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The remote villages of the Peruvian Amazon are no place to be ill. For those
of us used to being able to see a doctor within a day or two of becoming sick
or injured it is probably impossible to imagine what the unwell of the jungle
go through. Some of Peru´s poorest people live in
the communities that cling to the banks of the Amazon River and its tributaries.
Often many hours by canoe from the nearest ´health centre´, these people have
little money to afford badly needed medicines. Add to this the often
primitive living conditions, the harsh temperatures and humidity and you have
a healthcare nightmare.
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Amazon Hope, Iquitos, Perú
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It is into this uneviable situation that
each month U.K. and U.S. healthcare workers
voluntarily throw themselves. Since 2004 the Amazon Hope, a joint venture of
the Scripture Union of Peru and the Vine Trust of Bo´ness
Scotland, has sailed the Amazon River out of the City of Iquitos
offering medical care and health promotion advice. An ex-Royal Navy dive boat
now converted to a floating medical centre, the Amazon Hope is crewed by a
multinational mixture of paid staff and volunteers, here, as the name
suggests, to give hope to the people of the jungle.
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Dental surgery
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The November 2005 team consisted of 23 people, 6 British doctors and nurses,
and a medley of Peruvians from dentists and an obstetrician to mechanics and
cooks. Sailing east from Iquitos to the City of Pevas, they then spent 6 days visiting 10 communities
working 12 hour days on their way back to port. Some of these communities are
large and relatively civilized, like the 1,000 person Oran, whilst others were
barely more than a few families strong.
In total nearly 900 patients were seen by the medical staff, and 500
procedures performed by the team´s two Peruvian
dentists. Talks on hygiene and family planning were offered and children
vaccinated. Whilst many of the ailments treated were of a minor nature,
headaches and sore throats, rashes and back pain, others were far from
mundane; the severely malnourished new born and the 18 year old boy just two
hours from certain death following a deadly snake bite were lives saved which
would have been lost had the boat not been there. All treatment is given free
of charge, and where needed patients will be followed up the next time ´the
boat is in town´.
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The street boys home at Puerto Alegria,
60 minutes sail from Iquitos up the Itaya River.
Puerto Alegria is home to 30 boys. This is one of
the main locations for workparties.
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For the communities left behind by the advance of health care provision, the
Amazon Hope offers an invaluable service, and for those exhausted volunteers
who sweated through a hard week´s work it provides
a unique opportunity to see the beauty of the Peruvian Jungle and the awe
inspiring Amazon River whilst giving something of real value back to the
communities.
Next year a second boat, imaginatively named the Amazon Hope II, will join
her sister on the river further increasing the capacity to help in what is an
endless task. If you know of a doctor, dentist, nurse or lab tech who hankers for an experience where they can really make a
difference get them out to Iquitos and help give hope to
the people of the Amazon.
More information can be found at their web site at:www.amazonferry.com
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