In the beginning we attended to the needs of people in six villages. 

However, we have now decided to concentrate our time and resources to a particular area of three mountain villages. Now our medical clinic is built in the middle of the three villages. Now that the villagers know we are here to stay, we have gained their trust and we are now able to help them even more.
We are more involved in the lives of the villagers, and help them with many aspects of their lives. 
We address problems such as 
lack of clean water, lack of sanitary facilities, 
and health issues such as animals in the house.


We'll spend a lot of time on healthcare teaching. This is also the reason we build a medical center in the village of Ran Rafael. Our clinic is located in between two other needy villages, Santa Marta and San José Yalu.

These are very small villages, called 'aldeas',  which means the village is more of a farming 'area'.  Thousands of people live in the hills and valleys around these small villages.  The residents are  agricultural workers, and earn about US$3 per day. The three villages where we spend most of our time are located a 20-minute drive (a walk of more than one hour) from the main highway along a very rough and mountainous dirt road.   

Children do go to school, but after 3rd grade, they begin to drop out so that they can work and help 
their parents care for other children or work in the fields or markets. A small percentage actually graduate from 6th grade, the highest grade offered.  Most villagers over 20 years old can't read or write.

Santa Marta  The first small village two miles in from the main highway, on a very bad dirt road. Population of about 1,100. As in the other local villages, the people are agricultural workers and are very poor. Read more about Santa Marta in Featured Village: Santa Marta. 

-Santa Marta's Town 'Center'

San Rafael el Arado - About 1,400 people live here, 1.5 miles from Santa Marta. The word "arado" means plow which is perfectly fitting for this agricultural farming village. This village is mid-way between Santa Marta and San Jose Yalu. There are three churches and six little stores (tiendas) in this tiny village! They grow raspberries, tomatoes, peppers and squash to sell in the city markets. 
You're always welcome in San Rafael!    
The sign indicates they're at 1,740 meters above sea level - 5,742 feet - a bit more than a mile high! Hello Denver, Colorado. The air is fresh, the sun is bright, but it tends to get quite cold at night. Read more about San Rafael in Featured Village: San Rafael el Arado
 

   The total number of villagers we will serve in this area is approximately 9,000. About half live in the little villages, and the others live in the valley, up the side of mountains and in the forest. Some will walk more than one hour to get to our medical clinic, often with four children in tow.