ISABEL ZENDAL

Isabel Zendal naceu o 26 de febreiro de 1773 na parroquia de Parada, en Ordes, A Coruña. Os seus pais eran labregos, que naquel tempo vivían explotados polos impostos oficiais, e nunha situación de dependencia respecto dos propietarios da terra que traballaban. Sendo unha nena, Isabel marchou á Coruña a servir na casa do comerciante máis adiñeirado da cidade, e con vinte anos comezou a traballar na Casa de Expósitos do Hospital da Caridade. Alí atendía aos nenos orfos ela soa; a pesar de que se converteu na reitora, cobraba un salario moi baixo que tiña que completar remendando roupa nos seus momentos libres.

Durante todo o século XVIII, a varíola fixera graves estragos entre a poboación, e nas colonias españolas en América e Asia agardaban desesperadamente a vacina. Uns anos antes, fora descuberta polo inglés Edward Jenner, e Carlos IV quería levala alí, pois a epidemia estaba deixando á coroa sen traballadores e contribuíntes.

O 21 de setembro de 1803 apareceu na porta da Casa dos Expósitos Francisco Xavier Balmis y Berenguer. Era o médico elixido pola coroa para organizar a Real Expedición Filantrópica da Vacina, que el encabezaría xunto co seu axudante Salvany. Explicoulle a Isabel que aquela era unha misión para levar a vacina da varíola a América. O problema era que a vacina non soportaría unha viaxe de varias semanas, así que o único xeito de transportala era no corpo de nenos, mediante o método do “brazo a brazo”, é dicir, a inoculación, que consistía en extraer o líquido dunha pústula a un enfermo e inxectarllo a unha persoa sá cada seis ou sete días. Balmis díxolle a Isabel que para facer isto precisaría levar na expedición a 22 nenos sans de entre 3 e 10 anos, nenos que ninguén ía a reclamar tras ser abandonados, e amosoulle unha orde asinada por Carlos IV que o autorizaba a facelo. 

En principio Balmis non pensaba levar a unha muller na expedición, pero axiña se deu conta de que Isabel era a única man experta que sería capaz de tratar e controlar aos rapaces durante a viaxe, así que contratouna para coidar deles e como enfermeira. A tripulación, composta unicamente por homes, púxolle un alcume: “madre de los galleguitos”. Buscaron un barco, o María Pita, e o 30 de novembro de 1803 emprenderon a viaxe que os levaría primeiro a Tenerife e despois ata Puerto Rico, levando soamente a 21 nenos, pois un deles faleceu días antes de partir. Pero cando chegaron alí non foron ben recibidos, porque os gobernadores querían facer negocio coa vacina e non aceptaban que eles a trouxeran. Balmis montou en cólera e decidiu levala a Caracas. Para entón, os nenos coruñeses xa cumpriran co seu cometido, e a expedición dividiuse en dúas, unha encabezada por Balmis e outra por Salvany, para continuar levando a vacina polo continente facendo varias escalas. Máis tarde tamén se dirixiron a China e ás Filipinas, a onde Isabel acompañou a Balmis, aínda que mais tarde regresou a México e ficou a vivir alí cun dos nenos, que ela adoptou. Non se sabe exactamente que foi do resto dos rapaces, e crese que quedaron en México. Balmis foi o único que regresou a España, e o seu nome pasaría á historia pola fazaña, mentres que os seus colaboradores, e por suposto os nenos e Isabel, quedaron na sombra.

O papel de Isabel foi esencial na viaxe, pois arriscou a súa saúde para coidar aos nenos día e noite. Non obstante, os rapaces e mais ela foron ignorados durante dous séculos. Isabel foi recoñecida en 1950 pola OMS coma a primeira enfermeira en misión internacional, na primeira campaña de vacinación universal da historia, e principalmente nos últimos anos, recibiu varias distincións. 

Recentemente, o Ministerio de Defensa bautizou o despregue militar co que pretende combater a propagación do Covid- 19 coma “Operación Balmis”, pero ben poderían terlle chamado “Isabel Zendal”.

A actriz María Castro interpretou a Isabel no filme “22 ángeles”, de Miguel Bardem. Ela serviu de inspiración para realizar esta obra, pois non existen fotografías de Isabel Zendal.

Isabel Zendal was born on February 26, 1773 in the parish of Parada, in Ordes, A Coruña. Her parents were farmers, who at that time lived exploited by official taxes, and in a situation of dependence on the owners of the land they worked. When she was a child, Isabel went to A Coruña to serve in the house of the wealthiest businessman in the city, and at the age of twenty she began working in the Casa dos Expósitos of the Hospital da Caridade. There she cared for the orphaned children alone; even though she became the rector, she was paid a very low salary which she had to complete by mending clothes in her spare time.

Throughout the eighteenth century, smallpox wreaked havoc among the population, and in the Spanish colonies in America and Asia they waited desperately for the vaccine. A few years earlier, it had been discovered by the Englishman Edward Jenner, and Charles IV wanted to take it there, as the epidemic was leaving the crown without workers and taxpayers.

On September 21, 1803, Francisco Xavier Balmis y Berenguer appeared at the door of the Casa dos Expósitos. He was the doctor chosen by the crown to organize the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition, which he would lead along with his assistant Salvany. He explained to Isabel that this was a mission to bring the smallpox vaccine to America. The problem was that the vaccine would not withstand a trip of several weeks, so the only way to transport it was in the body of children, using the method of "arm to arm", ie inoculation, which consisted in extracting the liquid from a pustule of a patient and injecting it to a healthy person every six or seven days. Balmis told Isabel that to do this he would need to take 22 healthy children between the ages of 3 and 10 on the expedition, children no one was going to claim after they were abandoned, and showed her an order signed by Charles IV authorizing him to do so.

At first Balmis didn't plan to take a woman on the expedition, but he soon realized that Isabel was the only expert hand who would be able to treat and control the boys during the trip, so she hired her to take care of them and as a nurse. The crew, composed only of men, gave her a nickname: "mother of the  little Galicians." They searched for a ship, the María Pita, and on November 30, 1803 they set out on the voyage that would take them first to Tenerife and then to Puerto Rico, taking only 21 children, as one of them died days before leaving. But when they got there they weren't well received, because the governors wanted to do business with the vaccine and didn't accept that they had brought it. Balmis bursted out in anger and decided to take it to Caracas. By then, the children of A Coruña had already fulfilled their mission, and the expedition was divided into two, one led by Balmis and another by Salvany, to continue carrying the vaccine across the continent making several stops. Later they also went to China and the Philippines, where Isabel accompanied Balmis, although she later returned to Mexico and stayed to live there with one of the children, whom she adopted. It isn't known exactly what happened to the rest of the boys, and it is believed that they stayed in Mexico. Balmis was the only one who returned to Spain, and his name would go down in history for the feat, while his collaborators, and of course the children and Isabel, were left in the shadows.

Isabel’s role was essential in the journey, as she risked her health to care for the children day and night. However, she and the boys were ignored for two centuries. Isabel was recognized in 1950 by the WHO as the first nurse on an international mission, in the first universal vaccination campaign in history, and mainly in recent years, she has received several distinctions.

Recently, the Ministry of Defence named the military deployment with which it intends to combat the spread of Covid-19 as "Operación Balmis", but they might as well have called it "Isabel Zendal".

Actress María Castro played Isabel in the film "22 ángeles", by Miguel Bardem. She served as inspiration for this artwork, as there are no photographs of Isabel Zendal.