Tonsupa is a town located 4km. north from the city of Atacames; which by is the most concurred beach at the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas. An important data to share is that the distance between the actual city of Esmeraldas and Atacames is only 30Km. from each other. Perhaps this place eminently looks like any other important tourist-destination; behind tall buildings and hotels poor population is also found easily there. Most of them dedicate their lives to artesian fishing, and also being part of the tourist industry that is only good during the high season. The following age-groups describe how our medical attention was given on this project:

                              MEN                                WOMEN                     TOTAL            

As we mentioned above; people that weren’t exactly students from Tonsupa soon realized of our presence and massively assisted to our service project. Unfortunately, the massive volume of people who went to see us really couldn’t be assisted by us. This is a common fact that happens in several missions now that unfortunately goes beyond our capacities. In any case, 351 patients were able to visit our doctors. The age-gender distribution for this project is shown at our statistical pictures on the first page of this report. An amount of 393 prescriptions given by doctors and dentists were given by the pharmacy with an average of two medicines per each prescription. Because of the previous observation, there is no place for a epidemiological profile for this particular area; but instead it is needed to mention that the observed pathologies were the regularly found at any poor region and where any basic needs are evident and catching. But maybe the toughest impact that affects people from this region is the spiritual poverty of them. We could tell that values and principles weren’t really something that inhabitants of Tonsupa liked to keep. These high standards can easily get eradicate poverty, contagious diseases, and spiritual poverty overall.
On the Dental field Dr Zambrano, Tapia, and some volunteers from the Glasgow University (Ann Wallace, Julia Campbell, Kathryn Smith, Hazel Twycroos, Janet Steward, Jennifer O’Donnell, Mark Atkinson, Saquib Yousaf and Ruairidh Mc. Bride). We also had Julio Zambrano and Carlos Celin to help out too at the dental department.

A total of 310 patients were seen; we did 59 fillings, 41 exodontias, 97 cleanings and 125 fluoride treatments. A total of 150 schooling kits were given up, 100 hygiene kits were given too; in addition to 300 toothbrushes and 250 pieces of cloth. With a sensation a bet uncomfortable we came back home knowing that the responsibility of communitarian service sometimes can also be overwhelming. In any case we always try hard to assist as many people as we can, particularly at the province of Esmeraldas. Our desire to serve is always in a high degree of commitment with the people from Esmeraldas.      

Through the days 23rd and 24th of July it was organized a service project in order to assist those who live at the Life-House shelter located in downtown Quito. This is a transitory shelter created by the city of Quito government only used for the most emergent cases of addiction not caring their gender, age or background. This shelter receives people who make the streets of Quito their actual place to live owed to various circumstances; but mainly because of drugs addiction, alcohol or simply because of extreme poverty added to a non-curable illness. The great majority of them suffer of alcoholism, a chronic and non-curable disease which treatment requires a lot of patience and care towards those addicted to it.
This shelter is located in Quito’s downtown-area at the Sucre and Miracles streets; the address to where our volunteers had to move to be able to once again serve those in real need.  The volunteers were: Dr. Washington Zambrano (Dentists-Oral Surgeon); Dr. Alberto Vargas (Physician-Epidemilogist); Engineer Julio Zambrano; Juan Zambrano and Carlos Celin (dental assistances); and the Scottish dental students: Mark Atkinson, and Ruairidh Mc. Bride. This particular shelter tries to help its interns considering Biological, Psychological and Social troubles they have to go through in order to sustain themselves on a society that is very rough with those with some sort of addiction. The total capacity for this place is 60 people.
As we were there; we stressed out topics of high morality, to help them understand how that can affect or either benefit their mental and intellectual capacities at the same time as they try to let behind their addictions. Soon our volunteers realized that significant results for these type of patients wouldn’t be enough. Therefore; we gather all of the patients to have a brief discussion with them regard their problems and solutions to them hoping that way they will eventually eradicate their addictions. Our doctor saw 22 patients, and he also did the drainage to an abbess on a right elbow; of which was extracted a minimum of 500 cc. of purulent material. This proofs that these people really needed to visit a doctor. Our doctor also specified to all of them that visiting the doctor should be done more often of what they now do. We definitely will come back to this place; although we know that maybe we won’t see the same interns; considering this shelter is only meant for recovery and not anymore.
The Dental team took care of 26 patients. A total of 59 procedures were done, of which 22 were fillings and 37 of them were exodontias. This sure was a great experience for all of us as we treated people of extreme moral and spiritual conditions. Their personal experiences help us to meditate about the commitment we all have here in Ecuador to build every day a more fear and equal society where opportunities will come to everyone. Only then a spirit of solidarity and effort towards those in need will give us more social responsibility.

