Timmy volunteers from the University of Kentucky and new friends in Quito, 7/2005

Dr. Larry Stevens with a young patient, 10/2005

Judy McAree, RN weighing a patient in clinic

Fundación Tierra Nueva
Quito Sur,Ecuador

Project´s Mailing Address and Phone Number: 
Fundación Tierra Nueva
Cardenal de la Torre y Ajaví, Ciudadela Quito Sur
Teléfono: (593-2)-2-636925 o (593-2)-2-636662
Fax: (593-2)-2-638243
info@fundaciontierranueva.org

Timmy c ontact: Chris Trani

Website: www.ecuapymes.com/tierranueva/en/

Blog: www.watchingquito.com

The Tierra Nueva Foundation (The New World Foundation) was started in Ecuador by Father Jose Carollo, an Italian born Catholic Priest that moved to Ecuador as a young man.  A relentless advocate for the poor, Father Carollo moved to Southern Quito, the poorest part of Ecuador’s capital city, determined to provide a better life for those who come from scarce economic means.  Father Carollo believed that every person, regardless of economic status, deserves a dignified life.  His Tierra Nueva Foundation aimed to provide that dignified life by working with poor families to improve their physical, economic, emotional, and spiritual well-being.  During the more than 3 decades that Father Carollo ran the Tierra Nueva Foundation, he built a non-profit, fully functioning medical hospital, two day care centers, a Special Education Center, a legal services organization, and numerous churches throughout Southern Quito.  When Father Carollo passed away in May, 2005, the Tierra Nueva Foundation Board of Directors pledged to continue the work of ¨Padre Carollo¨, including completing construction of the 100 bed hospital that was his final dream for Southern Quito—a hospital, that when completed, will serve a population of approximately 600,000 of Quito’s poor.  Today, the Tierra Nueva Foundation continues to strive to improve the well being of Quito’s poor, taking up Father Carollo´s creed that, ¨Our life is a gift.  We live it in order to return it as a service to the most needy.¨

At present, the Tierra Nueva Foundation continues to operate a medical hospital and pharmacy, two day care centers, a Special Education Center, and a legal services organization, while moving forward with the construction of a new 100 bed medical hospital.  Each of Tierra Nueva’s organizations is dedicated to reaching out to those with limited economic means through a combination of financial, medical, and/or legal assistance.  Through both international and local collaborations, Tierra Nueva maintains a Social Work Department in each of their organizations, which allows for the Foundation to subsidize services for those who could not otherwise pay in full.  Collaborations include private sponsorship and grants, financial assistance from international non-profits (including the Timmy Foundation), as well as a medical brigade program that brings doctors and surgeons to Quito to voluntarily provide their services. 

A Tierra Nueva staff of 264 persons serves a community of approximately 600,000 people.  This community directly includes all of the neighborhoods of Southern Quito, and indirectly includes the marginal, rural areas outside of Quito, from which many poor citizens come to the Tierra Nueva Foundation to seek affordable medical or other services.  Through continuing collaborations with both international and local organizations, Tierra Nueva consistently looks to expand their services for the community of Southern Quito.  By far the most important project at present is the completion of the new ¨Song for Life¨ hospital, which will dramatically expand the provision of medical services for Quito’s poorest citizens.  Construction of the new hospital is approximately 65 % complete, and has now entered the final stages of construction and the initial stages of equipping. 

One of Tierra Nueva’s international collaborators is the Timmy Foundation, which since 2001 has provided a combination of direct medical assistance (in the form of Medical Brigades to communities of Southern Quito) and financial assistance.  Today, the Timmy Foundation sends an average of 5 week-long medical brigades to Tierra Nueva each year.  These medical brigades visit needy communities with limited access to health care services, and in an average week, attend to more than 1000 patients.  These patients receive free medical treatment and medicine.  Patients with diseases, conditions, or sicknesses that require further attention are referred to the Tierra Nueva Medical Hospital where they receive follow up medical care paid in full by the Timmy Foundation’s financial donations to Tierra Nueva.  In addition to the donations that support the medical brigades, the Timmy Foundation also donates $2000 a month to the Tierra Nueva Social Work Department in an effort to further subsidize medical services for the Southern Quito community.  Lastly, the Timmy Foundation often refers international volunteers to Tierra Nueva, where they help in numerous ways to further the goals of Padre Carollo and the entire Tierra Nueva staff. 

Ecuador

Picture courtesy of CIA World Factbook

Background:  Ecuador is located in South America, the capital is Quito and the official language is Spanish.  Ecuador gained its independence from Spain in 1819 and joined Colombia and Venezuela to form Gran Colombia.  In 1830, it withdrew from Gran Colombia and battled for territory in following years.  Several years of border wars with Peru were resolved in 1999.  Ecuador’s government has been somewhat unstable in recent years with a history of 7 different presidents since 1996.

The economy in Ecuador has been growing steadily, partially due growth in industry and the discovery of oil in 1960.  Also in 2000, the inflation rates were stabilized by adopting the US dollar as the currency.  Ecuador is a major exporter of bananas and petroleum. 

Socio-economic Statistics (USA comparison in parenthesis):
Population:  13,547,510 (USA 298,444,215)
GDP per capita (Intl $, 2004):  4,620 (USA 39,901)
Unemployment rate:  10.7% (USA 5.1%)
Population below poverty line:  41% (USA 12%)
Average economic aid per year (recipient):  216 million received (USA 6.9 billion donated worldwide)
  
Health Statistics:
Infant mortality rate:  22.87 deaths/1,000 live births (USA 6.43/1,000)
Life expectancy at birth (m/f):  70/75 years (USA 75/80)
Total fertility rate:  2.68 children born/woman (USA 2.09/woman)
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate:  0.3% (USA 0.6%)
HIV/AIDS – people living with:  21,000 (USA 950,000)
Total health expenditure per capita (Intl $, 2003):  220 (USA 5,711)
Physicians:  1 physician/740 people (USA 1/380)

Government:
Type:  Republic
Head of Government and Chief of State:  President Rafael Correa Delgado (since 15 January 2007)
Elections:  President and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (may not serve consecutive terms)
Military:  Army, Navy (includes naval infantry, naval aviation, coast guard), and Air Force

Climate:  The temperature in Ecuador varies mostly by altitude rather than by time of year.  The coast is tropical and inland at higher altitudes, it tends to be cooler.  The rainy season in the mountains is from March to June and October to December.  On the coast the rain is most intense in March.  The temperature in Quito remains constant all year with average highs in the 70s.

Recommended Vaccinations:
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Malaria, Rabies, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever.  For more information regarding travel to Ecuador visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website. 

Recommended Reading: 
In Focus Ecuador: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture, by Wilma Roos and Omer Van Renterghem.

Lonely Planet Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands (Lonely Planet Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands), by Danny Palmerlee, Carolyn McCarthy, and Michael Grosberg.

Canar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador, by Judy Blankenship.

Indians, Oil and Politics: A Recent History of Ecuador, by Allen Gerlach.

References and Links to More Information on Ecuador:
USAID Website
CIA World Factbook
World Health Organization

Ecuadorian News:
In English:
Ecuador.com
Topix
In Spanish:
Orenses
Hoy
El Comercio
El Univierso

Background and History of Ecuador:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Ecuador.us
The World Bank
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)