Yacuiba, Bolivia
Quechua Indian Village Making Great Improvement
Recently we had the privilege of visiting the Luke Society ministry in Yacuiba, Bolivia, where Dr. Miguel Cayo works with his wife, Genoveva. One of the villages Miguel took us to was a small village called Pananty. The people living in Pananty are Quechua Indians. The Quechua tribe is located in both Bolivia and Peru. Many members of this tribe live in very poor conditions and are marginalized by rich land owners. Miguel and Genoveva work to support this group of people. They have both left comfortable careers in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, to work in this isolated region in southern Bolivia known as the “Chaco.” They moved far away from their families and other support to work with the Quechua people and others like them.
Our first trip to Pananty was two years ago. At that time there was no running water and no electricity. Malnutrition was a common problem and continues to be today. Diseases like typhoid, malaria, dengue, and tuberculosis are rampant. I vividly remember visiting a sick young woman on that trip. Miguel thought she had typhoid. She lived in a small shack about the size of a small room or large closet. The walls were made of wooden planks, and the ceiling was put together with thatch and other scraps. She was unable to care for her small children and, as a result of her illness, her small house was in disarray. Sadly, this scenario seemed too common in Pananty. It was a desolate community in need of so much help.
Since then, Miguel and Genoveva have been working hard. Through their work in community health, medical service, and evangelism they have clearly made a difference, and on our second trip to Bolivia we found many changes had taken place. We were amazed by the work they are doing!
Miguel has been very involved with local government officials to provide electricity and water to Pananty. He petitioned local officials to install electrical lines which supply the community with electricity and, at the same time, the government improved the road to the village. Miguel also worked to obtain a permit for the village to use water from a nearby stream. Members of the village then built a dam across the stream and set up a potable water system with a water tank. There are plans to assist the community in building a series of small homes and also possibly build a peanut butter factory.
Genoveva has also been involved in community health. Women in the community complained that they were not receiving the food supply from the government that they had been promised. When Miguel and Genoveva talked to the officials about this, they found out that the women had, in fact, received their allotment. What was happening was the children would not eat the soy and oats that they had been given, and the mothers did not know how to prepare it. Genoveva began teaching the mothers to make products such as crackers and breads with the oats, soy, and other ingredients they had received.
Genoveva and Miguel then conducted a growth and development study and found that there was a remarkable increase in the children’s growth after this project and other similar education programs. As an interesting aside, one night Genoveva was helping the women prepare a batch of crackers to sell at a food fair in town. She left before the work was finished, and when she returned the next day all of the crackers were gone. The women liked the soy crackers so much that they had eaten them before they had a chance to sell them!
Medical care is, of course, another big part of their job. In addition to working two or three half-days a week at his clinic in Yacuiba, Miguel also provides medical services in Pananty. There are two government health centers near Pananty. While the people of Pananty have access to these services, they often have difficulty using the clinics because of language differences, lack of transportation, and other difficulties. Miguel has helped by being a liaison between the doctors at these clinics and the people in Pananty. He also works as a liaison when the Quechua need more urgent services at the hospital in Yacuiba.
Miguel is also involved in teaching health educators, providing prenatal care, monitoring the growth and development of children, screening for tuberculosis, and much more.
Working to meet the physical needs of the people of Pananty is not the only thing Miguel and Genoveva are doing. They are also working to meet the spiritual needs. Two years ago they started a church in Pananty. There is an average of 30 people who have been attending services on Sunday mornings, and 17 have been baptized. They have initiated a praise group and also have developed a curriculum for training leaders in the church. We had the opportunity to participate in a worship service while we were there and share a meal with the congregation afterward.
Our second visit to Pananty was much different than the first. Although the community is still very poor I could see that a miracle is taking place. People that were thirsty before now have water. Children who were hungry now have something to eat. People living in darkness now have light. It reminded me of the passages in John 4-8 where Jesus talks about how He is our water, bread, and light.
This time I left Bolivia with a very different image than the sick woman with tuberculosis. During our time there Miguel showed us the dam that they had built on the river and the pipes that ran from the river to the water tank and on to the village. Earlier in the day, someone had closed the valve that allowed the water to flow in the pipes from the tank to the village and because of that, water was squirting out of a “release pipe” from the top of the tank. It was a hot day so some of us took a few minutes to soak our heads under this stream of water before Miguel opened the valve so that the water would return to the village. The image I have now of Pananty is of water – clear, cool, running water. It is an image of a miracle taking place.
In John 4, Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman at a well and talks about a different kind of water. He says, “Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
It is a beautiful thing to realize that as we enter a relationship with Christ this miracle takes place in each of our hearts. We have water that is a spring, welling up to eternal life. But it does not stop here. As we follow Christ and grow deeper in our relationship with Him we can watch this miracle take place in the lives of others. This is certainly what Miguel and Genoveva are seeing in Pananty. What a privilege it is to partner with them and what examples they are to us!
Brent Van Andel, MD