Mindo is a population located 84 km at the North-Western part of Quito.  We drove for about an hour and forty five minutes from Quito to get there. Mindo is located on an altitude of 1200 meters above the sea level and its temperature varies between 14 up to 23 degrees Celsius. It is known as the “Paradise for Bird-watching”. Back in 1997, Mindo was distinguished as the “Most Important Area for Birds in South America” by the Bird Life International.
Its population is made by various ethnics who once emigrated from several regions of Ecuador. The Mindo inhabitants mainly dedicate themselves to farming, agriculture but especially now to the tourism-industry which nowadays is the main source of income to the inhabitants of is population.  As always, this mission once again was leaded by Dr. Washington Zambrano DDS. We had on Dr. Alberto Vargas (specialized on Epidemiology) and Dr. Gloria Polo (specialized as Family-Physician) our two Medical Doctors. Our team was also made of Dr. Isabel Zambrano DDS (specialized on Paediatric Dentistry), Dr. Ximena Tapia DDS (specialized on Paediatric Dentistry) and also Dr Sofia Guerra and Juan P. Del Valle nearly graduated dentists. Sterilization was done by Engineer Julio Zambrano; Pharmacy by Juan Zambrano and our technician was Carlos Celín. Our medical team also counted with four senior-year students from the Glasgow Dental School. At following their names: Janhvi Amin, Meera Shah, Farah Aga, and Indiya Sangani. As soon as we left from our Quito-headquarters we arrived in Mindo by 11a.m.  After that we had launch and we did our accommodations in a local hostel. We pretty much prepared everything for next day at the place of our mission; which in this case was the local auditorium of a public school. Once done preparing all for next day, we decided to do bet of touring around this wonderful little town. The name of this one school where we did our clinic was “Pedro Vicente Maldonado” Elementary. All morning long we did dental and medical clinics to most of the students from this elementary. It should be mentioned that three days before gave medical attention to this students; medical brigades from the National Ministry of Public Health were there giving up Anti-Parasite Medicine. The dates for our clinics coincided to a local holiday; and consequently the attendance for our first morning there we was visibly not the expected. As a side note, we found out that the Mindo-citizens that morning were either doing some paperwork at public offices or getting their tourist-related business for the upcoming weekend. Is well known that inhabitants of Mindo practically live out of the tourism industry. In case we were able to attend 188 medical consults and 198 prescriptions were given on pharmacy having an average of at least 2 medicines per prescription. The consult was distributed on this way:

A great percentage of our consults were done with students who belonged to the P.V. Maldonado elementary; therefore we cannot do an epidemiological analysis to the Mindo-population. Students are always a captive population to be able to consider them as an accurate reflex of what is really going on with the entire population of a town. At the other hand, we can affirm that this population was poor; and it didn’t a descent medical service. Mindo only counts with one Medical Booth attended by a Rural Medical Doctor; who unfortunately also counts with a very low credibility according to the inhabitants. It wasn’t a surprise to us how some patients shared to us their experiences travelling to another near by towns or even to Quito for more qualified Health-Care attention. 
Within the infants and younger population the main cause of a medical consult was Poly-parasitosis. We found some Mal Nutrition-cases of the Protein-Caloric kind; and a lot of skin problems such as Mycosis or Pio-dermitis. Probably the climatic conditions for this particular region make to the last mentioned illnesses to be that common to found in almost every patient. The Bronchi-Pulmonary diseases also have an important prevalence. We were lucky this time since we did not find any Tuberculosis cases. Some of the parents and teachers there were concern about cases of AIDS. Although we didn’t detect any case of AIDS while there; this concerning topic maybe is more than just a nearly speculation; mostly owed to the sexual promiscuity we found within the young men and women there. It would be very neat to do a trustable screening of the prospective and compatible cases of AIDS to be able to inform, educate and prevent more to the population of this up growing disease in Mindo. The contagious chain for this terrible ill has to be broken somehow.
At the Dental Department we took care of 158 patients; on them we did 216 procedures such as: 67 Restorations, 28 Exodontias, 54 Prophy Cleanings, and 67 Foam Fluoride Treatments. We donated 54 cleaning kits and a total of 200 toothbrushes. With the satisfaction of fulfilling our duty of serving to those in real need and also felling a sensation of the many things we still have ahead of us to help out in Mindo; we came back to Quito late in the afternoon of that Wednesday 15th of August.