CP-15 doctor fulfills dream to return to native homeland

PUERTO BARRIOS, GUATEMALA

04.30.2015

Courtesy Story

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command / U.S. 4th Fleet

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Amy Kirk, CP-15 Public Affairs

PUERTO BARRIOS, Guatemala - Lt. Alejandro Garcia Salas, a Navy physician embarked aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), is fulfilling his childhood dream of returning to his native home of Guatemala to provide care to its citizens during Continuing Promise 2015 (CP-15).

Continuing Promise is a collaborative effort with partner nations to conduct civil-military operations including humanitarian-civil assistance, subject matter expert exchanges, medical, dental, veterinary and engineering support and disaster response within the region, demonstrating the U.S. support and commitment to Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

"Returning to the land that I once knew as a child brings me goose bumps," said Garcia Salas, who will work alongside his Guatemalan medical counterparts April 21-30 to provide care to the citizens of Puerto Barrios. "I know I am here to do something special, which I will cherish for the rest of my life."

A doctor of internal medicine assigned to Naval Hospital Beaufort, South Carolina, Garcia Salas readily volunteered to participate in the CP-15 mission. The fact that Guatemala was one of the 11 mission stops just added to the overall opportunity.

"It's important to let our neighboring countries know that we are there to assist them and to work with them to provide the best treatment to their citizens," he said. "I think this mission helps to show them a little bit of what we can do - what we will do."

Garcia Salas left Guatemala at the age of 10 when his mother decided to move to the United States, settling in Tifton, Georgia. He pursued his dream of becoming a physician and gained admission to the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, furthering his ultimate goal of returning to Guatemala.

"I knew being in the United States was a great opportunity to excel, and my dream was to become a doctor and help others," said Garcia Salas. "Having lived in Guatemala, I realize how lucky we (U.S.) are, especially with health care, and it can be easy to take that for granted."

Once in Guatemala for CP-15, Garcia Salas immersed himself into providing medical assistance to the citizens of Puerto Barrios. He also hosted an information exchange aboard Comfort with medical providers from Hospital Nacional de la Amistad Japn-Guatemala and Hospital Nacional Infantil, focusing on women's health.

"Just listening to the stories the patients tell and being able to provide a service that helps them, makes the Continuing Promise mission a wonderful and unique experience," said Garcia Salas. "Helping the people of Guatemala has been an honor, and it gives me great pleasure seeing their smiles. They are happy someone is listening to them and giving them a helping hand."

Garcia Salas said he remembers as a young boy driving by a hospital in Guatemala and seeing patients sitting outside, waiting for hours to be seen by a doctor. It was an image that stayed with him through the years.

"Most of those people traveled long distances and waited for hours before going inside, but going inside didn't mean it was time to be seen, it just meant that you were only a little closer to seeing a doctor," he explained. "I knew that if I worked hard as a physician, I could one day return and provide medical care to the Guatemalan people."

Garcia Salas said that for him, missions such as CP-15 are one of the reasons why he chose to join the military - "to have the opportunity to serve aboard a ship like the USNS Comfort and be able to help others is a wonderful experience."

For Garcia Salas, realizing his childhood dream has proven to be a rewarding and fulfilling journey, one that has strengthened partnerships, built friendships and provided support and care to the people of Guatemala.

Continuing Promise is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet-conducted deployment to conduct civil-military operations including humanitarian-civil assistance, subject matter expert exchanges, medical, dental, veterinary and engineering support and disaster response to partner nations and to show the United States' continued support and commitment to Central and South America and the Caribbean.

For more news from Continuing Promise, visit www.navy.mil/local/cp/.

• Date Taken: 04.30.2015
• Date Posted: 04.30.2015 15:53
• Story ID: 161814
• Location: PUERTO BARRIOS, GT