Jungle Caravan Receives Squealing Gift

School's out but clinic is in at a village outside Macas, Ecuador. This fall a resident of the village came to Hospital Vozandes del Oriente for surgery after his heel was chopped off. After his hospital stay he asked the hospital staff to come to his village. Last Saturday Jay and 14 other staff members traveled three hours by car to reach this community.  In the picture above, the hospital's pastor shares about Christ's gift of forgiveness and love for the world.

Monetary gifts from Sweden and the U.S. purchased Christmas gifts for the families... red bags filled with flour, sugar, cooking oil, rice and soap.

Midwife Gabrielle Egberth, from Sweden, sets up a pharmacy table while Pastor Jose and surgeon Mattias Egberth visit before seeing patients.

Jay visiting with patients in his "exam room"

This little girl can hear but she doesn't talk. What a precious Child of God. She has an appointment now to see the speech therapist at the hospital.

Gabriella, an Ecuadorian doctor in training at the hospital, visits with a patient. After she graduates from residency she plans to serve with a ministry in Pakistan.

Villagers visit during clinic -- notice the red gift bags.

This grandmother does not speak Spanish. Raised in the jungle before today's roads were built, she only speaks her tribe's language; others interpreted for her.

The village thanked the medical team by giving them a pig. The owners lived in this house.

The village banos (bathroom) is in the light green building in the background.

This is a sugar-cane grinder. Sugar cane is fed into a hole in the red box and juice comes out the other side. The grinder is powered by people pushing the long boards around in a circle. The plants behind the shed are sugar cane.

And this is the squeeling gift... a pig...

No loading shute... so a wheel barrow did the job of moving it to the truck that brought the medical team.

On the way home .... caution: "Reduce Velocity Now... Falling Rocks". Rocks didn't fall but a mudslide blocked the road.

A public bus is stuck after it slipped sideways on the muddy pavement and embedded the tail end into the mud slide. 

The view from the vehicle Jay was riding in. The village also gave the team this bunch of bananas which is riding on the roof.

The kids and I knew Jay's team had arrived home because we heard the pig squealing a block away. The hospital Christmas party is this Friday. Guess what's on the menu?!! : )