Monday, August 25, 2008

Fundación Ecuadent

I have just returned to Quito after spending 4 days working with the Foundación Ecuadent- a nonprofit organization based out of Baltimore that runs medical and dental missions for impoverished persons all over Ecuador. The organization was founded by a woman named Tami who is Ecuadorian, but married to an American dentist and living in Baltimore. For more than 10 years she has been running mission trips to the poorest parts of Ecuador in order to provide free dental care, free hernia surgies, free food and clothes, and most recently malaria testing.
While in Esmereldas, on the northern coast of Ecuador, we worked in conjunction with the Ecuadorian Navy to provide two communities with free malaria testing, treatment, and education.

We spent the 4 days staying in a ¨suite¨ on the naval base in Esmereldas where we worked with several naval doctors, the navy hospital´s director, and several other naval officers. On Thursday we woke up very early and drove 2 hours to a town called Recinto Olmedo. This town had about 40 houses and was located on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, built literally in swamp land (you can imagine the mosquitos!) In order to get to the town we had to drive 30 minutes of the main road, down a dirt road to the ¨road¨ (mostly a mud path) that led to the town itself. In order to get into the town we had to walk across a rotting plank bridge across a river leading into the ocean! The town maybe had about 200-300 people and they all lived in wooden houses made of sugarcane stalks which clearly had holes in which mosquitos could enter. All of the houses are built on stilts so they don´t flood during the rainy season and though they have tvs and electricity there is no running water, no plumbing, and not enough food to eat. Most of the children were very malnourished with big protruding bellies since the people of the town live on fried fresh fish (caught daily in their painted wooden boats) plaintains, and some rice if they are lucky. The town is too remote to have any kind of import/export system and they do not have the resourses to set one up- even if they did, a lot of change is needed to improve the cleanliness standards of the town before they could sell thier fish.

Anyway, we spent the day testing everyone who wanted to be tested for malaria (about 100 people). We also worked in conjunction with a doctor who they would talk to after having their malaria and diabetes tests where they could get free diagnoses and medicine if they were sick. The people in the town were all very nice and it was an especially interesting look at the way of life of such a remote, afroecuadorian town.

On Saturday we went to a second town, called 50 casas, on the outskirts of Esmereldas to do more malaria testing. This town has a larger population of about 5000 people but they have the higest insidence of malaria of any town in the province- due to 3 large standing water lagoons based within the town. Standing water breeds mosquitos who carry malaria, sneak in through the many cracks in the houses, and bite the people living there. This town, though slighty more urban, was also very poor. The children were running around all without shoes, in torn clothes mostly either too big or too small, some running around in only underwear. Many were also very malnourished, again with large bellies. There was also a high insidence of teenage mothers and spending a day in that town alerted us to the many different needs these people have: sexual education, clothes and shoes, dental care, bed nets for malaria, the list goes one. However, now that the foundation has established a connection I have no doubt that Tami will follow through supporting 50 casas in many areas of need.

On Saturday we completed about 200 malaria tests, distributed many pamplets, and the navy is planning to return to distribute bednets which have been held up in customs. All in all the mission was very eyeopening and very important in understanding the lives of many who are scraping to get by, both in rural and urban Ecuador. I would like to keep working with Ecuadent, even if it is only through clothing drives, or toy drives. I have complete faith that Tami will follow through and distribute everything to those who need it most.

Last night I returned to Quito where I am planning what to do next....
Keep in touch everyone!

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