Our partner, Isabella da Costa Mendes, had the privilege to speak to Dr Francisco Leao and Dra Rosana Richtmann, two doctors deeply involved in the project Doutores das Aguas, a charity that, for over 12 years, has been bringing health and dental care to riverside communities in the Amazon region. Every year they travel from Manaus on a fully-equipped boat for 3 days (2.5 thousand kilometers) to reach the first of 13 communities they assist with a team of 40 volunteers that include GPs, gynaecologists, infectious diseases specialists, dentists and more. They spend 25 days in this incredibly impactful journey.
Their numbers are impressive. They have over the years provided over 16,000 medical appointments and over 12,000 dental appointments. In 2023 alone, they have delivered over 500 immunisations and granted over 400 “zero cavity” awards by seeing over 2,000 patients.
As Doutores das Aguas say, they take care of those who take care of the forest. For all of us.
The interview talks about their personal experience and motivation. There is so much more they can do and they have ambitions plans for the future.
When asked about what they would do the day the boat could go without them, they answered without hesitation: they would go back again, with another boat and more doctors.
