Dear friends, before we leave for another extended outreach to the Brazilian-Bolivian border, I want to quickly thank you for all the support you have given till now. These donations enabled us to continue with our outreaching to the Bolivian Amazon and Andes with our local MD's, dentists and nurses.
Our Team is one big family
I am very glad to tell you that I am doing well again after having suffered a serious illness that brought me to Belgium, where I also took the time to witness about the work of Doctors On Mission among my fellow Belgian MD's of my graduation year (1988). Once healed, I returned to the medical mission field in Bolivia.
I think it doesn't need to be said anymore, after 34 years of ministry, that it is our mission to reach out to these people who don't have a voice in this world, don't receive a message filled with hope and don't receive any medical care. This way many people are saved by treating preventable diseases that otherwise could lead to death, due to malnutrition and a poor immune system.
Often, these people remain their whole life in the same community without having electricity, internet, a medical center, a nurse, doctor or a dentist. And yes, if they are healthy, have enough to eat and are receiving words of hope, these poor people, but rich in spirit, become filled with love and happiness.
We can see it even in the eyes of a child. A twinkle in their eyes returns, once they are healthy again.
Witnessing in Word and Deed
I experienced isolation and many different circumstances, such as drought (Andes, Amazon), wildfires (Amazon), hurricanes (Haïti), earthquakes (Bolivia, Haïti), super-typhoons (Philippines), hostage environment (N. Pakistan with Taliban & Al Qaeda around the minorities). Each circumstance changes everything and gives a great opportunity to witness in Word and Deed.
Village by village
During the last months, there was a lot of political unrest in Bolivia with regular protest demonstrations. The many roadblocks hindered our work. Fortunately, the situation has now stabilized and we can now continue with our outreaching. We especially need urgently a 4x4 Jeep, as the last one is from 2006, to bring our local team to these isolated regions and bring at the same time the very ill children and people to the nearest hospital.
This way, we continue village by village, hoping to become a river of hope, health and joy.
Our biggest loss
Diseases like Dengue, Malaria, Chagas disease, Parasites, Pneumonia (wildfires in Amazon) and Tuberculosis (Andes) strike too often, and people are desperate to receive health, compassion and love. Our biggest loss of our team has been our dear local Dr. Inocencio Ortega who lost his life at 50 years of age because of the Chagas disease (Trypanosoma Cruzi). He was my right hand man for more than 25 years. We also lost several doctors when the pandemic of Covid came, as vaccinations never found their way to the places where we are working. It remains a very sad sight to see the many Covid cemeteries along the road.
