A rough idea of the magnitude of the antibiotics given to the flood-ravaged Villa de Fuente was demonstrated somewhat when Dr. Rogers displayed them on a table at the Piedras Negras Centro de Salud for the benefit of the press. The antibiotics also included over 5,000 chewable tablets for children to avoid diseases associated with contaminated water which generally follow in the wake of such disasters.

Back row - unidentified Centro de Salud worker, Charles Rogers Jr., Sheron Rogers, Dr. Roggello Valdes Mier, Director of the Centro de Salud in Piedras Negras and Dr. Rogers.
Front row - Mary Layton Rogers, mother of Dr. Rogers, and Dra. Rosalba Urbira de la Rosa of Saltilo.

Dr. Rogers is latest angel of mercy...

The Cherokee chief brings medications to Villa de Fuente flood survivors

Back in the summer of 2001, Dr. Charles Rogers and Coahuila Governor Enrique Martinez became rather good friends and with each passing year the annual Zaragosa and Hidalgo Cabalgatas coupled with Dr. Rogers philanthropic efforts toward the DIF of Coahuila have drawn the Government of Coahuila and the Cherokee Nation of Mexico even closer together.

Early Monday morning April 5, Coahuila Governor Enrique Martinez’ office contacted Dr. Rogers in Matamoros to advise of the calamity which had just swept through Villa de Fuente. This at once set the wheels in motion for the quick action by the Governor and his friend Dr. Charles Rogers, Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Mexico. The Matamoros physician immediately arranged for the purchase of 50,000 capsules of antibiotics from a San Antonio wholesale company to be shipped at once to the Amigos Pharmacy in Eagle Pass under the supervision of Frank Castaneda there. Castaneda told the Eagle Pass News Guide that the pharmacy had already sent much needed items such as milk, baby formula and diapers over to the flood stricken area.

Sergio Elias Castro of the Governor’s office in Saltillo, a name well known in the Piedras Negras area, responded at once with the news that the Governor would be delighted to accept the donation of Tetracyline and Amoxycillin including over 5,000 chewable tablets for children to prevent the outbreak of dysentery or other contaminated water-borne diseases.

On Thursday morning however, the busy Coahuila Governor was unable to get away from his on site inspection of the flood ravaged village but Saltillo was well represented at the Centro de Salud in Piedras Negras by La Directora de Paltimonio de la Beneficencia Publica, Dra. Rosalba Urbina de la Rosa from the State Health Department of Coahuila in Saltillo.

The brief ceremony and press conference took place in the office’s of the Centro de Saluc in Peidras Negras headed by the Peidras Negras director Dr. Rogelio Valdes Mier who knew Dr. Rogers from previous Cabalgatas on this frontier. Dra. Rosalba Urbina expressed profound gratitude to Dr. Rogers for the timely assistance in the face of the disaster and promised speedy and effective distribution where needed.

On Friday the Eagle Pass News Guide was approached by Dr. Raul Ramirez Galicia of the Entomologo Estatal de Coahuila who was trying to contact the Texas State Department of Health regarding the program of mosquito control and we gave him various telephone numbers in Eagle Pass with which to communicate his concerns.

The massive response by South Texas communities to the needs of the people of Villa de Fuente continued unabated Thursday afternoon when a convoy of four eighteen wheelers rolled through here enroute from San Antonio with donations of food, clothing and medicines for the tiny Villa de Piedras Negras’ westernmost perimeter. Anheuser Bush was due though here Friday afternoon with a trailer load of drinking water as well.