Volunteers Help After Multiple Natural Disasters

By Dani Baldasarre
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

After Francisco J. Lopez spoke with Nelda Quigley, director of resident life at Brooksby Village, he knew he had to go with her and nine others to El Salvador to help rebuild after a year of hurricanes, mudslides, a volcanic eruption, and an earthquake.

“I have been on this trip a number of other times and after speaking with Francisco, I just knew he would want to travel with us to El Salvador and work closely with the Salvadoran people,” says Nelda. “We’ve worked well with those from El Salvador and we’ve built strong friendships in the past. I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience.”

Also traveling with Quigley and Lopez, a service coach at Brooksby Village, is Gerry Donovan who lives at Brooksby Village.

“This is my third visit to El Salvador and what a satisfying trip it always turns  out to be,” says Gerry. “It’s an experience that allows all of us to give our time to something really worthwhile. And the Salvadoran people always appreciate our time and efforts.”

The area they are traveling to in El Salvador was hit this past year by an assortment of natural disasters. The group painted walls, cleared volcano ash, taught English, and did anything else they could do to help.

Quigley has been involved for several years in ongoing volunteer work with Dr. Vicky Guzman’s Salvadoran Association for Rural Health (also called ASAPROSAR), and has since gotten people who live and work at Brooksby interested in the organization’s work as well. Nelda first became involved with ASAPROSAR in 1993 when her daughter traveled to El Salvador and met Vicky during a semester abroad as part of Kalamazoo College’s career development program.