La Milagrosa Center in Maniapure hosted the 13th Medical Journey from March 12th-15th 2020. With over 56 volunteers including doctors and multidisciplinary personnel, the journey started successfully on March 12 when a dozen private planes took off from "Aeropuerto Caracas SVCS" to Caseja -the airstrip that serves the "La Milagrosa Center" in the heart of Maniapure-
All volunteers managed to get to the airport while all their belongings were sent by a truck the previous week in a very complicated logistic-challenge. Some pilots needed to be back by noon on that day so they took off very early in the morning. Maniapure is about 1hour and 50 minutes flight south from Aeropuerto Caracas on a Cessna 206.
Every aircraft was completely loaded with volunteers and some of the 450 Kg. of food required to feed more than 120 people every meal for each of the 4 days. On the arrival, all volunteers already had received the "Medical Journey Manual" which would allow them to know where (in which of the available Huts) were they supposed to install their hammocks.
After installing their hammocks, having lunch and going for a short swim at the river, doctors were transferred to La Milagrosa Center to start the medical journey with the employees and family of those who work at La Milagrosa Center.
At sunset, people were invited to attend the dining hut, where the program and all activities were going to be announced for the following two days. Every night, after dinner a social get together would make volunteers know each other and share experiences.
The actual journey started on Friday, March 12th, in total, more than 420 indigenous patients were seen, 863 creole patients attended and in total there were 1785 consultations among 12 medical specialties:
-General Medicine: 277
-Internal Medicine: 133
-Cardiology: 98
-Neumonology: 87
-Pediatry: 291
-Dermatology: 143
-Gynecology and Obstetrics: 187
-Oftalmology: 260
-ORL: 89
-Urology: 84
-Emergencies: 9
-Odontology: 127
The Centro La Milagrosa surpassed all previous records regarding the number of consultations and despite the difficulties of working in remote and rural areas, the support of pilots, airplane owners, and other multidisciplinary volunteers was key to achieve the successful results.
More than 60 hours of flight time, 6,000+ Lts. of AVGAS fuel, 14 private aircraft and 450Kgs. of food are some of the stunning numbers after this successful journey.
It is thanks to you, for your donations and continuous support, that Maniapure can perform these activities and directly benefit more than 1,300 people in rural and underserved communities.