Headed to Alto Napo

Where the streets have no name... actually, where the towns have no streets. I'll be leaving on a vaccine campaign on Wednesday for 10 days. Eight of us will live out of a boat, bathe with river water on the boat (in a little bathroom?), eat jungle animals (although I refuse to eat monkey), wear long sleeves and pants in 80 degree weather to avoid getting eaten alive by mosquitos, and prevent hundreds of kids from getting vaccine preventible diseases. The midwife loaned me her boots to keep my feet dry and I'm heading out to town to look for a light long sleeve shirt. Most everyone upriver speaks Kichwa, an indigenous Ecuadoran language, so I'll be trying to learn a bit of that as we go. We will be passing out anti-parasite meds to everyone, since EVERYONE here has parasites. I'll also be meeting with the apo (chief) of each village we go to in order to set the groundwork for an integral community assessment project that will help us understand how to improve the health and lives of those who live in the communities we serve. I will also discuss the details of International Medical Relief's medical mission trip in July. We have a great group, and I'm excited to learn first hand how people live out in the villages.
Toni


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