Health Care

Our community visits are made possible through our Health Care Volunteer Venture program twice a year and by custom programs we coordinate for hospitals or medical schools when possible. Volunteers including doctors, P.A.s, dentists, nurses, physical therapists, and willing assistants sign up for these programs and spend one or two weeks in Ecuador. Together with Tandana staff and local professionals including interpreters, these groups visit various communities in the canton of Otavalo. We coordinate with the Ecuadorian Consulates in the United States, the Ministry of Public Health, the Quinchinche and Gualsaqui Subcentros, and the Union of Kichwa Otavalo and Rural Communities of Quichinche. We have provided over 12,000 patient visits since we began the program in 2007.

Our Health Care Volunteer Venture groups work mostly in communities pertaining to the Quichinche and Gualsaqui Subcentros (rural health centers). We collaborate with Subcentro staff to visit the more distant communities that are served by their center. The Subcentro staff are mandated to visit these communities regularly, but are given no funding to do so and have very limited supplies of medications. With Tandana’s help, they are able to fulfill their mission of providing care in these distant communities, from which access to the Subcentro is difficult. 

When patients arrive at the school, community center, or health center where we are working, Tandana staff and volunteers take their names, ask basic questions, and take vitals, preparing them to see the health care providers. The providers examine the patients, make diagnoses, and prescribe medications from our portable pharmacy. We ask a contribution of $1 per family for the medications in order to promote valuation of the medicines and avoid creating dependency. Following the providers' recommendations, a nurse or other volunteer performs basic laboratory tests, such as those for h. Pylori, urinalysis, pregnancy, and streptococcus, and does ear cleanings as necessary. We are also able to do ultrasounds during our visits. Our providers fill out referral forms for any patients they feel need additional care, tests, or specialists.

During our community visits, we can also address dental, vision, pediatric, and preventative care needs. Local and visiting dentists use our portable dental equipment to fill cavities, extract teeth, and do preventative treatments such as sealants and fluoride. For vision complaints, we conduct vision screening, provide reading glasses to those who need them, and refer those who require more specialized diagnosis and treatment to Fundacion Vista Para Todos. At schools, we weigh and measure the children, a nurse or doctor listens to their hearts and lungs, and we provide parasite medication if the children have not received it within 6 months of our visit.

For all of these services, we keep records in our Electronic Medical Records system so that as patients return for subsequent community visits, we have their history accessible.

The second phase of our health care work begins after the visits to the communities have taken place. Tandana's Patient Follow Up Coordinator and interns review the referral forms and make a plan for where each of the patients needs to go. Staff communicate with the patients and advocate for them in the public health system. It is our goal that, through this process, patients learn how to use the system on their own.

Through many appointments, first at the rural health center, then at the hospital, and sometimes at specialized hospitals in the capital city of Quito or with other organizations such as Vista Para Todos or the Lions Club, patients access the care they need. Whether they need lab tests, specialists, surgeries, or eyeglasses, our Patient Follow Up Coordinator works tirelessly to help them access the resources that are available. We work primarily with the Ministry of Health, and also with other foundations and private options when the public system does not offer what a patient needs. 

 Nutritional and Medicinal Plant Garden

In a project combining health care and gardening, The Tandana Foundation collaborated with the rural health center in Quichinche, Ecuador to plant a vegetable and medicinal plant garden. In 2017 a visiting group of gardeners worked alongside the nurses to clear the garden, weed the beds, and plant 150 new seeds. Later in the same year another group of gardeners worked alongside staff from the health center to weed the garden and plant 60 more medicinal plants. The vegetables are used to teach the pregnant mothers' club new ideas for nutritional diets. The medicinal plants, such as oregano and lemongrass, are used to make soothing teas as well as to support a nutritious diet.

Keeping Seniors Active

Each rural health center has an elders club to promote health through keeping people active. The one in Gualsaqui, Ecuador is called Segunda Juventud (Second Youth). They love to go on outings but can't raise enough money for the trips. They asked Tandana for support and we helped pay for their trip to go visit the Zoo in Guayllabamba.

Health Center Infrastructure

The health center in Quichinche has a room where club meetings are held for pregnant mothers and elders as well as where staff teach students about nutrition and other subjects. The staff asked Tandana to help fix up this space with tile, a sink, and glass for the windows. Now, they have a much cleaner and more comfortable environment for dance therapy classes, nutritional cooking demonstrations, and all kinds of meetings.  

• continue to provide transportation for monthly visits of health center staff to each community
• provide food, hygiene supplies, and masks to 109 households identified as particularly unable to access resources during the lockdown
• continue providing advocacy and support to patients who need urgent or specialized medical and vision care as they access treatments through the Ministry of Public Health, Vista Para Todos, and other foundations