BORDERLANDS RESTORATION NETWORK
  • Who We Are
    • BRN Mission & Vision >
      • Policies
      • Annual Report
      • Strategic Plan
    • Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
    • Meet Our Team
    • BRN Fellows
    • Meet the Network >
      • Borderlands Restoration, L3c
      • Wildlife Corridors
      • Cuenca Los Ojos
    • Meet Our Partners
  • What we do
    • Education & Outreach >
      • Borderlands Earth Care Youth
      • Water is Life
      • Field Studies
      • Women Grow Food
      • Mesquite Workshops
      • Salud Comcaac
    • Native Plant Program >
      • Native Plant Program
      • Borderlands Nursery & Seed
      • Current Projects & Initiatives
      • Regional Seed Strategy
    • Watershed & Habitat Restoration >
      • Quail Habitat Restoration
      • Path Of The Jaguar
    • Borderlands Wildlife Preserve
  • News
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Join Us
    • Job Opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • ENewsletter
  • Blog
  • SHOP

Salud Comcáac Team Meets COVID Challenges of 2021

1/24/2022

 

By: Dr. Laura Monti, Borderlands Restoration Senior Fellow, Research Associate, University of Arizona Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and The Southwest Center

When in June of 2021 the third wave of COVID hit the remote Comcáac villages of Punta Chueca and Desemboque, the Salud Comcáac team who formed at the onset of COVID-19 to assist these communities, including BRN Senior Fellow Laura Monti, was prepared. The Comcáac are indigenous people that occupy their autonomous territory in the coastal desert of the State of Sonora, Mexico.

Local Seri health promoters who received training during the initial response, Omar Casanova and Isabela Morales, mobilized quickly along with expert herbalists, and Secretary of Health physician Dr. Diego Franco to address the health needs of the villages. Our generous partners including the Amazon Conservation Team responded immediately providing additional funds needed to cope with this surge. For this outstanding work, the Salud Comcáac team was honored by Mexico’s National Secretary of Health.
Picture
Cristina Molina, Filomena Barnett, and Laura Molina, Centro de Salud y Medicina Tradicional Punta Chueca.
Picture
Desemboque Health team: Omar Casanova, Mayra Estrella, Isabel Morales, and Vilma Morales.
Picture
Salud Comcáac Desemboque team: Dr. Franco (center), Omar Casanova (right).
Picture
Laura Monti with patient Eleazar Lopez, recovering in the clinic.
The two Rural Health Centers are now better equipped and operating in Desemboque and Punta Chueca with running water and electricity, combining modern medicine and traditional medicine. Internet and cell phones are supporting telemedicine and other vital communications. Additional space was refurbished with equipment and additional beds, thanks to the Fundación Tichi Muñoz and FESAC, Nogales. Early intervention with 24 hour care, oxygen concentrators and herbal treatments has so far avoided Covid related deaths and reduced hospitalizations. In addition to delivering integrative care to over 100 COVID patients, the team also served 300 Comcáac community members for issues unrelated to COVID in 2021.
Picture
Dr. Ana Luisa Weildfeld Gomez, Medical Coordinator from Pitiquito.
Picture
Restoration of the traditional medicine clinic building.
Picture
Medicinal plants.
Picture
Desert Healers Filomena Barnett, Guadalupe Romero, and Betina Romero.
Between COVID surges, seven members of the Salud Comcáac team earned a diploma in health promotion from El Colegio de Sonora facilitated by Dr. Catalina Denman and other public health expert mentors. These students are the first indigenous students to complete this innovative and rigorous applied course thanks to financial support from the University of Arizona Southwest Center and donors.
Picture
Salud Comcáac Punta Chueca team: Filomena Barnett, Pati Barnett, Gema Torres, and Laura Molina.
Picture
Mangrove medicine herbalists Filomena Barnett and Cristina Molina.
Picture
Herbalist Vilma Morales presents medicinal plants used for respiratory illness at the Comcáac-Mayo traditional medicine exchange supported by Fondo Acción Solidaria and Cobanaras.
Salud Comcáac is rooted in traditional knowledge and is carried out at the invitation of the Comcáac community governing authorities and in collaboration with the Sonoran Secretary of Health. ​
​
Oceans of gratitude to all that supported this work and to those that worked tirelessly to provide health care in these communities! 
 
Check out the next blog in this three part blog update about work happening with the Comcáac Indigenous communities!

Para leer la versión en español de este blog, por favor dé click aquí.

Comments are closed.

    SEARCH OUR BLOG

    CATEGORIES
    ​

    All

    ARCHIVES
    ​

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017

Physical Address:
320-B School Street
​Patagonia, AZ 85624

Mailing Address:
PO Box 121
Patagonia, AZ 85624
General Contact:
E-mail: 
info@borderlandsrestoration.org
Phone Number: (520) 216-4148

​
Borderlands Nursery & Seed

42 San Antonio Road, Patagonia, AZ
www.borderlandsplants.org
​

Borderlands Wildlife Preserve
Patagonia, AZ

www.borderlandswildlifepreserve.org


Hours of Office Operation:
​

Monday-Thursday: 8AM-3PM
Friday: By Appointment
​Saturday-Sunday: Closed
​

DONATE
Copyright 2023-Borderlands Restoration Network
Photo used under Creative Commons from Rennett Stowe
  • Who We Are
    • BRN Mission & Vision >
      • Policies
      • Annual Report
      • Strategic Plan
    • Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
    • Meet Our Team
    • BRN Fellows
    • Meet the Network >
      • Borderlands Restoration, L3c
      • Wildlife Corridors
      • Cuenca Los Ojos
    • Meet Our Partners
  • What we do
    • Education & Outreach >
      • Borderlands Earth Care Youth
      • Water is Life
      • Field Studies
      • Women Grow Food
      • Mesquite Workshops
      • Salud Comcaac
    • Native Plant Program >
      • Native Plant Program
      • Borderlands Nursery & Seed
      • Current Projects & Initiatives
      • Regional Seed Strategy
    • Watershed & Habitat Restoration >
      • Quail Habitat Restoration
      • Path Of The Jaguar
    • Borderlands Wildlife Preserve
  • News
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Join Us
    • Job Opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • ENewsletter
  • Blog
  • SHOP