TOUR DEL SUR: PUREN, LLANQUIHUE, FRUTILLAR, PATAGONIA

PUREN

On Monday afternoon we flew to Temuco and had dinner with Elder and Hermana Thurston.

At the airport we watched a helicopter take off with a water bucket to fight the fires that are still burning in this region. As we drove two hours the next morning from Temuco to Puren we saw some of the devastation from the recent fires.

We were in Puren for a ceremony at a health clinic that serves 1,200 indigenous people in three Mapuche communities. 40% of Puren’s 12,000 inhabitants live in the rural sectors of the town. There is one family health center, five rural posts, and three rural medical stations in Puren. One of the rural health posts had outgrown its space. The doctor, psychologist, kinesiologist, nutritionist, and early childhood interventionalists had to coordinate their time around each other because they shared a single room. The early childhood interventionalist was driving to homes to do occupational therapy. The container will provide a space so that treatment can be provided in a central location allowing her to double the number of children she will be able to see. Due to the lack of space, there were significant delays in treatment. Schedules were backed up causing long waiting lists. This additional space will provide an environment for more comprehensive and consistent care. Medical equipment donated included a hydrotherapy tank and chair, TENS (an electrical nerve stimulation machine), and office computers.

Health department leaders and the mayor attended and expressed gratitude for this donation as well as the more recent emergency donation of wheelbarrows, shovels, and gloves that are being used by community members as they continue the clean-up after the devastating fires in the area.

LLANQUIHUE

Tuesday afternoon we drove five hours south to the town of Llanquihue which is located on Lake Llanquihue. Linda and Gregory Billikopf (Linda is the sister of Donna Purcella, a dear Alaska friend) invited us to their beautiful home for dinner. They served a traditional Chilean dish called pichanga and German kuchen for dessert. The food was delicious, the company delightful and the view spectacular!

FRUTILLAR

We stayed in Puerto Varas and the Osorno volcano came out of the clouds for a few minutes.

On Wednesday morning we attended a ceremony at Hospital Frutillar, also located on Lake Llanquihue. This rural hospital provides primary healthcare services for the town of Frutillar as well as the northern province of Llanquihue with a population totaling over 20,000. This small hospital was built in 1957. The donation of dental x-ray equipment will make it possible for patients to be treated in town instead of traveling to another city for this diagnostic procedure. There is currently a three-month wait time for an x-ray in the closest facility an hour away. The donation of a dental chair replaced an old nonfunctioning chair. The donation of fetal monitors will monitor the unborn babies’ heartbeats as expectant mothers are examined. The donation of a chair and tables for blood donation will facilitate the ability of the hospital to collect much-needed blood supplies. The two containers will provide a place to store pharmacy supplies that are currently in hospital corridors and a space for the washing of materials for laboratory instruments.

That afternoon we flew back to Santiago to catch up on email and repack.

PATAGONIA

On Thursday morning at 6:00am we were headed back to the airport to fly even further south into Patagonia. A rainbow greeted us as we landed in Balmaceda.

We drove two hours to Puerto Aysen to meet with the mayor to discuss how our church could help this community. His main concern is his citizen’s mental health. Vitamin D deficiency and seasonal affective disorder is taking its toll. The climate in this part of the world and the hours of daylight are like Alaska. We remember those dark winters and wish we could give a ‘happy light’ to every resident in Puerto Aysen. We discussed the possibility of creating a project surrounding community gardens that would create comradery for residents and help with the high incidence of childhood obesity in the region. We await their solicitude. We will see if greenhouses are included.

The Lindquists joined us for our Patagonia adventure. After our meeting, we enjoyed a late lunch and drove to the end of the road in Puerto Chacabuco.

The drive back to Coihaique was beautiful with multiple waterfalls

Patagonia sheep and cattle graze on the grass with a wheat-like grain-bearing tip. Apparently, this is the secret to the healthy animals and unique meat that comes from this region of the world.

On Friday we took a personal day and took a 13-hour tour from Coihaique heading south on the Carretera Austral highway, passing through Cerro Castillo National Park. Hans was a great guide. We watched condors glide on the wind. An eagle was perched next to the road. It was a wonderful four-hour ride south even though most of it was on bumpy gravel roads.

Our destination was Puerto Tranquillo where we boarded a small boat for a 1 ½ hour tour of General Carrera Lake to view the beautiful marble caves (called Capillas de Marmol in Spanish) the magnificent marble caves have formed as the water melted from nearby glaciers, filling up the lake and washing up against these rocks, slowly carving out intricate caverns, columns, and tunnel systems.

We were blessed with perfect weather. It rained all last week and tours were canceled. It started raining on our way home and our weather app says it will rain for the next week. Our tour guide asked if we were always this lucky. We told him we felt very blessed and were very grateful for this tender mercy.

We enjoyed a late lunch in Puerto Tranquillo before we made the long drive back to Coihaique.