Coffin project saves children's lives
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Some choices should have to be made only at the restless end of a parent's nightmare.
Yet each year a number of mothers and fathers in El Salvador face a tragic, all too real decision. Salvadoran health regulations demand that parents provide a suitable coffin to claim the body of a child who has died in the hospital. For some indigent Salvadorans, the sadness of losing a young son or daughter is compounded when they are unable to afford even a simple casket. They are denied custody of their youngster's body and, therefore, can't bury it as they'd choose. Even in death, poverty bites deep.
But the coffin law also affects poor families of living children. San Salvador El Salvador La Libertad Stake President Angel Duarte, a physician at Benjamin Bloom Pediatric Hospital, has witnessed impoverished parents making the dangerous decision to remove a sick child being cared for in a public hospital. Many fear they won't be able to claim their son or daughter's body should he or she die. So parents without the means to buy or build an acceptable coffin choose, instead, to simply pull a sick child from the hospital.
President Duarte worries some children who might recover with diligent hospital care are dying because of the coffin law.
"I have seen so many parents taking their dying child out of the hospital knowing that they will probably die at the bus stop or at the gate of the hospital," President Duarte recently told Church officials.
He and other hospital staffers have done what they can. They've organized ad hoc collections to buy a coffin here, a casket there. It's wasn't enough. So a few months ago Dr. Duarte pulled on his ecclesiastical hat and contacted Church Humanitarian Services. President Duarte asked the Church to provide enough wood and materials to build 300 small coffins. Time and labor, he promised, would be delivered by folks from the La Libertad Stake.
The project was approved, building materials were secured and the members responded. Now President Duarte said a remarkable three-fold mission is being fulfilled. "We are doing good to others. We are being strengthened by our commitment. We are improving the image of the Church."
First, the good of others. La Libertad members are fast approaching their goal to build 300 coffins. When each wooden frame is completed the coffin is lined inside and out with white cloth. A floral pattern is then added — offering a personal, comforting touch to each casket.
The coffins are stored at an LDS meetinghouse in San Salvador. Once the final coffin is completed they will be shipped to a government warehouse. Each coffin will then be provided to a needy family on acase-by-case basis by area hospital social workers. The Church will receive a report each time a coffin is placed, allowing President Duarte and others to monitor and record each distribution.
In hopes of offering spiritual comfort, the La Libertad members have attached to each coffin a pamphlet discussing the eternal nature of families, President Duarte said. Obviously, the donated coffins will help ease the burden of poor parents grieving for a lost child. And, hopefully the simple availability of such coffins will allow a sick child or two to continue with the sustaining, professional care they need. Parents' fear of losing their child's body can now be calmed.
"I'm convinced we'll be able to prevent some deaths," President Duarte said.
La Libertad members have also realized the blessings of service. "This project has produced unity among our members," said Walter Zelaya, a liaison between the stake and the Salvadoran media. Members have spent their weekends, time away from work and even a recent national holiday together building the coffins.
Beatriz de Selaya, a counselor in the Palmeras Ward Relief Society presidency, said the coffin project is improving countless lives. "This service will benefit so many nonmembers and members," she said. "Before, we knew of the sisters from the other wards, but we never talked much. Now we are all friends. Even nonmembers have offered to help."
President Duarte said he's been touched by his stake members' charity. Most have little money, but many have offered all they can. He speaks of one humble branch president who is paying a carpenter from his own shallow pocket to supervise the coffin building. Another member, Ramon, has offered his big truck to deliver materials to the various spots where the coffins are being built. And a generous sister, unable to work herself, has hired a man to assist with the project in her name.
"We have seen some great examples of service," President Duarte said.
Thousands of others who perhaps can't speak a lick of Spanish or know little of El Salvador have also helped, contributing to the Church's humanitarian fund that finances the project.
Finally, many Salvadorans are snatching a glimpse into the hearts of their LDS neighbors. The coffin project has been covered by eight local television and radio stations. Newspaper reporters from two dailies have filed their own full-page stories. President Duarte even appeared on a popular Salvadoran talk show, answering questions about the project and his faith.
"The more the Church requires," he says, "the better we become."
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
