For the past 5 years Cheryl and I have been working in and helping to manage an eye clinic that I established with the help of my friend, Professor Ray Dennis in Riobamba, Ecuador. We are off again tomorrow for…
Ecuador. From Bananas to Alpaca
We departed JFK for our overnight flight to Guayaquil. The scenery on our trip up the Andes was spectacular as always, although there were a few more landslides on the road then we had last year. We stopped at our…
A Little Surgery, a Little Pork, and A lot of Volcano
This morning began with several cataract surgeries performed by our local ophthalmologist, Dr. Carlos Gonzolez and myself. After that it was off with our team to La Merced Market for the local Ecuadoran delicacy, baked pork ( Los Hernandos de…
The Most Scenic, AND the Scariest Commute to Work Ever!
This morning our group left bright and early from our clinic for the township of Colta. Although not far from Riobamba it was nearly a 2 1/2 hour difficult mountainous drive to our destination. We drove past the main village…
Just Another Typical Day At the Office
Finally after our “caravana” arrived at the tiny pueblo of Malta (pronounced Maltay) and our pulse rates returned to normal, we scoped out the buildings for a place to set up shop. We settled on an upstairs room in the…
A Long Days Journey Into …… Colta!
Today’s caravana took us to the town of Colta. Considerably larger and more accessible than yesterday. We were greeted by about 120 people waiting to be screened. It was an arduous day, but we managed to finish up by 4:00…
On the Flores…. of the Gymnasio
Today’s adventure, I mean clinic, took us to Parroquail Rural Flores, a conglomeration of 27 rural communities in the hills outside of Riobamba. When we arrived all we were offered for our clinic space was a large open and very…
Banos… Literally
Last night we arrived in the city of Banos, Ecuador’s answer to Queenstown, New Zealand. This town is nestled at the base of the Tungurahua Volcano in the province of the same name. The volcano is very active and erupts…
Banos – Por la Noche
So after six straight days of work in challenging conditions what does one do? You start out by shopping for all of that wonderful Alpaca for your family (about $14 for a blanket). Then its off for a side by…
One Last Clinic
Our last clinic today was in the small village of Manguiwua, about 40 minutes out of Banos. It was by far the dustiest building we have been in. Before we could get started a bit of cleaning and sweeping was…