News

Amazon Hope – Bringing Care To Remote Communities Published: 02 Sep 2021

One of the key features of the Amazon Hope Programme is that it works with communities to provide services where they are most in need.

It travels, often many hours, along winding Amazon tributaries, to reach riverine villages where healthcare is limited at best, and the option of travelling to a larger town is often outwith the financial reach of families.

Dr Ronald Ramirez, Amazon Hope Programme’s Head of Medical Services, shares with us one such example from the most recent expedition, and how the team were able to bring care and comfort:

“In the community of Puerto Auxilio, the first community to be served, we found a 20-year-old man who had been bitten by a highly venomous snake (Bothrops atrox) two days prior to our arrival. He was in great pain. He said that on the day of the accident he was taken to the Santa Rita de Castilla health center where the doctor told him that they did not have anti-venom and that he should go to Nauta for treatment. [Nauta is more than 5 hours away by boat].

His relatives did not have the means to take him to Nauta and could only hope for a miracle. The miracle arrived on board the Forth Hope ship! We went to his house and administered the anti-venom, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. The next day, he found him in a very favourable condition and the whole family was happy.”