You will be amazed
It’s Saturday morning and I still haven’t put any news on the website. “Why don’t you go to the courtyard, you’re sure to find something there!” Of course I listen to my dear wife’s advice and enter the courtyard in the heart of the hospital. And these are the results of my little excursion:
I interview mountain farmer Mariano Aucaisi Apaza with nurse Yonny Alvarez. He is 80 years old and is currently being treated for several illnesses. He lives with his wife in a small settlement an hour’s drive from the city of Huarocondo in the state of Cusco. Diospi Suyana’s radio can easily be heard in his home. Not so long ago, he was still active in the fields. Now, however, he feels too weak. “How many children do you have?” I ask the Quechua. “Seven,” the patient answers without hesitation. “And how many grandchildren?” – Now Mariano gets a bit confused. “At least ten, but maybe more!”
I now speak to Reynaldo Galinda with my friendly translator. The 48-year-old comes from Chincheros, a town in Apurimac, which borders the state of Ayacucho. And the interview with him is about to get pretty exciting. “I wasn’t feeling well and had an operation in the city of Andahuaylas in March. They took out my appendix because of an acute inflammation. But even after the operation, there was no improvement. Finally I travelled to Curahuasi and was examined by Dr. Hilbert de Vries at the Diospi Suyana Hospital. Two days ago the missionary doctor actually removed my appendix. They had simply told me an untruth in Andahuaylas. I’m fine now!” -“We have an antenna tower in Chincheros. Do you know that?” My question hits the mark. “Of course, and I can listen to Diospi Suyana radio in the best quality!”
The crowning glory of my little survey in the courtyard is without doubt Doña Maria (81). She is a Quechua woman from the west of our state. She is currently undergoing treatment for pneumonia. Her son tells me some incredible details about her past.
“In 2010, my mother had her left kidney removed in Lima due to a serious inflammation. But afterwards she felt just as bad as before!” I prick up my ears and listen carefully to his description. “In 2011, we children took my mother to the government hospital in Abancay. There they reopened her abdomen and removed her left kidney. As it turned out, they had simply lied to us in Lima!” I nod imperceptibly. Unfortunately, this happens quite often in Peru. The motto then is “nothing for nothing”. But the story is far from over. The old lady was not feeling well even after the “second nephrectomy – left”. So the patient appeared at the outpatient clinic of the missionary hospital. “Yes, at the Diospi Suyana Hospital the surgeons actually removed the left kidney. The doctors in Abancay had also lied to us. Now our mother no longer has any problems with her kidneys!” I am speechless and take a quick photo.
As my survey shows, all six patients are on the benches in the Quechua courtyard. And all of them – this is obvious – have to be described as poor. All six found relief from their ailments at the Hospital Diospi Suyana. All of them are grateful for the treatment. And two of them were deceived on a large scale at external hospitals. In total, three organs were allegedly removed there (kidney and appendix), which were, however, left in the body. Peru is like the “Wild West”. Many black sheep among the doctors want to make a quick buck and abuse the good faith of their patients.
As I walk up the stairs to my office, I am deeply grateful that, with God’s help, we were able to found the Diospi Suyana Hospital. It has been a beacon of hope for 18 years and the hundreds of thousands of Peruvians can confirm this from their own experience. /KDJ
