IN THE KITCHEN WITH: Doctors Joanne Liegner and David Brody

Local doctors give time and effort to poverty-stricken area of Mexico, By Laurie Gordon 0n August 2001, something called the Chiapas Project was born, thanks to a 16-year-old boy and his parents who happened to be physicians. The project offers health care to a rural section of Mexico where the nearest doctor is hours away. Dr. Joanne Liegner and her husband, Dr. David Brody, return to the area twice a year — in March and August — to set up a week-long “MASH”-style acute care mission in a municipal basketball arena. The Chiapas Project serves the indigenous Zoque people of the State of Chiapas, Mexico. It began in 2001 when their son, Nicholas Michael Brody (Reed College, 2009), spent nine weeks at one of the boys’ Salesian orphanages in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. Chiapas is the most poverty-stricken region of Mexico, and most people are subsistence farmers. When the sisters learned that Brody’s mom is an OB/GYN physician, and his dad is a dentist, they asked them to travel to a Salesian outpost in Ocotepec, to help the indigenous Zoque Indians. Liegner and Brody, who have offices in Newton, were the first doctor and dentist ever to go to this region. “Traveling was quite an adventure,” said Liegner. “Though it was only 67 miles, it took us four-and-a-half hours to get from Tuxtla to Ocotepec, due to road washouts, giant boulders in the middle of the road and felled trees.” That was their first of many trips to the region where malnutrition, especially in children, is commonplace, parasites and worms are endemic and tropical and infectious diseases abound. The project has grown each year, encouraging volunteerism among young people and medical/dental professionals. “During our trips, I see 60 to 85 patients a day, including men, women and children,” Liegner said. On their last trip, they saw a total of about 2,500 medical and dental patients. The doctors’ 17-year-old daughter is the “head pharmacist,” and their son heads triage, as he speaks Spanish fluently. “Fortunately, major U.S. drug companies, hospitals, local Rotarians, and Rotary International have donated a large amount of prescription and non-prescription medication to us as well as monetary donations,” Liegner said. They also receive donations of syringes, surgical/dental instruments and supplies from local doctors, hospitals, dentists and supply houses. “Our volunteers travel into some of the more distant villages to treat those too sick to walk to Ocotepec,” said Dr. Liegner. Brody extracts hundreds of teeth each time they visit, but often limits it to four of the worst teeth per patient due to his long lines. “On our first trip, he used a reclining deck chair as his dental chair, and his patients spit into cups, since he didn’t have suction. Fortunately, he has since found a portable dental drill and suction on eBay, as well as other dental equipment. A generator to run the dental drill was donated by the student council of a local high school.” Since August 2002, he’s had three dental stations: one for extractions, one for fillings, and one for dental sealants for children. The doctors, their kids and volunteers once stayed in dorms, but a few years ago, purchased a house in the area. “We can fit up to 28 people comfortably, and up to 37 if desperate,” said Liegner. “But since I’m the ‘head cook,’ I really prefer to limit the entire group (including translators) to no more than 33.” Volunteering opportunities exist for both medical professionals and those who simply want to help. For information about the Chiapas Project, visit www. Chiapas project.Org.

DR. LIEGNER’S SOPA DE LIMA
3 liters of water
12 large garlic cloves
Salt to taste
1 cup coarsely cut large sweet white onion
(1) 3 1/2 - 4 pound roasting chicken, including gizzards
1 cup coarsely cut tomatoes
Juice of 5 limes (save the rind of one lime)
1/2 cup cut coriander (cilantro) (save another 1/2 cup until the soup is finished) note: cilantro must be rinsed very well!
Strips of dried tortillas to be added to soup prior to serving.
Add all of the above into a soup pot (except the lime rind) and boil vigorously for 1 1/4 hour, or until the chicken is fall-off the bone. Remove the chicken to cool off. Remove the bones and skin (give the skin, gizzards and gristle to the dog for dinner!). Remove the tomato skin from the broth. Break all the chicken meat into bite size pieces. Add the chicken meat back into the broth. Reheat the soup when ready to serve. Add the lime rind for about 10 minutes, then remove. Add the remaining coriander right before serving, and the strips of dried tortillas.
Liegner said, “I also make this soup out of chicken or turkey carcasses left over from chicken or turkey dinners. In Mexico, I cook the chickens or turkeys in my Mayan wood-fired bee-hive oven and the smoky taste adds a lot to the soup.”