Reports from Ecuador

It has been 2 months of hard work, experimentation, research, exploration, odd incidents, unique cuisine and gorgeous sights. This has been a wonderful and memorable experience for the both of us and we are going to miss the beautiful country of Ecuador and everyone in it so much. The reason that our work there was so enjoyable was because of the wonderful people who were there to help us along the way. We would like to thank Maria Alicia, first and foremost, for lending us her home, knowledge, time and money, and for also being our trusty chauffeur and tour guide when we would have been utterly lost otherwise. Thanks to Marisol, for being a great resource for us for our many projects, and to Martita for being our Mamita when we were so far from our own. Thank you to all the doctors and nurses at the clinic in Yatzaputzan who gave us such helpful feedback and ideas for the technologies. And a huge thank you to everyone in Planchaloma, including the doctors, promoters, nurses, volunteers, and even the patients and people of the town for making us feel at home, for complementing our elementary-Spanish, for letting us feel useful at the clinic, and for all the fun times and laughs we’ve had together. Last, but most certainly not least, thank you BTB, for allowing us to have such a life-altering, eye-opening, and enjoyable learning experience; without the time, money, hard work, planning, efforts, that everyone there has put into this program, this would not have been possible for us.

We hope that we have accomplished enough to make even the smallest difference. We have learned a great deal and will be sure to pass that knowledge on to BTB and to future interns in order so that the next technologies that go to Ecuador will be Ecuador-ready and able to help to many throughout the country. We hope that we have made an impact, however small, in the communities and have made BTB and Fundacion Futuro proud to have had us as interns.

Chao, Ecuador! Don’t forget us, because we will most certainly never forget you.

El Reciclaje

The last week of our internship was a very busy and successful one. There was much left to do with our projects and the backpacks in preparation for Yvette’s and Dr. Oden’s arrival in Ecuador. At the beginning of the week, Lila and I went  to Quito to make yet another trip to the printing place to pick up our educational booklets for the CHO pack and the Zipocrit Reader Card booklets. We also took this opportunity to bring the recycled items from the clinic Planchaloma to the recycling company in Quito. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out the way I had planned. I had hoped that the company would buy the recyclables for a fairly reasonable price of at least a few dollars. However, when we brought the bags of items and the workers weighed them, the final price for all of the recyclables was only a 34 cents! We figured that a little money is better than no money at all, but when we saw that the taxi ride back cost more than we received, we wondered if this was an efficient way to recycle the items. In the end, we figured it just wasn’t worth it to waste gas to drive the items to a company who will only buy it for a few cents. However, later that day we discovered a huge recycling bin that belonged to Techniseguros, the office where Maria Alicia works. This turns out to be a much more convenient way for Maria Alicia to recycle the items from the clinics and more environmentally friendly because it saves on gas. Thus, I believe my recycling project has had a successful start and is sustainable in the communities as long as the health workers encourage the idea and Maria Alicia picks up the items during her visits to the clinics.

La Biblioteca

Lila’s library was also off to a very good start. We set up a check-out system in which every book is registered in a records book and contains a pocket with a red card that reads “You forgot to register me!” Then, once someone expresses interest in checking out a book, the health workers at the clinic will record the date and person’e name, remove the red card from the book and replace it with a green card that reads “Don’t forget to return me.” The system is very simple and organized, and the workers and patients caught on quickly. Lila also quickly gained a few loyal customers. A group of small kids had tracked her down one day while we were at an internet cafe in Planchaloma and asked her if they could please borrow some books. Lila was absolutely ecstatic and she walked with them to the clinic, where they each checked out 2 books from her library. This same group of kids not only come back about 3 times a day to get more books, but they also told all of their friends and siblings about the library and even brought them all to the clinic to show them. It’s really amazing to see the people in the surrounding communities so excited about the existence of a such a simple, convenient system in which they can read books for free. It’s refreshing and inspiring to see their thirst for knowledge and their desire to learn. Lila’s project has most definitely been successful so far. Hopefully, the doctors at the clinic are able to buy more books soon to add to the library’s collection; because pretty soon, those little kids will have read every book there!

The backpacks

The Lab-in-a-Backpack is now being put to good use in the clinic in Planchaloma as well as in Yatzaputzan, now that both clinics have lab techs there at least once a week to run tests. And after all of our hard work, the new and improved CHO pack was able to be left at the clinic in Yatzaputzan, containing all of the items that they had requested to be added to the pack. Now hopefully the backpack contains everything that they would need to go on a brigade in the surrounding communities. However, unlike the other 2 backpacks, the OB/GYN pack was not as successful. Many changes and revisions must be made to the pack before it is ready to use in these communities and clinics. But we have received a lot of feedback on the pack and pass this information onto the next team assigned to work on the pack so that, in the future, the pack can be useful  and ready to use in Ecuador.

