Blog vol 4.28. The boat, it floats!
The Mau Ipata, The House of Life, is afloat!!! Over the last two years, we at Burlington Eyecare raised the money to equip the eye clinic on this Amazon hospital boat, so it is with great pleasure that we announce that the boat is fully operational.
Floating is not to be taken for granted. Taking on an initiative like a “Mercy” ship for the Amazon basin is not a laissez-faire event, far from it. It takes a lot of planning, a lot of resources, and a huge commitment from all sorts of people. So when the day came for the Mau Ipata to rise in the water from the Amazon’s flood plains, as if by magic, well nature did not cooperate. The Mau Ipata was anchored in Leticia, Colombia for its final fitting and who knew that it would be the stingiest rainy season in 15 years when launch time came? One word comes to mind with this entire project, determination: determination to bring health care to 325,000 underserviced people in the Amazon basin, determination to make sure the care begins and continues for the foreseeable future… so they got out the dredgers and cleaned out the river bed around the boat to make a launch possible.
When we raised the funds for the equipment for the eye clinic, we stipulated that it be purchased locally, through local suppliers, so it can be regularly serviced (and to support the local economy). Just as with our clinic in Burlington, equipment must be maintained and serviced. A shout out to our main equipment supplier, Topcon Canada, and Gary Martin who has been taking care of us for a number of years. I cannot say enough about the level of service and quality of products that they provide.
Administration, planning, organizing, paying attention to all the little things are critical to getting a hospital boat in the water and operational and to keep it running. Just as at Burlington Eyecare, care-full and caring administration is critical. A shout out to my office manager, Karen, and her team who make sure the whole clinic runs smoothly, really great and capable people.
We have felt honoured to partner with the work of Medical Ministry International, and especially Juan Alan Muñoz and his team, in making the hospital boat possible. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to this awesome project. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
We will keep you posted on how the boat fares as it begins to provide care, very exciting. We are so blessed here in southern Ontario in so many ways, if we can share some of that blessing with others in some small way, what a privilege.
From all of us at Burlington Eyecare, a very Merry Christmas!
til next week,
The good doctor
