The best part of waking up……

Thanks to Dan and Katherine we now have excellent coffee. They were reading our blog and saw I was surviving on instant coffee and they came bearing gifts: a French press, coffee grinder and 3 bags of coffee!!! So who are Dan and Katherine anyways? Well it is quite a nice story, and you can read Fr. Mauricio’s version on the PANGO website (www.pango.pe). In short, their son Nathan was a tourist coming down the Napo river several years ago from Ecuador and no one told him wearing contacts several days in tropical weather was a bad idea and he developed a corneal ulcer. The boat he was traveling on stopped to make sure he received treatment here in Santa Clotilde, and Fr. Jack took care of him, called his mother and he was flown home and followed up with Dr. Rebecca Bartow an ophthalmologist. Dr. Katherine Kaplan was moved and grateful for Fr. Jack’s care that she offered her expertise to Santa Clotilde and she has been trying to make the trip annually since.

In March she, her husband Dr. Dan, her son Nathan (medical school ), her colleague in OB/GYN Dr Joe Welton, Dr. Rebecca Bartow (ophthalmologist) and her husband Dr. Tom Bartow(rheumatology) all came to work for a week. I unfortunately was working up in Angoteros at the time, but it was a success. Several patients were able to have hysterectomies, tubal ligation, joints injections, and pteyrgium operations during their week here. The team put in a lot of effort and even broke in the new operating room and delivery room.