Association of Medical Doctors of ASIA, founded in 1984, Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC since 1995

Two weeks have passed since the devastating earthquake struck Ecuador on April 16^th. The daily life in Pedernales, Manabi Province, located in the northwestern coastal region, has somewhat regained normalcy, however, worsening of sanitary conditions is foreseeable due to the arrival of the rainy season. To prevent this, AMDA-USFQ joint relief team is staging preventive measures against the outbreak of infectious diseases.

 
 

In the disaster regions, schools were initially expected to resume on May 2^nd according to the government, however, it has been postponed until July due to the current emergency situation.

In Canaveral district, there are approximately 1,000 households in six communities where most of them rely on fishery. AMDA-USFQ jojnt team negotiated with one of the two schools in the area, a private school, which wasn’t seriously affected, to conduct normal school activities for all 70 school-age children in the district. The school will be run in a summer-camp type of way to have them carry on with their daily school life.

 
 

At the school building, the children will have classes from 8am until noon. In the afternoon, USFQ will be in charge of conducting trauma-care and other medical activities.

For the other school, a public school, which was severely affected by the quake, the team thought it was most important to have the children stay focused on studying while the school building needs to be rebuilt. For this reason, AMDA-USFQ joint team has decided to carry out rehabilitation programs for school children in the area. AMDA coordinator purchased school supplies for primary school children upon returning to Quito; the goods will then be distributed to the chidren in Pedernales accordingly.