Project Nino (Spanish for child) started in 1985 out of the desire to provide medical help to the children who had been affected by the Mexico earthquake of 1985. The project now serves children who otherwise would have very limited access to medical care. It also has had an impact on the everyday lives of the people we serve. The highlight of the project is the clinic itself. It takes place in Santiago de Tautla, a small village forty-five miles north of Mexico City. Santiago de Tautla is a very poor village where many of the homes do not have lights, running water or other modern conveniences. Each year in August, a group of physicians, dentists, optometrists, nurses, and psychologists from Fresno turn the village elementary school into a clinic. Our Mexican Rotary partner in Project Nino is the Rotary Club of Tlalnepantla, Mexico.

Once the free clinic opens in the village school, several thousand children are seen over the next five days. For most of the children, the clinic is their only medical care and some families walk for days to get to the village. Medical problems are treated or referred for care. Dental restorations or extractions are performed and dental hygiene lectures are given to try to prevent future problems. Eye examinations are performed and eyeglasses provided to those in need. Public health lectures are provided to help the people understand better what they can do to prevent illness. Psychologists have been a recent addition. They help parents deal with the behavior problems of their children. A pharmacy stocked by most donated medicines is able to provide the medicines needed to treat most common ailments. For those conditions we cannot treat, we arrange referrals to local hospitals, the National Institute of Pediatrics, or the Shriner's Hospital in Mexico City. With the help of our Mexican Rotarians, arrangements are made to see the children get the specialized care they need. The clinic itself is furnished with donated equipment, which is shipped from Fresno. The villagers prepare the school. The school now has electricity, working toilets, landscaping, and fresh paint and it has recently formed a PTA.

Another portion of the project is a series of seminars conducted at Mexico City hospitals. One series is for doctors. Another is for nurses. Using simultaneous translation, topics previously selected by the Mexican health care professionals are presented by doctors and nurses from the Central California area. These post graduate seminars are consistently over registered. The seminars for the doctors and nurses are so popular that each year larger quarters are needed. The most notable achievement of 2001 was our expansion of the nursing course. The Rotary Clubs in Mexico rented a large conference room so we could accommodate 220 nurses. There is very little post-graduate training for nurses, so our participants come from all over Mexico.

 For those that would like specific numbers, during the 2001 trip we served nearly 5,000 children. We dispensed 2,500 prescriptions and over 1000 pair of glasses. We provided seminars for 150 doctors and seminars for over 200 nurses. Our team consisted of 24 health care professionals and an additional 20 auxiliary staff. The long term benefits are incalculable. The general health of the families and children within a 200 mile radius of the village is remarkably improved. The "Gueros" (blond hair doctors) as all the health care professionals are known in the village, are an example of Rotary in Action.

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