ADES Santa Marta - Health reforms advance

Published: July 26 2017

ADES Santa Marta participated in Cabañas’ Ministry of Health report-back, held at the Catholic University of El Salvador in Ilobasco, Cabañas. The governor of Cabañas, Gloria Yaneth Saravia de Molina opened the event, followed by the Minister of Health, Violeta Menjivar, who spoke about the achievements and challenges facing El Salvador’s health system.

Dr. Ismael Hernández López, the coordinator of the Basic System of Integral Health (SIBASI) in Cabañas, shared encouraging health outcomes in Cabañas. “We currently have 38 health establishments and two hospitals in the department, while at the start of the program in 2009, we only had 14 health facilities… we are talking about an anual investment of $490,160 for the program,” adding that so far this year there have been zero maternal deaths and a considerable reduction in teen pregnancy.

In addition to the presentation, there was a health exhibition highlighting various themes, such as vaccinations and managing mosquitoes to avoid cases of Zika, Chikungunya, and Dengue.

Leadership organization and incidence

Throughout 23 years of community work, ADES Santa Marta has been accompanied by organizations, churches, national and international social groups, with whom, through cooperation and strategic partnerships, we have been able to carry out our community development initiatives.

The fields in which we have focused the most are education, community organizing and popular communication, solidarity economics, health, and organic agriculture.

Esther Ávalos Mesa

Invitation to the Utopia

I couldn’t avoid it. The famous words of Galeano were frolicking in my memory this Sunday as I attended the impressive Utopia Festival, brought to life by the Asociación de Desarrollo Económico y Social Santa Marta (ADES) and carried out by the youth from Cabañas and Cuscatlán. It took place in the Santa Marta Community Center.

Leadership, organization and incidence

Promote inclusive and horizontal leadership, with an emphasis on women and youth, that strengthen community organization. • Promote processes of political incidence, vindication of human rights and defense of the territories, in alliance with social movements.

Food sovereignty and agroecology

Promote the adoption of an agroecological model that contributes to the achievement of sustainable local agricultural systems that optimize and stabilize production, as the basis of food sovereignty.

Comprehensive water and sanitation management

Strengthen community participation in improving water and sanitation management, contributing to the exercise of the human right to water.