Life and Solitude In Easter Island
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
FROM CHAPTER 6
The high humidity is not only a problem of comfort because of having to deal with sticky clothing, but also because of its effects on a variety of other things. For example, if we were not careful with the sugar by storing it in hermetically sealed containers, it would be transformed into thick syrup with limited or no use because of its unpleasant flavor. Humidity showed up in other places as well. One day I noticed that a pair of shoes I had not worn for a while (since I normally wore espadrille sandals) were evenly covered by a thin layer of green mold, looking more like elegant existentialist suede shoes thanks to this humidity. The most troubling aspect of the humidity, however, was its impact on our dear books. We had to take care of them constantly and the children took turns weekly to move each of them from shelf to shelf and to brush them off to avoid any deterioration.
When the winds would eventually die down, how pleasant and marvelous was the dusk! Then we eagerly took advantage to go for family walks, or botanical excursions with the children, trying to classify the plants that we ran into, or to simply enjoy those magnificent sunsets. We then used our imagination to transform those sunsets with the various shapes of clouds into a glorious spectacle of “Pascuense Movie Theater”.
The nights could also be extraordinary. The clear sky of Easter Island and the lack of urban lights allowed a magnificent vision of the stars almost unreal under the cupola of that gigantic planetarium. Within that grand spectacle I felt that I could place in perspective the petty selfish affairs and problems that we tend to blow out of proportion in our daily lives on Planet Earth. We could then appreciate a purity of life such as birth, love and death with the desires of God, without the interference from mundane minutiae. In those moments we could experience a glimpse of eternity.
But there were gloomy and dark nights as well. When I had to walk during the night to visit a patient for a house call, I experienced the sensation that I had to separate the shadows to advance, and then they would close back up behind me, oppressing my spirit. Additionally, there were occasional nighttime rainstorms with strong winds along with thunder and lightning plus the deep sound of the breaking waves. The feeling I experienced from this setting was similar to the fear from letting loose a pack of starving wolves. In nights such as these I prayed to God that I would not have to go out to see a patient for a home visit—but God did not always hear my prayers.
FROM CHAPTER 8
Hospitalizations did not represent the most serious medical problems. One of my biggest challenges was when I had to perform midwife duties to deliver babies—occasionally in the hospital but generally in their homes, where most women of the island gave birth. The difficulties were similar in both the hospital and at the homes, since both locations lacked sanitized conditions. While the expectant mother would lie on a mattress dimly illuminated by a nearby kerosene lamp, I only had modest instruments which were sterilized with boiling water. Fortunately I never faced puerperal infection or other types of clinical complications.
What I still remember with anguish was when, shortly after arriving on the island, I had to assist in the delivery of a baby from a mother who had been experiencing contractions for several hours without success. Upon examining her, I discovered with horror that this was a breech birth (where the baby was oriented in the wrong direction in the birth canal). This was something I had not seen since my internship as a medical student at the San Borja Hospital in Santiago. At the time I had enjoyed that internship so much that I thought about specializing in Obstetrics. Faced with this reality, however, I had no real experience in such a procedure. All I remembered was that in those cases there was need to utilize a procedure designed by a Madame Lachapelle over a hundred years earlier, of which I had a vague recollection. I immediately jumped onto my horse, Insipient, and galloped home to consult my small medical library which I used for questions and critical medical issues such as this. I quickly found the relevant material in the Obstetrics textbook and devoured it. This refreshed my memory on the theoretical aspects of the procedure for a breech birth, making me feel more comfortable, and I jumped on my horse to hurry back to the laboring mother. While riding back I prayed to God for his guidance. When I arrived at the patient’s home I began my work immediately. By then I was calm, relying on my refreshed knowledge and on God, who gave me strength.
It seemed as if the labor lasted an eternity, and I sweat profusely from the anguish and the hot, humid climate. In the end, the baby was turned around into normal position and was delivered safely and was healthy. Following the delivery and the removal of the placenta, I lied down on the floor and because of the extreme stress I found myself crying. After this difficult delivery, I always said that if there was any doubt about having a guardian angel, that day I firmly believed in him, because without his supernatural help I could have not done what I did. In spite of the conditions in which this baby delivery took place, the outcome was perfect. My status and prestige among the islanders grew tremendously—everything that happened in the island, good or bad, was instantly communicated and perhaps with some added embellishment. The island had no secrets.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Easter Island is a popular exotic tourist destination, and you can find many of the modern amenities we take for granted. There's also a growing population of several thousand, mostly mainlanders.
But a mere 55 years ago, Easter Island had none of these.
In 1952, Darío Verdugo-Binimelis, an idealistic Chilean physician, and his wife, Adriana, pulled up stakes and brought their four young sons to Easter Island for what would become an incredible adventure and educational experience for the family. Appointed by the Chilean Ministry of Health to serve a two-year stint as the island’s sole physician, Dr. Verdugo had the responsibility for the health of the island population of about eight hundred, and he also affectionately ministered to the patients isolated in the islands leper colony.
Dr. Verdugo has written a lyrical memoir of culture shock melting into affection for the native "Pascuenses" and their simple, carefree culture. He reflects on the day-to-day struggles amid stunning natural beauty and on strengthened family ties and deep friendships reinforced by the profound isolation of this tiny island sitting by itself in the middle of the vast South Pacific.
Life and Solitude in Easter Island adds a unique personal and family perspective to the growing body of Easter Island literature, and complements the material found in scholarly texts or in tourist guides.
This is an updated English edition of the original Spanish-language memoir, Vida y Soledad en Isla de Pascua, published in Chile in 1999.
About the Author
Darío Verdugo-Binimelis was born in Concepción, Chile in 1913. He studied medicine at the University of Concepción and University of Chile. His early professional years were spent as medical officer in the Chilean Navy, an organization that he has held in the highest regard and remembers affectionately. Subsequently he worked in the hospitals in Viña del Mar and San Borja in Santiago. In late 1952, he was selected to be the resident Physician in Easter Island. He later obtained a degree in Public Health from the University of Göteborg under the auspices of the Swedish Government. Subsequently he joined the World Health Organization, spending several years in Central America, Indonesia, India, and Egypt. He has been president of the Rotary Clubs of Viña del Mar and Providencia in Chile and he has held leadership positions in the Municipality of Providencia, one of the Metropolitan Areas of Santiago. He also was the chief medical officer at the Superintendence of the Social Security Office in Chile. He is active in several medical and charity organizations (Capacitas Chile and Salvecor, where he was one of the co-founders). Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of the Medical Association of Retired Physicians of Chile.
He is an enthusiastic supporter of medical doctors’ rights and their professional interests within Chile, in his capacity as General Advisor to the Chilean Medical Association (Colegio Médico de Chile). Until recently he was a member for many years of the office of ethics for the Chilean Medical Association.