Medical Clinic
With the closest public hospital 15 miles away and residents unable to afford the expensive costs of private healthcare, there is a clear need for a local healthcare center.
Anne and Enrique began with a medical clinic under a tarp that hung from the front of the roof off the little hut that they lived in. As time went on, they began receiving support from a local business owner (Eduardo Cofiño) and soon the support spread to a group of Anne’s friends in Calgary, now known as the Friends of Ix-canaan. In 2000, the door was opened to the first formal building of the project, the medical clinic, followed in 2004 by the Ix-canaan Library, which was completely finished and opened after another fundraiser in 2006.
The clinic, for the people of El Remate and surrounding villages, is free to use and offers services such as stitches for machete wounds, treatment for parasites, education in health, medicines for chronic conditions (such as type 2 diabetes), and treatment for general health conditions such as urinary tract infections, ear infections and pneumonia, amongst many other things. It is currently staffed five days a week by a local nursing student who studies in Santa Elena.
Click through below if you’d like to find out more about how you, too, could help to improve the quality of life and health for the people of El Remate. Find out more about volunteering with us, making a donation or sponsorship or just dropping us an email to say hi (we always want to hear from you!).
The medical clinic is always in need of volunteers, including:
- Ophthalmologists
- Physiotherapists
- Teacher training
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Type 2 diabetes education
- Acupuncturist
- Any medical worker at all!