The panorama eye spots almost everything
At 6 a.m. when the sun starts to rise over Curahuasi there is already a long queue in front of the Hospital Diospi Suyana. It stretches down the hill and at times reaches the Panamericana, the big international road that runs through South America. Most of those seeking help are covered with blankets at this hour of the morning. If one interviews those waiting in the queue one makes amazing discoveries:
- Most of our patients are Quechua-Indians, i.e. descendants of the Incas.
- The hospital’s catchment area is huge. From many Provinces people make their way to Curahuasi and almost always one finds patients from the Departamentos Apurimac, Cusco, Puno and Madre de Dios.
- When asked how they heard about Diospi Suyana one normally gets one of two answers: “I saw a TV report” or “Friends recommended it to me”.
- Exception proves the rule, but most patients praise the respectful treatment they receive from our staff and value the good operation results.
- The patients confirm that Diospi Suyana has the best price on the market and that the poor are given preferential treatment.
- For us Western Europeans this final point will come as a surprise: our patients look forward to the morning service. Attendance is entirely voluntary – one can continue to sit in the waiting room – but normally 250 people fill the two levels in the church and for the late comers there is then standing room only.
- The message at these morning services plays a vital role in building the patients’ trust.
