“By women and for women” is what the above title means. You may be wondering why that wording. Well, the significance is significant! You may have heard previously or read in prior blog posts that the Santiago Partnership does this exact work through the hands of women FOR women through medical caravans ONLY for women. Another one of these caravans took place last week in four jungle communities in Ecuador. The significance for the women serving on the caravan and those who received care is that women were serving women to care, empower and let other women know they are loved!
It was a diverse and amazing group of women serving together from Ecuador, Sweden, Finland and the U.S. There were four nurse practitioners. In total they saw 213 women! There were two counselors, Gunila (a Swedish missionary serving in Ecuador) and Pia who is the Covenant Regional Coordinator for Latin America for Serve Globally of the Evangelical Covenant Church. They saw 51 women through counseling services. We had a dental hygienist who saw 40 patients and two Ecuadorian oral surgeons who saw 59 patients and did 80 procedures! We also had an amazing teacher who came to give Days for Girls workshops and hand out reusable menstruation kits to all of the women as well as incontinence kits for some ladies. Kim’s best friend, Christa became an optometrist for the week and her niece Shea was our expert nurse! We had a lot of help from the communities as well setting up, preparing, getting the word out and the amazing work of the Women Ministries of Ecuador who lead beautifully! In total, in the four different communities in the jungle where we served, Pacto Sumaco, Bellavista Alta, Rukullakta and Tambayaku, we saw 363 women! Por Mujeres y Para Mujeres! That’s what this last week was. What a blessing to all of us who gathered together for a common goal of service for women.
PICTURES BY PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHEA
The Santiago Partnership