Surgical Camp in the Inland Coastal Region

Earlier this month the Cinterandes crew worked for 4 days in the coastal lowland region in the town of Vinces, a 5 hour drive northwest of here.  There are huge banana plantations in the area, also pleasant rolling hills with dry forests and small subsistence farms.  The town of Vinces initially reminded me of a Southeast Asian city because the streets are filled with motorcycles and three-wheeled bicycle taxis.  But salsa music filling the streets until late at night and street soccer games bring one back around to Latin America.

On the day we arrived, we did surgery until midnight.  The following day, we started around 8am, operated until 8pm, then went to a late night dinner party at a local doctor's home on the banks of the large river that runs through town.  I have been honored to work in the OR as first assistant on about half of the surgeries.  The rest of the time, I have been able to roam around taking photos and find people to make small talk with until the next case. In the end, we did 30 surgeries over the 3 days in Vinces:  hernias, phimosis/circumcisions, tubal ligations, gallbladders, and  lipomas.  The Cinterandes crew works very hard, taking advantage of the long trip with lots of equipment to do as many surgeries as possible.  And usually the host city welcoming party makes sure after work is over that everyone plays in the evening just as hard as they worked during the day.

From the team of local volunteers, working as late as everyone else.

The third day was a more mellow schedule of surgery, interspersed with a tour of a cocoa/chocolate factory and a mandatory break to watch the Ecuadorean national soccer team play Peru in a World Cup qualifying match.  And in the evening, we took a short field trip to a nature reserve where we were able to see monkeys and sloths, then had another late night dinner party, this time with salsa dancing past midnight.  I am embarrassed to admit that not only did I shock the crowd with my Gringo style salsa dancing, but I was also forced to sing Hey Jude in a Karaoke performance!  Luckily, there’s no footage of that behavior.