Health Clinics in the Campo

"Es un milagro estar aqui"--It's a miracle to be here. This is the first thing that Maria, a 70 year-old from Agualongo told me when I sat down to ask her how she was and why she had come to the clinic this morning. In the middle of our third and last week of putting on traveling health clinics for rural communities near Otavalo, Tandana has seen over 400 people for general health complaints ranging from parasites to back pain to ear infections. It's very rewarding to work closely with people from these communities, because they don't get to receive medical care very often and are generally very thankful.

The folks who come here through the Health Care Volunteer Vacations have been incredible to work with. Some are doctors, nursing students, med students, pre meds, and physician's assistants, and others simply want to directly help people. My Tandana coworkers are Anna Taft, the director, Dana Ericson, the group coordinator, and Kent Benson, a public health masters student who is lending a hand in many aspects. We all have a lot of fun together, which makes the long hours go by quickly.

Kim from Toronto, Chandler from Atlanta, and Shelly from Montana on the walk back from the Taksopamba waterfall.

Let me give you a general idea of how our days run: 8am-9am walk from hotel to community, meet the truck full of medications, and set up shop in a school or, if available, health or community center. Depending on the community and the organization of their leadership, there will either be a large group of patients waiting for us, or no one until 10:30 or 11am. Then comes the big rush of patients, as kids get out of school and people who have traveled from far away arrive on foot. We write their names on a list in the order of arrival, then find out why they've come and take their vital signs. At this point, since we have only 2 or 3 doctors, people usually have to wait a while to be seen. Some patients are more patient than others. Haha.

Anna Taft, director of the Tandana Foundation, can speak Kichwa with a lot of the older patients who don't speak much Spanish.

Our pharmacy is contained in plastic bins organized by generic name.


Padre Chupa, our most distant clinic.

Kim, me, Laura, Marie, and Nancy went for a walk up above the clinic in Padre Chupa, getting some amazing views.

Unfortunately I haven't been seeing a lot of my host family, but that will change next week when the health clinics are over. From left: Nina, Estela, Mama, me, Papa.