You could say I’ve been involved in neglected tropical diseases and public health since grade school. I was 6 years old when we moved to Quito, Ecuador, where my dad, a medical pathologist, was put in charge of doing mobile medical care for a local hospital. Using a medically equipped van, he and his crew would go to the rural areas of Ecuador to do public health. During the day they would see patients, and at night they’d show reel-to-reel Disney health videos in Spanish, followed by a gospel message by the local pastor.
I would accompany dad on these trips whenever I could.
Dad always took his camera with him to document the way disease presented itself on patients, and one time I remember sneaking downstairs to watch him review the slides, only to receive a warning not to look at them.
The Eradicator
http://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/new/ | By Jeff Guderian | Autumn 2013