Mana del Cielo – Ecuador

Hello all!

My name is Itza Prieto, I am a graduate student working with the Ecuador project. This project began when Monterey mentioned the opportunity to start a community health worker program in Ecuador. I was thrilled because it is my mother’s birthplace and I had never visited or known much about it. Therefore, I started working reviewing journals and learning more about the pressing issues in Ecuador. We then learned about Mana del Cielo’s (Manna from the heavens) organization from doctor Fernando. Mana del Cielo is a non-profit created by the church Comunidad de Fe (Community of faith) in Quito, Ecuador. They help neighborhoods with limited resources by providing food, administering a soup kitchen, providing medications, and creating health brigades. You can check more about Mana del Cielo at this website: http://cdfe.net/mana-del-cielo.

As of now, we have spoken with doctor Fernando, who was born there and has worked there for many years about issues he saw. We also reached out to the director of Mana del Cielo who also gave us an insight to the health issues in Ecuador. From our research and speaking with them we found that the top health issues are: respiratory problems, diabetes, heart disease, and cirrhosis. This information has allowed us to create the preliminary handouts to be given to the health workers. Such as taking vital signs as you can see in the image below:

For the next steps, we have emailed the director of Mana del Cielo to pass out a survey to learn more about the community we are working with. Our plan is to finalize the logistics and travel to Ecuador in October, to meet the community members, and to conduct the trainings. We are excited to be able to go educate, equip and empower the people of Quito, Ecuador.

Monterey and I are extremely excited to work with the community in Ecuador and we can’t wait to share more about our trip with you guys. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more our projects.

If you want to help us with this project please share this post, donate, and/or sponsor a community health worker. Remember you are making a difference in many lives. Thank you for your continued support.