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1.  Do volunteers need to have medical backgrounds (e.g., nurse, physician) or skills?  What opportunities are there for people without medical training?

Volunteers do not need to have medical backgrounds.  We usually have several health care providers (MDs, PAs) and a number of non-medical volunteers. Those without medical training are also important to making the process work.  Some check patients in and ask basic questions, others take vitals, others assist the providers (as runners, holding things, consulting with other team members, etc), and still others organize our "pharmacy," counting out pills for prescriptions and helping patients try on glasses.  And people with other particular skills can sometimes find ways to use those too--for instance, one time a self-described "tinkerer" built a walker for a patient.

2.  What type of health care services are provided by the volunteers?

We provide basic health care services--general medicine consultations, simple lab tests (urinalysis, strep, h. pylori, pregnancy), dentistry, and medications.  Though we do not have the capacity to do optometric exams, we have glasses that we help patients choose on a trial and error basis.  If patients need more care such as consultations with specialists and additional tests, our providers fill out referral forms.  The Tandana intern then works with these patients after the volunteer vacation is over to help them get to the hospital, lab, or specialists they need and receive further care.

3. Who seeks care for the services that are provided?  What alternatives exist for people in the community/area?

Community members of all ages, both indigenous and mestizo, come to their community center or local school to take advantage of our services.  Their alternatives are either to go to Otavalo to a private doctor, which can be quite costly, to the hospital, where they must show up very early in the morning and face extremely long lines, or to the local rural health center.  Most of the communities where we work belong to the Quichinche rural health center, where there are nurses and sometimes a doctor.  For many patients it is a long way to get to the center, and some indigenous people complain that the nurses look down on them and treat them badly because of their race, so they prefer not to go.  Other communities where we work belong to the Gualsaqui rural health center.  We have a strong relationship with the team from this center and work with them to visit distant communities so that patients can receive care without having to walk many miles to the center.

4.  Typically how large is the group of volunteers?

The groups are usually 8-10 volunteers with 2-3 Tandana staff.

5.   Is it required that volunteers speak Spanish?  If not, how are interactions facilitated?

We have many volunteers who don’t speak Spanish.  We offer basic (and fun) Spanish and Kichwa lessons during the trip to help volunteers learn at least enough to perform their roles, give basic instructions, and greet people.  Each provider works with an interpreter.  For interaction outside of work time, Tandana staff translate for the group.

6.  What are the accommodations?

The group stays at Las Palmeras Inn, a very comfortable place with fireplaces in the rooms, hot showers, and good food.  You can see more at www.laspalmerasinn.com.

7. What percent of the trip fee goes to the community and for costs related to providing health care services?

The entire cost of the trip goes toward making the health care services and the volunteers' experience possible (food, lodging, transportation, Tandana staff, local professionals, medications, supplies, communication, activities, office expenses).  If there is additional money after these costs are covered, it is used for patient follow-up services.

8. Do I need vaccinations to go on this trip?

The CDC recommends vaccinations against Hepatitis A, typhoid, tetanus-diphtheria and measles. Yellow fever is recommended for other parts of Ecuador but not necessary in the mountains where we work.  Vaccinations are up to your own discretion.

9.  What is the daily schedule like?

Each day we travel (from 5 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes) to a different community to work from 9 until 1.  After lunch, we visit community members, meet students, a shaman, a master weaver, or indigenous leaders, or hike to sacred sites such as the Peguche waterfall and the Lechero tree.  In the evening, we return to Las Pameras Inn for a three-course dinner or sample one of the many dining options in Otavalo, and have a short debrief of the day's work. 

10.  What is Tandana's overall health care program?

See an overview.

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