Taking care of AIDS patients

[Carlos was able to rent a camera for a day, so we'll have a few more pictures!]

Sanatorio de Santiago de Las Vegas

Thursday, May 24 -- ÒItÕs a pleasure to receive distinguished guests after our last guest, the distinguished former President of the United States Jimmy CarterÓ. With those words Dr. Alberto Loy Espinosa, Vice-Director of Research and Teaching and Chief of the Psychology Department at the Sanatorio de Santiago de Las Vegas welcomed the Cuba SST unit.

This sanitorio is one of the primary care centers in Cuba for the treatment of patients carrying the HIV virus or who have already developed AIDS. The center takes an integrated approach and works hard at treating people with dignity and respect. The Santiago de Las Vegas sanitorio was the first one to open in Cuba. Now, each province has a similar facility.  We had an interactive conference with Dr. Loy, followed by a walking tour of the facility.

• David, Matt, Rebecca and others in the bus on the way to the sanitorio.
• In the lecture hall: group1 | group2 | Robin and Ricardo | snacktime
• Walking with Dr. Loy: Rachel | Tom
  

The center has capacity for 390 patients, most of them living in one of the three independent residential areas. It also has a hospitalization ward for those who need additional medical care. Georvis Montoya and Jose Antonio Jerez (at left) are two patients in the residential area of the Sanatorio. They were kind enough to show the group (without prior notice) the house in which they live.

• Francisco Puentes Gonzalez is another patient at the sanatorio. He also works as a messenger for the doctors. All pictures of the patients are displayed with their consent.
• Right behind Anna and Rebecca is one of the residential homes in the sanatorio.
• Some of the patients offered us mangoes from the trees which grow on the sanatorio grounds. Joel and Paul enjoyed them thoroughly.

On our way out, the group left our message in the guestbook. It did not go unnoticed that we signed the page right behind the last visitor to the sanatorio, former President Jimmy Carter! (Click here to read President Carter's complete message.)