BOOKS:
Dr. Ernesto Cofiño review by Pat Hanratty No Small Goals: The Life of Dr. Ernesto Cofiño, Guatemalan Physician, Humanitarian, Pioneer in Pediatric Medicine and Servant of God Thomas A. McDonough Scepter Publishers, 2020.
I
never knew much about Guatemala, except that it was one of six Spanish speaking countries in Central America and that it had endured decades of civil war and poverty in common with its neighbours despite (or possibly because of) its being in Uncle Sam’s back yard. This book shows how one man can make a huge difference to the society he lives in – one can say that the life of Dr Ernesto Cofiño (1899-1991) is proof posi�ve that God con�nues to raise up men and women outstanding in goodness in all sorts of places. Ernesto came from a comfortable background – his father had great entrepreneurial skills, but was stern and not easy to live with. His mother helped nurture his deep Catholic faith despite a school 32
system implacably hos�le to Catholicism. Ernesto graduated from high school in 1917 and hoped to study medicine in the University of Guatemala, but such hopes were dashed when a series of earthquakes all but destroyed the capital, Guatemala City, including the University buildings. In 1919, an opportunity arose for Ernesto to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. The book describes his long journey by land and sea to Paris and the loneliness he felt there, but also the fantas�c opportunity for a young man to savour the grandeur of one of the world’s great ci�es. A�er several years of hard work and overcoming some extremely difficult challenges he finally qualified in early 1927 and began an internship – the first foreign intern in Paris hospitals. He
