In just two weeks, two babies died because of allegedly indifference by staff at the Punta Gorda Town Hospital. Baby Andy Jones Jr. died two weeks ago at the KHMH after his mother Cenaida Raymundo was forced to deliver him at the PG Hospital by herself. And then there is the case we told you about last night of gravely ill six month old baby Evander Sho who was given the run around between the San Antonio Polyclinic and the PG Hospital- which eventually led to his death. The Ministry of Health says it is investigating both reports but a group of activists aren’t waiting around on the findings. They took their protest to Main Street in Punta Gorda and 7News was there. Keith Swift has the story.

Keith Swift Reporting,
The rain destroyed their signs but it didn’t dampen the resolve or silence the hundred or so protestors who picketed the Punta Gorda Hospital this morning. That is because what they didn’t write – they said.

Cristina Coc, Organizer
“We will not allow another baby to die. We will not allow another person to be mistreated. So we are standing against those injustices, we are standing against the poor healthcare system, we are standing against the confusion that NHI has caused, we are standing against the situations where people come to town and get sent back to the polyclinics and the polyclinics are sitting there as empty clinics with no professional services, no doctors available to provide aid for emergency situations.

Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere and so we believe that because of the poor treatment, the poor healthcare that we have received here in Toledo, and I am sure all around this country, we believe that unless we stand up and say something about it, nothing is going to change.”

Ya Ya Marin-Coleman, COLA
“Wherever there is an injustice it affects all of us as Belizeans. Right now the spotlight is on the public hospital in Punta Gorda but as many of us know we have issues with the healthcare system throughout the country of Belize. A part of our culture is people are not unified to speak out against injustices so this is the beginning of a new movement where people can unify and come together to speak out about injustice.

Many times I would ask people, even as Cristina and I were in the marketplace this morning, why won’t you come out even though you are bringing forward your individual stories, and the most consistent reason that is given is because I am afraid of victimization, even though some of the people who are saying this are not people who are employed or people who are receiving any benefits at all. So that is the primary purpose to encourage other Belizeans that wherever there is an injustice, make a sacrifice and come out. Today it may be someone else and tomorrow it may be you.”

Two weeks ago of course it was Cenaida Raymundo, she says it still feels like it was yesterday.

Cenaida Raymundo, Newborn Baby Died
“It feels like it was yesterday that it happened and I am home all the time and I just cry saying my baby came and he died but it also happened for a purpose for this to stop.”

Majority of the protestors out here today are from the villages surrounding Punta Gorda Town, most of them are Mayans, and they say they are not out here today just because of the death of baby Andy Jones Jr. and Evando Sho because as unfortunate as those deaths were, they only served as a catalyst for these women and this community actually to unite.

Cristina Coc,
“It is people that have been silent for too long that have come, that have walked in the rain, and have done everything possible they can to say look, I have been victimized and I want to say something about it.”

And these are the faces of women who each brought with them horror stories of bad run ins with the healthcare system in Toledo.

Rosa Pop, Protestor
“I came to the Big Falls clinic and I told the ladies who were there by the door that I have a treatment and can I see the nurse. The lady told me to sit down outside and wait because the nurse is not ready yet. When the nurse came to me, the nurse told me sorry Miss, I can’t won’t give you any treatment today. But I told the nurse please nurse, I feel bad and dizzy, I feel headache and I want you to help me. That is what I told the nurse and they say no, the doctor is not coming here today, until tomorrow and if you want to check the doctor come tomorrow. That was the answer for me but I felt bad, I had a headache and I had cough and cold and I live way up the road. I couldn’t walk it so that’s why I am proud these ladies have coming together today.”

Demetria Ack, Protestor
“I have witnessed, when I was there having my baby, my first child, one woman was having her child as well and nurses threw comments that were not pleasing, especially to women who are seeking help. The nurses I think, like what it is saying here: work by choice, not by force. Each one of us who holds a job, it is because we choose to do that job. We are not forced to do so and so my concern is that anybody working in an office or whatsoever needs to do their job to the best of their ability and nurses we look up to them, especially us mothers.”

Elvira Cal, Doesn’t Trust the Hospital
“I delivered my baby at home.”

Keith Swift,
You didn’t trust the hospital?

Elvira Cal,
“I didn’t trust the hospital because somebody told me the hospital is different than you deliver at home. The nurse will not protect you and the nurse will not attend to you.”

Keith Swift,
But that is the hospital, you should want to go there.

Elvira Cal,
“I don’t trust them because a lot of babies die right there.”

Keith Swift,
So you delivered your five kids at home?

Elvira Cal,
“Yes I deliver my 5 kids at home.”

And that is why Magdalena Pop who is five months pregnant says she refuses to give birth at the PG Hospital.

Magdalena Pop, 5 months Pregnant
“Nurse Ack told me if I could born my baby at the hospital and I told her I don’t want to go by the hospital because I want to try born my baby home. If I can’t born my baby home and thing, after that I will reach to the hospital.”

Keith Swift,
Do you trust the hospital?

Magdalena Pop,
“No.”

Keith Swift,
Why not?

Magdalena Pop,
“Because sometimes the nurses don’t mind people good. Sometimes they start to rail up and all of that.”

But can the crowd of less than a hundred, a good number of them being students, change the way healthcare is run in their community? Cristina Coc thinks so.

Cristina Coc,
“We are hoping for some positive change. We are hoping that our healthcare providers; nurses, doctors, administrators will look at us and understand that the injustice that we face, the violations that we face, the inhumane treatment that we face need to addressed immediately.”

And if it isn’t – these activists say this is a start – even if it only a small one.

It is of interest that the Toledo Maya Women’s Leadership Council was invited but didn’t participate in this morning’s protest. Again the Ministry of Health is still investigating the complaints.