Cinterandes
Cinterandes is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 with the purpose of carrying out programs to operate on low-income people in underserved areas of the country.
Cinterandes
History
In 1994, we began our work with a health program called Mobile Surgery. An operating room was built in the back of a truck, where we perform surgical interventions in the most remote parts of the country and in the outer slums of cities, with an average of 350 surgeries per year, in a more humane way within the patients’ own environment.
We have also carried out several family health programs with a focus on nutrition, maternal and child care, vaccination, among others, with great results in the community, etc. Over the course of the years, we have seen that surgery, which is our main activity, serves as a gateway to communities. It’s immediate, concrete and often spectacular results serve as an excellent means for gaining credibility, trust and acceptance from locals so we can carry out other beneficial health programs and ensure their success.
Health cannot be treated in isolation because it is linked to all human activities and needs, and health programs cannot be successful if they are carried out in isolation from other development programs. This premise has led the Cinterandes Foundation to plan and lead programs for human development.
Founder
Doctor Edgar Rodas Andrade
Founding President of Cinterandes
April 13, 1936 – March 2, 2015
Ever since he started studying medicine, Dr. Edgar Rodas knew that he wanted to help the underprivileged people of his country. He envisioned an operating room on wheels that would be able to reach remote areas of the Andes, small fishing communities on the coast, and other communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Once his dream of a Mobile Surgical Unit became a reality and the Cinterandes Foundation was founded, missions and medical teams have traveled throughout Ecuador helping those most in need.
Dr. Rodas served, among other positions, as Minister of Health of Ecuador, Vice Chancellor and Professor of Surgery at the University of Cuenca, President of the Ecuadorian Surgical Society, and the Founding Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Azuay.
He passed away in Cuenca, Ecuador, on March 2, 2015. Mobile surgery work for people with limited access to health services was what motivated Dr. Edgar Rodas throughout his entire career. His exemplary work, commitment and dedication serve as the most important legacy for all of us who continue his work through the Cinterandes Foundation.
Mission
Our main mission is to carry out mobile surgery programs in the most remote regions of the country in a humane way without separating the patient from their families and homes. We also seek to organize programs to improve human capabilities and meet basic human needs.
Vission
We are a non-profit organization whose goal is to provide free, high quality surgical care in the most remote regions of Ecuador and promote human development. We understand human development to be the liberation of human potential that leads to progress, well-being and improving the quality of life of the individual and the community to live in freedom and in harmony with the environment.