Many men and women in the Valley of Siria are suffering skin inflammations and irritations. Many have gone as far as the capital city seeking medical care and relief. These are some of their stories:

Eutimio Chi
Organic Chemist
Former employee of Entre Mares

Eutimio Chi, a dark haired man of average build, is unprepossessing, but he graduated with a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University. He reports that, after he began working for Entre Mares, an unexplained rash broke out on his stomach. He believes the rash is directly related to exposure to chemicals in the mine. "I say that is the exposure to sodium hydroxide, the chemical they use to elevate the potency of hydrogen in the water to keep the cyanide stable. A lot of exposure to it creates side effects. There was a young man working for me who started suffering from swollen, tender skin. They gave him an allergy shot and it went down. The employees wanted some kind of medical monitoring, but that did not happen."

Angelina Martínez
49 years old - El Pedernal resident

Her white hair, lined face and dark complexion speak to the years of hard work that have made up Angelina Martìnez's life. Martìnez is naturally a happy women, but her smile dims when she thinks about the skin ailment now affecting her.

"I have problems with my skin, here on my arm there is this big white spot, and on my neck too. It gets blisters and itches horribly. I scratch it, and the spots just get bigger. Now look how it is growing and spreading."

Martìnez says she has had this problem for two year and has tried many different kinds of medicines, none of which have given her any permanent relief. "I get better for a while," she says, "but then it comes back." The itching and flaking are constant. She hopes to find some treatment in Tegucigalpa, the capital city.

María de Jesús Rodríguez
63 years old - El Pedernal resident

Rodríguez lives outside the El Pedernal community and has suffered from a strange skin ailment for three years now. She has not found any medicine that works for her. She has been sick with skin problems accompanied by rashes on her neck and arms, which she says have gotten worse in the past eight months.

Rodríguez is the mother of 10 children, but only one is left at home to help her daily. Her life has become very uncomfortable since she started suffering the skin eruptions. She cannot find relief from the itching and it makes her agitated. She has sought medical help at the community health clinics, but has so far found nothing to help her.