Story of Eliseo
Eliseo Torres López was born on October 12, 1967, in Santa Catarina Juquila. Like so many down here, his father was a peasant farmer and along with his wife, raised their nine children and took care of the household. Eliseo went to school only through sixth grade and got married to Lorenza at the young age of 18. One year later, they started a family and in search of work, they ended up in Vicente Guerrero, a poor neighborhood about 30 minutes from Oaxaca City.
The following is part of the story of Eliseo and Lorenza, who are like many of the tens of thousands of hardworking families in Oaxaca. Even when employed, due to low wages, they are barely making ends meet.
Recently, as he did each morning, Eliseo was walking down to get public transportation at 6 a.m. which would take him to a construction work site, where he was earning $7 USD per 12-hour shift. It was still quite dark that morning, and out of nowhere, he was hit by a young driver (most likely intoxicated by observers at the scene). Several people helped him into a taxi to rush him to a nearby private clinic. However, with his leg terribly broken and without insurance, the doctor quoted him a cost of $3,000 USD. From his daily wages, that would translate into 428 days of nonstop work.
After much literal pain and deliberation, he and Lorenza realized they would have to sell their tiny house to make the payment. They decided they couldn’t do this, as they have three grandchildren, they take care of. It was at this moment of disruption that his wife shared that God intervened: “Out of nowhere, I was reminded of La Clínica del Pueblo. My cousin had gone there about eight years ago, and she had talked about the free and quality attention she received.”
They arrived at La Clínica and after a primary care physician and specialist reviewed him, they scheduled him for the next day. He had a successful surgery and, importantly, a hospital bill for $0. This was critical as he would have to take some time off work to recover (Imagine carrying a 40 lb. sack of cement on a recently operated broken leg!) and receive basic physical therapy. When we went to see them, Lorenza said that they had to sell off a few items in their home and she was now selling seeds and nuts to pay for their food bill. Eliseo shared proudly that they were happy though, as he would be going back to work soon and that they didn’t have to sell their house. Their three grandchildren popped in laughing,
