Dear Friends of Angels of the Amazon,
So far 2011 has been a busy and amazing year with both sad and happy news.
Education
Our scholarship students had a great start for the beginning of school in March. We added 5 new students to the scholarship program. They were all excited to go back to school and continue learning, using their new supplies and uniforms provided by our donors. With the help of our travelers the school breakfast program has provided a nutritious meal to the children and adults of the villages at least once a month.
Emergency Relief
The flood was very severe this year for the Tahuayo River communities. The one that was the most affected was Chino village. The entire village was flooded by the first of May. Some people moved to the middle of the jungle in order to find dry land and save their animals. Most lost their crops, animals and homes. The saddest news was that one of our Angels children, Llerly Huanaquiri, drowned.
AOA did a food delivery to Chino, bringing rice, bean, noodles, sugar, bread, milk and oatmeal. Delivering the food was most humbling and people received the food with hope and happy smiles. The water receded by June and there was a lot of work to do cleaning up the village. People in the Amazon are very resilient, strong and survive in the most difficult times that nature brings to them. Things are back to normal at the villages, everyone is doing great, and the children are playing again in the soccer field.
Summer Internship Program
We had some great summer volunteers. Some high school students worked with children from Chino on projects related to art, recycling, environmental education and teaching English. Medical and pre-medical students did an internship at the clinic in Esperanza and made a nice contribution to health care. Other high school and college students worked at the research center doing wildlife census. It is wonderful to give students from the USA and Canada an opportunity to learn and provide a service to people and conservation. We also had some veterinary volunteers de-parasitize and neuter the cats and dogs in the villages.
Medical Care
With the support of a single donor we were able to install solar powered electricity to the clinic in Esperanza Village. Now vaccines and anti-venin can be maintained by refrigeration, emergency care can be given at night, the maternity room has good light for delivering babies, etc. Many of our travelers brought medicines and supplies and AOA has purchased the rest so that the Esperanza Clinic now has the best stocked pharmacy in the Amazon. AOA also hired another nurse, Silvia Veronica Caro Sanchez, who is doing outreach care, visiting homes along the river and performing diagnosis and inoculations. During the past few months AOA also assisted to provide treatment of several individuals who needed more advanced care in hospitals in Iquitos.
A look into the future
Going forward into the next twelve months we hope you will continue to support efforts to maintain the clinic, emergency medical situations and scholarship programs. In addition we plan to focus in the coming months on building concrete walls in the clinic, digging wells for pure water, constructing modern bathroom facilities and a kitchen for the school in Chino and building a playground as well. Thank you for your support.
One child at a time!
Sincerely
Dolly Beaver
Dolly Beaver
President, Angels of the Amazon
