History

RHEA has been working since 2000 in three rural communities near the town of La Troncal on the edge of the Cañar and Azuay provinces of Ecuador. Only one is visited by a doctor with any regularity or has a Subcentro de Salud.

We started our project as a collaborative traveling medical unit in these three communities, providing medical care for two to four weeks at a time. We altered our model in the third year, when we recognized that providing direct health care services through a medical brigade accomplished little in a context where the main health problems were associated with poverty.

Since then, RHEA has shifted from short-term direct service provision to emphasize prevention education, community development projects, and especially intensive training for a core of health promoters (“promotores”). Our popular education curriculum includes first aid, family planning, reproductive health, mental health, domestic violence, and nutrition. Leading participatory planning processes, RHEA provides funds and training for small projects such as latrines, clean-burning cook stoves, and public garbage cans.

A key member of our team is Lupe Chusete, MD, an Ecuadorian rural health specialist, who has collaborated with us from our inception. Dra. Chusete works directly in the communities providing healthcare and trainings and has also helped RHEA build partnerships with the Ministry of Health and with Ecuadorian NGOs.

RHEA continues in its commitment to support and strengthen the training of the promotores, and to support the communities in their efforts to improve their health and quality of life.