Ecuador was great. The equator was a lot of fun and the churches were so beautiful. Shopping was productive too; I”m almost ready for xmas. They use the dollar, so it was so easy to understand the price of everything immediately. And, I would recommend the Hilton, the executive portion (breakfasts were divine).

For Timmy, we worked a full four days and a part of another day. I skipped Wed. as I felt I needed to rest and it wasn’t service oriented, more social. In the morning, we went to the Indian village as much as 3 hrs. outside of Quito. This meant round trip would be up to 6 hrs. I hadn’t expected this, but I did get a chance to know some of the other participants and that was nice.

When we arrived at the village we set up, which took at least a half an hour. We saw 80-87 patients a day. The kids were de-wormed and received fluoride for their teeth. There was intake for weighting and blood pressure. After seeing the doctor, the patients came to pharmacy. They were grateful and it was a gratifying experience. That being said, our work is only a drop in the bucket because there is so much need. Nevertheless, Timmy is organized and has a hospital we support there, so follow up is available for the patients. Two of the women requested a tubal ligation–that is success because families are so large and they have to get permission from their husbands before they ask us.

In summary, I”m glad I did it. It would make anyone feel good. Please see http://www.timmyfoundation.org.

Below: Susan Smithburn with patient in clinic South of Quito, Ecuador in July, 2008