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US team to hold medical outreach in “geographically challenging” Region Seven
Kaieteur News – After holding a successful, large-scale medical outreach in Region One last month, the United States Embassy Civil Affairs Team wants to repeat that experience. This time however, the American team is planning to hold the outreach in Region Seven.
The US team along with the Region Seven Chairman, Kenneth Williams, listening to some of the medical concerns from local miners in the Quartzstone Backdam, Cuyuni River.
The US team speaking with the miners at Aurora
The team’s medic, Roberto-Ruiz Acevedo, handing over the quantity of antibiotic to Dr. Jillian Jayrdin at the Bartica District Hospital
The team members chatting with Dr. Jayrdin
On Thursday last, the team’s Leader, Greg Talbert; its medic, Roberto Ruiz-Acevedo; and its Coordinator, Luis Nerys; visited some of the mining areas along the Cuyuni River. The purpose of their visit was to conduct an assessment of the area in order to identify a feasible location where they can host another medical outreach.
Accompanying the team on their visit was the Chairman of Region Seven, Kenneth Williams, who related that his district is a very “geographically challenging” one.
During their trip, the team experienced firsthand how geographically challenging the area is. They braved the “scary rapids” and waterfalls along the Cuyuni River from Bartica to Duquarie under the scorching sun. They even hiked through the muddied and rough terrain of the mining areas they visited along the way but despite the challenges, the US team is confident that a medical outreach in Region Seven will be a success.
On Friday after completing the trip, the team’s leader, Talbert, facilitated a brief interview with this newspaper detailing the plans for the medical outreach. He related that the recent visit was helpful to his team. “On this trip we were collaborating with Chairman Williams…we are really looking for a location that will be feasible for a large-scale medical outreach,” Talbert told Kaieteur News.
He continued, “We just did a medical outreach in Region One; we saw over 2,500 patients there and we are looking to replicate the success here, so the Chairman recommended that we take a trip down the Cuyuni River.”
Talbert said that during the trip his team checked out some of the mining communities to identify some medical services that the miners might need. “So for this trip we went to Warudi, Quartzstone, Wyamu, Aurora, Devil’s Hole and Ducquarie, and on the trip we have been able to interact with some locals and kind of find out what their medical needs were and assess the situation to see how logistically it would work for us to bring a team from Georgetown here,” Talbert said.
According to the team’s medic, Acevedo, there is “much need” for medical service to the areas his team visited. “It is definitely evident that medical service to that area is much needed given the difficulty to actually get around and the financial hardship that they are facing given the floods and the lack of actually being able to produce anything and work….so that makes it harder to get around as far as transportation goes,” he told this newspaper.
The medic also revealed that most of the health problems faced by the miners seem to be very repetitive. He highlighted mosquito borne illnesses such as malaria and dengue, skin irritations due to bacteria and fungi from the water they use.
As it relates to when the team would return to hold the medical outreach in the Region Seven district, its leader, Talbert, said that it would most likely take place early next year.
In terms of where in Region Seven it will be held, the team leader told Kaieteur News that a decision would be made after conducting a second assessment visit to Region Seven early in October. They are expected to head to middle Mazaruni to visit Issano Isseneru and other mining communities located in that district. “The chairman (Williams) had also recommended that we take a trip down the Mazaruni River. We are trying to compare the Cuyuni and Mazaruni River to see which would be more feasible, to see where the largest amount of people could gather to benefit from the medical services,” Talbert said.
The US Embassy’s Civil Affairs Team during the recent visit also met with Regional Health Officer of the district, Edward Sagala, and some of the staff working at the Bartica District Hospital. They donated a quantity of antibiotics to the hospital and were also able to obtain information that proved to be crucial to their assessment of Region Seven.
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