Day 3
Last morning the team split in two groups. Dr. Fuller, Ramon, Gustavo, and Francisco headed to look for areas in need of immediate help and to spend the day there. The other group stayed in Manta, were they are helping at the parking lot of the local hospital by setting up tents and attending those injured.
The group lead by Dr. Fuller went to Portoviejo first, were they were told to go to Chone, a small town that needed all the help they could get. Word had spread around about the efforts of our team so the mayor of Chone came out to welcome them. He took them to Chone´s hospital, which used to serve as a regional hospital in the province of Manabí. Unfortunately, the hospital was almost completely collapsed, and like in Manta, the victims were being treated on the parking lot and other medical centers set up nearby.
“Yo need to see something” said the Mayor and took them to one of this improvised medical centers. Turns out, the organization Samartian´s Purse had set up camp there, offering their services to the greatlly affected population of Chone.
Even with all this help, the organization said that they are running out of space. The team in Guayaquil are setting up some containers that will be used for medical needs. It is of uttermost importance for Samaritan´s Purse and our organization to have the right facilities to treat the victims.
The team traveled around Manabí, visiting Santa Marianita, San Lorenzo and Santa Rosa. They treated the injured and also gave them tents and something to sleep on, “these things were joyously recieved by them since they are afraid to go back to what´s left of their homes” told Roberto. Manabí has been hit by over 300 aftershocks since last Saturday´s earthquake. Last night just after arriving to the headquarters the ground shook again. A 6.2 earthquake had ocurred 10km away of Bahía de Caraquez, and just 60 km away from Manta. Luckily, the team is fine and this quake has not caused any significant damage.
Today the team woke up early and headed off to save more lives. “They ask us for some water, food, mattresses, baby diapers, and milk” said Roberto. Lets help the team by donating through the International Medical Corps.
Donate here: https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/donate-ecuador?source=DPEGF1604
