My wife would probably still be alive if there had been an ambulance to take her to the hospital 30 km away, when she became ill last year. –

A tearful member of the Tutultepeque community told this to the group of villagers meeting with Eduardo Pulin, MEMO’s EFCCM missionary representative.

The occasion was a community meeting called by Cecilia Huezo the EFCCM missionary that has developed a Christian community centre in her home community of Tutultepeque in El Salvador. The meeting was called to find out what community members really thought of the idea of developing a community health centre and ambulance to serve the 800 residents with no medical care closer than 30 miles away on a rough rural dirt road. MEMO insists that there be local buy-in before proceeding with health projects.

Also discussed that evening by the hundred or so villagers attending was building simple metal houses to replace some of the mud brick and thatch hovels the poorest members of the community lived in. The houses would be built by the families in the community with help from EFCCM Church teams from Alberta. As a result of that meeting the community committed to building 3 houses and a community health centre(located at Cecilia’s compound.)
The village elders selected the 3 neediest families to receive them. They selected 3 people (a pastor, his brother and Lillian a woman who already looked after people with simple illnesses) to go to the Shalom Clinic and take the 1 week first aid and ambulance attendants course sponsored by MEMO, taught by paramedic Steve Wiebe of Thunder Bay. They agreed an ambulance would be a huge benefit to the communitie’s sick people who now had to travel to hospital over the rough country road in motorcycle taxis, rent a car, or a pickup truck. In many cases the poor just stayed at home and died.

A year later:

• 3 houses have been built for the poorest of the poor.
• 8 more are planned to be built cooperatively by the EFCCM church teams from Alberta in January 2016.
• The first aid/health centre has been built and furnished at Cecilia’s.
• The 3 community members have been trained as ambulance attendants.
• Lillian has begun training as a village health worker.
• A single stretcher ambulance has been donated by North West Ontario Emergency Medical Services for Tutulepeque

All that is necessary to complete these projects is to raise the $6000 necessary to ship the ambulance to El Salvador. A team is going from Barrhead Alberta in November to install the water and septic system for the medical centre. I will be going at the same time to further Lillian’s training as a village doctor.

Do you feel moved to help save lives in Tutultepeque by contributing to the $6000 cost of shipping this ambulance?
You can do so by donating here or sending a cheque to EFCCM acct 2-5055 with a note”for ambulance project”
When Jesus sent his disciples out He said “Heal the sick, and teach people the Kingdom of God is at hand.” That is exactly what MEMO with your help can do in Tutultepeque.

Thank you for sacrificing something you want by donating!
Jerome