Maü Pata on the water of the Putumayo River, en route to Leticia, Colombia. October 2023
An unseasonable scarcity of rain in the Amazon Region prevented the Putumayo River from rising to meet the new Hospital Boat that sat on its shore. With more than 280 Indigenous communities in the Amazon Region without access to basic health care – let alone simple, life changing surgeries – the MMI Amazon Team knew there was no time to waste. Three days, three excavators, one bulldozer, and over a dozen helping hands later, a canal between the river and the boat was dug and filled with water, allowing the Hospital Boat to float for the first time! The boat, named Maü Pata, meaning “House of Life” in the native language Ticuna, is currently en route from Puerto Narino to Leticia, Colombia, where the first Project Team will embark on its maiden voyage!
Why build a Hospital Boat? Well…
Maü Pata will expand the MMI Amazon Team’s ability to deliver primary, surgical, dental, nutrition, and vision care services to countless people living in isolated communities along the rivers, many of which are only accessible by boat. In addition, they will now be able to provide ophthalmological consultations and surgeries, ambulatory surgical services and have accommodations for personnel and teams in remote regions of Peru, Brazil, and Colombia.
A big thank you to Juan Alan and the Amazon Team for all their hard work preparing for this boat to launch. We are so excited for the first Project Team to serve this October!
We have much to thank God for, and many things to pray for. Please join us as we pray for:
The successful and safe travels of Maü Pata, the participants, and the Amazon Team
For the lives of those we serve to be changed
That this boat truly will be a “House of Life” for those in the Amazon Region
Lastly, please join us as we praise Him for all He’s done so far, and all He will continue to do.
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13