In other news…

Dr. Oden and Yvette finally made it to Ecuador! We were so excited to see them pull up in front of the clinic in Planchaloma. But when they arrived, everyone got right down to business. They met the new lab tech, Esperanza, who will be working with the Lab-in-a-Backpack every Saturday at the clinic. She made sure to let them know how much she enjoys working with the backpack, which contains almost everything needed to run her usual tests. She also voiced  her approval of Lila’s Sally centrifuge. She and the doctors all stated that they wished that we could’ve left Sally with them to use at the clinic and were a little upset when we told them that we couldn’t. Dr.Oden also brought m syringe clips with her, so we were finally able to demonstrate the clips to the doctors and promoters in Planchaloma. They were amazed at the simplicity of the concept and ease-of-use of the clip itself. They told us that they want a whole bunch of them of various sizes for both the 3mL and 5mL syringes. When I heard this, I could not have been happier. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to perfect them, but hopefully in the near future we will be able to send the desired amount of clips to the clinics.

Independent Project: Recycling Update

Since we last talked about Amanda’s efforts to start recycling programs at Fundación Futuro clinics, we’ve seen the project get off the ground with a great response!  Bins for glass, plastic and paper are now installed at the clinics in Planchaloma and Yatzaputzan, as well as the women´s cooperative in Yatzaputzan.  The bins in Planchaloma are currently overflowing and ready for transport next time we return to Quito.  Amanda found a company that is willing to buy recyclable items, so we are hoping to turn this environmentally-inspired project into a money-maker for the clinic.

Independent Project: Library

While Amanda’s project has been taking hold, I have started my own independent project.  Since coming to Ecuador I have been catching up on my ever-growing reading list.  One book that I particularly enjoyed was The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the account of a boy from rural Malawi who improved living conditions for his family and village by building a windmill–a project inspired and guided by books from his local library. The description of his village reminded me in many ways of Planchaloma–many people without proper healthcare, electricity, education, water supply, etc.  However, the people here do not have access to a library of bookstore.  While there is an internet cafe, its users are limited to children playing games after school.  With this in mind, we decided to launch a modest book collection at the clinic where patients can read where they wait for the doctor and check out books to take home.  Right now we have a modest selection of 82 books, ranging from science textbooks to children’s stories, but Lorena, the nurse at the clinic, had the same idea as Amanda and: the clinic has volunteered to use the funds produced by the recycling program to buy additional books for the library.

While most people were initially hesitant to use the library, once we introduced people the system and assured them that it was a free service, we have gotten a positive response.  We hope that word spreads around the community so that people are aware of this resource.

Lab-in-a-Backpack Progress

The clinic in Planchaloma recieved some exciting news this week with regard to the Lab-in-a-backpack: they have contracted a lab tech who will visit the clinic every Saturday to use the materials in the pack!  Amanda and I demonstrated the pack to her today, and she was very impressed with what all it contained.  We are relieved to know that the backpack will continue to be used once we go home next week.

We also had the opportunity to demonstrate Sally to the lab tech and her son, who is a doctor.  He was especially excited about the design since he himself had constructed a manual centrifuge using a bicycle in med school.

View From Our Window

So this isn’t exactly project related, but one of my favorite blogs has a “View From Your Window” series, and I thought I would post some pictures of the spectacular panoramic we are lucky enough to wake up to everyday (well, as long as it’s not too cloudy).

To the West: Las Ilinizas, which we affectionately refer to as the Lord of the Rings mountains

To the East: Cotopaxi, the volcano that lends its name to the province

In our spare time, we have tried to take in the amazing countryside, and one afternoon we hiked up a mountain (it’s really more of a hill, but at this altitude it felt like a mountain).

As long as we’re off topic, Amanda and I would like to take a moment to mention the weather in Planchaloma, which we have decided is more fickle than Houston’s.  Though today was the hottest day of our internship, it hailed.  Five minutes later, the sun came out and we were treated to an incredible rainbow over the cascading hills.

Ecuador Culture

Since arriving in Ecuador, and particularly Planchaloma, we have had the privilege of experiencing the rich, indigenous culture here.  We have gone to festivals, watched dance performances, and observed high school graduations.  It’s a great way to take a break from work and get to know the way of life here a little bit better.

Cuy, AKA guinea pig, one of Ecuador's delicacies. Everyone here thinks it's hilarious that Americans keep these animals as pets!