile until they found a pair that enabled them to read a newspaper.

"You are in a position to help, so you help," Haftel said.

Dr. Dipti Mehta, an internist from Holiday, has made the trip to El Salvador five years running, several times with her daughters, now 18 and 14.

"There are so many people there who not only can't afford a doctor, they can't afford medicine," she said. "Women die of URIs (urinary tract infections) because they can't afford antibiotics."

Trejo also met Cynthia Roever, 20, who first became involved with Mission of Mercy when she was 16. Since then, she has made speeches to civic and social groups, soliciting donations. Throughout the year, she helps pack boxes of medical supplies, clothes and other necessities that are brought to El Salvador.

"It's a great learning experience," she said. "It has become a passion for me."

It is chaotic and hot, she said, but she knew they were needed when she saw the impossibly long lines of people waiting through the night to see a doctor.

She also persuaded her father, Dr. Frederick Roever, a senior internist at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, to commit to Mission of Mercy.

"We do this because it makes us feel good," Dr. Roever said. "The people who go on these things are pure warriors. They are going there to help people. They care about people and they change people's lives."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright