Dear friends and supporters of Angels of the Amazon,
AoA continues working and supporting the education of children in the villages of the Tahuayo. A new school year has started and our students are attending school sessions with excitement, dedication and passion for learning. School supplies were distributed in April for all students enrolled for the new school
year. Along with our partner Be The Change Volunteers, we will continue construction of the high school with the teachers’ home (they have been staying in homes of PTA mothers in the village) and a bridge that would help the students attend school during the flood season.
This construction will take place in the dry season, July-October. I am delighted to share the wonderful news and progress made in our health care program. The professional nurses (paid by AoA) at the Esperanza clinic continue working to improve the service for every patient that comes for care. We have also hired a new lab technician in a permanent position at the clinic. In February we had a women’s clinic provided by volunteer physicians from the USA. Women from the community as well as clinical staff benefited.
AoA stocked the clinic’s pharmacy with much needed medical supplies. Two poisonous snake bites were recently treated with antivenin. Transportation for our nurses to the different communities to provide vaccinations for newborns at home was provided. In recent months several patients were taken to the
hospital of Iquitos for medical treatment beyond the scope of the clinic and AoA provided the funds to their treatment.
Clinic with deteriorating wood walls New clinic construction underway. The clinic in Esperanza Village was constructed by AoA 11 years ago to assist the government assigned health worker to better meet the needs of people living in the Tahuayo River basin. In the years since AoA has added concrete floors, multiple rooms for care, rest rooms, furniture, and electricity. But over the years
the wood walls have become dilapidated and rotten, and the needs for health care have outgrown the size of the clinical facilities. To address current and future needs as well as provide for better sanitation, AoA has initiated a project to rebuild and enlarge the clinic with concrete cement and concrete block walls.
The renovated facility will benefit many villages in the region, which have a total population of approximately 8000 people. Last month we started phase 1 of construction of the Esperanza clinic, building the outer walls. We need more funding to complete the interior walls and new roof, as well as re-surface the floors. While there may be difficulties, with our AoA donors we see the possibilities and willingness to help… the idea that there must be a way to do this, is powerful! The good work can’t stop as we see progress, we know that with determination, perseverance and your help our goals can be reached: you can join us in making a difference in people’s lives.
Special thanks to all who have donated, and to all our volunteers who come to donate their time and hard labor who contribute to AoA’s mission, without your help none of the great and successful projects described above would be possible. Thank you on behalf of the many people whom you have helped; they have expressed often their gratitude. AoA has been the bridge that connects you with them. The courage, strength, resilience that many people have showed me only keeps me motivated to continue creating, being and collaborating more; together we can make a world of difference!
One heart, two worlds!
Dolly Beaver
Executive Director
Angels of the Amazon
