Information Letter – October 2021

Birthday – the kid is 6 years old Shell, Oct. 12 2021

On October 12, 2015, we started our first clinic in a rented house not far from the existing hospital building. But it will still be quite some time before we will be a complete hospital.

I want to give you some information on what is moving us today. Our diabetes clinic is growing. During the pandemic, many patients lost contact with their former physicians and they now realize how important control is. Each patient receives his/her private booklet with the actual data. It is important that the family is involved also, because diabetes is a family
problem. Each member should be informed.

The Emergency Area has been open since the beginning of October, but not many patients have come. Many people talk about us and congratulate us, but the reality is different. We need more time and more publicity on Social Media. The same is true with our Endoscopy Service. Our prices are lower but we need to be recognized as an Endoscopy Clinic. We have invested quite a bit in both the donated and other small equipment, including a printer for good presentation of the reports.

We have struggled with our new website. We want to have a more interactive connection with our patients so that they can better receive lab results and more information. And we are doing it in three languages, Spanish, English and German. We are working on fixing the errors, and will be putting more information on this platform.

Sometimes things change overnight. We started working on the renovation of one of the houses on the compound as a guest house. We need it for working visitors. But a donation from the Netherlands changed our plans. There is a time limit to spend the money on this project. So we will first of all renovate the “casitas”, the place where the families of indigenous patients can stay. These houses were used by the orphan kids before, when Reach Beyond were renting the hospital. These kids now have a better place in Puyo.

First of all, we need to put new roofing on all the buildings that are separate from and close to the hospital. Then there are two casitas with kitchens, showers and an open fireplace that need complete renovation.

Our future plan is to receive the families of indigenous patients who come here to give birth. The delivery rooms and almost all the rooms of hospitalization are renovated with suction and oxygen supply. Now we need to have the casitas renovated and available for them.

The latest goal is to buy the Christian Radio Station on our compound. It has had many changes in the last year and will move to a different location sometime in the future. We have helped them for years, but because of finances, they will have to move to a cheaper location. We need the space for consultation, and later for administration and document storage. Legally, we have to allow them access through our property 24/7 forever, so our foundation decided to buy the property and house from Reach Beyond for the price of $50,000. For the next year it will stay as a radio station. We are not interested in a quick move.

Just recently we made another payment to Reach Beyond and we are now the owner of 2/3 of the project.

We are very thankful for your prayers and donations through the foundation in the US. God is good to us and continues to move people all over the world to be part of the Shell hospital.

Thank you!!!
Eckehart & Klaudia Wolff

You can send your tax deductible US contributions to Lightway Medical Foundation at the address below. As of right now, 100% of your contribution will be given to efforts here in Shell. There is NO administration fee because of the volunteer service of those running Lightway.