A la selva

Selva is the spanish word used for the rainforest... which lived up to its name today as we ended our trip as wet as we began. It was still unbelievable, after an entire week in the jungle, to be surrounded by so much vegetation.



I did a better job today conveying the foliage. Not much to say here, it was an unforgettable walk through an amazing place.



Our guides were great, kept us safe and showed up the ropes. After all was said and done, we looked rediculous, and had more fun than any other day of our lives.



A pictoral finale, our group leaders showing us true leadership, or something...

An amazing friday

No doubt, fridays are usually the best day of the week. But today was amazing. We saw 500 patients this week, and it was nearly overwhelming to finish the week out. The children were once aqain the most amazing part of this experience.



I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Kati again today, who has been more than generous in her teaching and attention. By the end of the day I was working nearly independently and she was double checking my exams.



Of course, the day ended with a game of soccer, US vs. Ecuador. Im not entirely sure who won, as I spent most of the game in a giant mud puddle. Sure was fun!



Friday ended at the discotech... no pictures here, to protect the guilty.

Thursday

Life in Ecuador continues to be unbelievable today. We took a 30 minute canoe ride to reach our community today, which was perhaps the most remote place we have been.



We´re working with three doctors, one american and two ecuadorian. Perhaps this picture of them at work might help paint a better picture of a day at the clinic. Another of the important things we do in clinics is oral hygiene for the children. This includes brushing their teeth while teaching them how to do it, and providing a flouride treatment to strengthen them. It´s a great test of my spanish, and a lot of fun working with the kids.



My last picture tonight is an obligatory landscape from the canoe ride. I have tried and tried to capture the absolute volume of vegetation in the jungle, and even this does not come close. However, it may still be worth a look.

Los Rios

This is a daylight picture of my new favorite bar in Tena. A late night excursion on Tuesday was without my camera, so the picture was taken the next day.



Wednesday was spent providing health care for the community of Los Rios. This is a larger community where we expected many more patients... when all was said and done we saw more than 110 patients. As you can see, the drive was a bit harrowing at certain points. The second time we crossed this bridge we got out and walked for fear the bus would break the bridge.



The children were especially delightful, and we played a lot more soccer today, though I´m unsure who won. I definitely made some new friends!





After dinner, we took a walk in Tena, venturing a bit further this time. I ate some street food against many people´s judgment, but am still alive the next day. It really is an interesting place to go exploring, especially without speaking much spanish.



Last but certainly not least, Liz redeemed herself and is no longer of questionable truthfulness. This earned her una cerveza.



Would you believe me if I told you he walked close enough to touch?

14 Julio, 2009

Sorry for the late posting, I´ve been too busy with things here to get to the internet cafe. Perhaps a picture to start? This is the community we worked in today.



No doubt, it was as amazing as the first day. This community was much more remote, a 3 hour drive (we got up at 4am) but it was so rewarding and the community was truly thankful for our help.

Before lunch, we played a game of soccer, los estados unidos vs. ecuador and were sorely beaten by a very mixed team of grandmothers and grandchildren.



It rained like crazy during the day but everyone except the toothbrushing team was inside, so it wasn´t a big deal.



Liz saw two monkeys while driving, but no one else had time to see them as we continued driving. Despite spending the entire 3 hour return trip looking, I was unable to duplicate this finding... thus we will never know if she was making it up! A vista for your viewing pleasure closes this post.

Ayer y hoy dia

Yesterday and today were amazing. Above is the photograph of us just after exiting the Jumandi caves. This was an adventure none of us imagined until we were swimming in a cave! (The camera was in a dry bag mom, relax :-) The cave was dark and intense, we had to swim to get further in, and dove into a 15 foot deep well full of water.
It was definitely tight in places, but we all managed to squeeze through and emerged into incredible jungle with a view of the andes. Of course, there was time for a slide or two!
Back to Tena for delicious dinner and a meeting with MAP internacional, the group we are partnering with down here. An after dinner walk netted that picture, and some much needed sleep followed.


Today we drove to a small community in the jungle called Tambayacu and provided primary care exams and treatment for about 90 adults and children.

Many of the adults don´t speak spanish, but the children were friendly and beautiful and spoke much better than I.
I spent the morning taking vital signs, and even identified a child with an irregular heartbeat who, after listening to her heart again, the doctors decided needs to see a pediatric cardiologist for an arrhythmia. I´ll leave you with an amazing view of the jungle and the andes mountains; though many of these people don´t even have shoes, there is no doubt they live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Safely arrived!

After a long day of travel and an unbelievable busride through the andes, we have arrived safely in Tena, Ecuador. I´m having a blast with tons of wonderful people



and very much enjoying our accomodations. Woken up early by local roosters, but otherwise sleeping fine at Hostal Villa Belen.



Enjoy a picture of tena and the mountains we crossed, we´re off to the Jumandi Caves today for a bit of sightseeing.

Trip info

For those of you who don't know much about my trip, here's the short and skinny. I'm traveling July 11-19 with MEDLIFE to Tena, Ecuador. We will be providing primary care for surrounding communities, traveling 15 minutes to 3 hours into the jungle to reach as many people as possible. MEDLIFE stands for Medicine, Education, and Development for Low Income Families Everywhere; it is a small, young non-profit group founded to provide broader access to medicine and expose pre-health and medical students to medicine in undeveloped countries. Our itinerary is as follows:

- Saturday 11th: Arrive in Quito, drive by bus to Tena, Ecuador
- Sunday 12th: •Visit to the headquarters of FENAKIN, welcome and an introduction to the MAP (Medical Assistance Program) projects. •Tourist visit to the Jumandi caves and/or visit El Arca zoo.
- Monday 13th: Clinic in Tambayacu community (45 minutes from Tena).
- Tuesday 14th: Clinic in Los Ríos community (3 hours from Tena).
- Wednesday 15th: Clinis in the Ongota community (20 minutes from Tena).
- Thursday 16th: Clinic in the Campanacocha community (2 hours from Tena).
- Friday 17th: Clinic in the San Vincente community (15 minutes from Tena).
- Saturday 18th: Tourist walk in the Amazon.
- Sunday 19th: Return home.

The picture above is of the hostel where we'll be staying in Tena. Enjoy the posting, I'll do my best to keep up!

Testing, testing, 1 2 3.

I'm getting anxious, excited, and needed something to do. So it's a test post to the blog! I'm not sure what internet access will be like down there but I will likely have some access, so my plan is to post photos and thoughts here for folks to read while I'm there. Many thanks to mi madre (my mom!) for lending the brand new Olympus E520 digital camera for the trip. A photo is above for your viewing pleasure.