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Ecuador Medical Mission Trip
In the last week of October, 2007, Steve traveled with a group of 16 other volunteers from Brevard County to Cayembe, Ecuador, to provide medical and dental care to the residents of this rural community.
The people in this area are very friendly and appreciated the brief opportunity to have medical and dental care - something that they generally cannot access due to lack of financial resources. Although very poor, many of these families have lived here for hundreds of years, living on small sections of land, walled by ancient adobe walls holding vegetable gardens, flowers, a few trees, a cow, some chickens, and a hutch or two of guinea pigs (which they eat).
Steve made several house-calls while in Cayembe, walking down pleasant lanes like that above.
The family above lives in an adobe-walled house with dirt floors which is over 100 years old. Many of the older people do not know how old they are. Many of the older people had problems which could be effectively dealt with in a rich country such as ours - cataracts, deafness, and severe arthritis. The team met several who had fractured a hip in the past and had not been able to afford to have it treated, and consequently suffered with severe pain and debility.
The gentleman above has corn drying on the sunny wall of his house. His wife showed the visitors a large number of medicinal plants they grow in their beautiful garden.
Above, Dr. Steve examines a young child with her mother looking on.
All work and no play is no fun. Above, Steve hangs out with kids waiting for the clinic to open. Below, a young girl waits on the stairs for the clinic to open.
The afternoons provided intermittent rain showers. The children below were prepared.
Steve has made a number of trips to work with some of the poorest people of the world. He will bring that care and compassion to Washington when he becomes our next congressman!