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WiRED Delivers Programs to Remote Communities in Amazon in a New Way
BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN
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iRED International can now distribute vital medical and health information to isolated underserved areas of the world without relying on the Internet or the power grid. We did this on our recent trip to Peru when we successfully tested new hardware configurations on remote stretches of the Peruvian Amazon. This new portable bundle, called Pack ’n Go, includes solar panels, a lithium-ion battery, a compact projector and a laptop loaded with our programs — all fitting easily in a backpack.
Today WiRED can use portable equipment to hold training sessions with small groups of people in remote villages along the Amazon River. Before, people would have to come to a clinic for health education, which depended upon connecting to the power grid.
What exactly was accomplished during this visit to the Amazon? (See earlier preview story.)
WiRED Express Programs Spontaneously Adopted by Students Working in Amazon
While partnering with Project Amazonas, WiRED met with a group of students from McGill University who had come to Amazonas to study the environment and alternative medicine in the tropics. We worked with the students at the Project Amazonas jungle preserve called Madre Selva. The Spanish-speaking students reviewed the WiRED Express series modules and presented them to local community health workers. During the next six weeks the students will hold training sessions using WiRED equipment and modules.
First, WiRED, working in cooperation with our partner, Project Amazonas, introduced our new Express series — 16 new or rewritten modules in English and Spanish (see sidebar). The units teach grassroots audiences about health fundamentals on topics relevant to Amazon communities as well as to many other low-resource regions. Also, we provided two computers, a projector and our entire Learning Center library to be installed on a 70’ two-story river boat called the Nenita. This craft is owned and operated by Project Amazonas and travels the Amazon as a floating clinic. Its newly established training facility will provide health education during visits to villages during Project Amazonas medical missions.
“The association of Project Amazonas with Wired International has been highly productive for us. The Spanish-language health modules and the computer and AV equipment provided by Wired allow us to take health education to where the people are — the isolated river-side communities of the many tributaries of the Amazon. People are especially receptive to audiovisual materials, which we can now use in local schools, meeting rooms and even in open-air nighttime venues. Lack of electricity is no hindrance with the solar chargers and batteries. The Wired modules will be a core element of our boat- and land-based rural medical service expeditions, allowing us to effectively integrate education and treatment in the Amazon.”
– Dr. Devon Graham,
Director Project Amazonas.
In addition, WiRED furnished computers and monitors to outfit a heath training facility at a clinic on the Orosa River. The clinic, which is currently under construction and near completion, will provide basic health services to people for many miles around. The health training center will allow local people to learn about a broad spectrum of health topics, including many topics on prevention.
Moreover, we visited the clinic in Pevas, where last year we installed a community health information center. We checked out the facility, which was in great shape, and updated the software to include the new Express series and other Spanish-language material.
What’s in the future for our work in the Amazon? WiRED is evaluating the creation of an electronic medical record system for the clinical work provided by Project Amazonas and local health facilities along the river. Furthermore, with each return trip WiRED will update the facilities it has outfitted in past visits.
With the success of our program’s testing and distribution in Peru, WiRED has packaged our materials into their most deliverable form ever. We can now transport critical medical and health information to the most underserved and needy communities anywhere in the world — on or off the power or Internet grids.
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