Women all over the world often feel more comfortable being open about their bodies, health, and their lives when they are among women. We have found that to be true here in Ecuador. Last spring during our medical caravans we found that women would come more often when they knew that the medical provider was a woman and that they were seeking us out for private conversation about what was going on with their health. From this experience, the idea was born to have a medical caravan that would be just for women, therefore providing a safe space for women to come to seek medical care and conversation regarding their health.
We started dreaming of what it might be able to look like to address the whole woman: mind, body, and spirit. We partnered with the head of the women’s organization for the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador (IPEE) and started turning those plans and dreams in to something more concrete. She brought together a group of women from the local and national organization to help with planning the details and locations of the event.
In the end our desire is to do a series of events that will take place all over Ecuador. The Ecuadorian Covenant church has 6 districts and we hope to hold an event in each district. There will be two events a year and each event will involve four clinic days in two locations (two days each) in order to cover even more areas. Each clinic will be hosted by a local church.
Our first event will be September 26-30 in San Gabriel and Pungayuiaco (northern Ecuador). We will have general medicine, dentistry, and counseling. We will also have classes on physical, mental, and spiritual health. This first group of women that are helping to put on the event are a combination of women living locally and coming in for the week from the US and Canada. We are excited to see how God uses this time to impact us and the women that we will be working with.
The Santiago Partnership