by Dr. Lawrence Tan
11 April 2007

We awoke blurry-eyed with stiff knots in our neck and back muscles. The light was green and dim as the sun was only just coming up. "Dónde?" called out the skipper from the stern, "Where?" "P'allá!" the guide in front called back confidently, "That way!" Peering ahead, all we could see was a thicket of tree branches. It was 5 a.m., and we were cramped, hungry, and still lost.

A Relief Mission to the Bolivian Lowlands

Our team of 7 doctors, 4 church workers, and a volunteer from England had left the city of Trinidad, in the lowlands of Bolivia, at 8:30 the previous morning. We were in two canoes lashed together, powered by one small outboard motor. One canoe held several tonnes of rice, flour, pasta, oil, sugar and other items that had been donated by World Vision to help victims of the worst flood to hit the lowlands of Bolivia in over 20 years. The other canoe held medications, our backpacks, sleeping bags, and us.

Back in Sucre, we had seen pictures of the devastation caused by the February floods—people wading chest-deep in water and tens of thousands of cattle drowned or dead from starvation. We felt the Lord wanted us to do something about it. We rallied together a group of Bolivian Christian doctors and other volunteers and organised to fly down to Trinidad and help out.

The first few days were hot, sticky and frustrating. The State authorities and health department were grateful but swamped with bureaucracy and political agendas. They suggested speaking with the Bolivian Navy, who asked their Argentinean counterparts to take us to the townships cut off by flood waters. The Argentinean naval captains were initially enthusiastic, but after a few days of stalling, we realised they didn't want to risk puncturing their inflatable boats on debris in the murky water.

Setting Out on the Water

With the help of Pastor John and other local church leaders, we ended up hiring boats and organising our own trip. We loaded up the canoes in the pouring rain and set off at a brisk seven kilometers per hour. The outboard motor wasn't built for the kind of load it was pushing. We saw river dolphins frolicking among the tree tops and houses submerged to their thatch roofs.

After several hours, we turned off the river and cut across cattle fields still submerged in two to three metres of water. The shortcut was meant to have saved us hours of travel, but as we drew closer to our destination, the lack of landmarks and dense foliage made it hard for us to get back onto the river. By 9:00 p.m., we decided the light from the guide's torch was too dim to go on. We dined on tinned sardines and dry bread, and fought for space in between the planks and luggage to stretch out as best we could.

The next morning, we quickly found ourselves tangled up in a patch of long grass. Pastor John and the skipper's mate jumped into the brown water and towed the canoes free. We kept navigating through a maze of tree branches, reversing back, and trying another possible exit. Then we heard another motor in the distance. We all shouted out, and before long a dinghy came into view with the owner of a local hacienda on board.

"Oh, it's you, Pastor John!" he said. "And what do you make of this guide, who gets you lost!" He showed us the way out of the water-logged undergrowth and led us to his farm, where the ladies gratefully made for the pit stop, after 29 hours without a bathroom!

Providing Compassionate Care

We saw over 650 patients all together during our two weeks in the lowlands, mostly with skin infections, diarrhea, respiratory infections, malaria and dengue fever. Meanwhile, the rest of the team distributed the much-appreciated food items we had brought.

Priscilla, a missionary from Switzerland, gathered together a crowd of small children wherever she went. She taught Bible stories and handed out evangelistic material for them to colour. Pastor, our helper from Sucre, and Pastor John told people about the Gospel while they were waiting to be seen by the doctors.

We returned home exhausted but content. It was an unforgettable experience for us, and we pray that God will use this display of practical help as a demonstration of His love.