Salvadoran translators provide invaluable support to CP09

By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Stratton

LA UNION, El Salvador -- Teams aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) have provided professional medical care to numerous patients throughout each host nation of the Continuing Promise 2009 (CP09) mission by combining the skill sets of nations and organizations from around the world.

The many accomplishments of the CP09 team would not have created the many success stories it has without the dutiful assistance from the local medical students willing to volunteer their time to translate.

“Comfort physicians have told us, ‘If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to explain the patients problems to them,’” said Alejandra Martinez, a medical student at Matias Delgado University in Santa Tecla, El Salvador and Spanish translator aboard Comfort. “We’re facilitating apprehensive care to the people of La Union and our nation.”

Students such as Martinez and any of her colleagues received their English education through the primary and secondary schools they attended growing up. An additional supplement to their already comprehensive language curriculum was found through the American School Extension, which provided further English classes on the weekends.

“Through this mission I have felt really important, because many people ask me if I’m a Salvadoran.  When I answer yes, they tend to trust me more,” Martinez said. “Patients have said they think we understand them and can talk with them at their level of understanding in their native tongue.”

Interactions like these have empowered the CP09 team throughout their four-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission to Latin America and the Caribbean.

The command master chief of the hospital aboard Comfort, Command Master Chief Dianne Lohner, said she speaks very little Spanish and having these translators onboard is very important for the successful completion of the mission.

“We do have some Spanish-speaking folks on board.  However, the Salvadorans augmenting our force know more of the local language style and medical terms,” Lohner said. “This group of translators has helped things go more smoothly. If you don’t have enough people to relate your message, it is hard to take care of the patient’s needs.”

Whether you’re a barista in a local coffee shop serving up the morning’s best brew or you’re a medical provider on board a hospital ship during a humanitarian mission, the customer’s or patient’s needs always come first.

“By providing countless customer service miracles, we have made a very positive impact on the community of La Union,” said Cpl. Sandra Sharp, a Canadian Army medic onboard Comfort. “We have improved the way people feel about North Americans and their allies overseas, especially those of us who have come here through this mission of miracles.”

Comfort has done much more with the people of El Salvador than just partner to provide medical care and assist in engineering projects. The translators will act as messengers carrying information about the new technologies and techniques Comfort physicians and surgical teams employed here.

“Comfort is important for us as it has taught us more about life and how to treat patients as future doctors,” said Jennifer Amaya, also a medical student at Matias Delgado University and Spanish translator onboard Comfort. “This mission has opened our eyes to new possibilities and a world outside of our own shore.”

This “mission of miracles” combines U.S. military and interagency personnel, non-governmental organizations, civil service mariners, academic and partner nations to provide medical, dental, veterinary and engineering services afloat and ashore alongside host nation personnel.

CP09 teams have treated more than 72,244 patients since the mission began in Haiti. They have also visited the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Panama and Colombia. The ship is scheduled to wrap up medical care in El Salvador July 1 and arrive in Nicaragua on July 3 to complete this year’s mission.

“I would love to participate in another mission like this, no matter which ship comes next,” Amaya said. “We aren’t here just to work, but we also come here to have fun and interact with our northern neighbors. We all very much appreciate the hard work and dedication this year’s team has brought to our people. I’ve heard many patients say how happy they are to receive the care you bring and have said on numerous occasions how the Comfort represents hope for a better life.”