Making Ecuador healthier
Pitt graduates help provide free care to hundreds
As a first-year medical student, Tyler Wilps was years away from being able to practice medicine, but he is eager to get on with his chosen life’s work. So he and two graduates from the University of Pittsburgh recruited 10 like-minded health care professionals to travel with them to Ecuador to provide free medical care and therapy. And more than 600 patients are healthier because they did.
ThePitt grads formed the nonprofit Trek Coalition in 2016 and made their first oneweek trek last July. A second group of 19 — includingfive physicians, medical students from Temple University, physical therapists and three public health students from Pitt— are going to Ecuador this May.
The first team included an emergency medicine physician, a podiatrist, four physicaltherapists and three medical students.
The doctor who provided foot and ankle care was Jeffrey Wilps, Tyler’s father. One of the physical therapists was Tyler’s mother, Lisa. And, because 16-year-old Claire Wilps was too young to be left home alone at the family residence in Oakdale, shemade the trip, too.
“It was a great experience for the family,”Mrs. Wilps recalled.
“We are so proud of Tyler,” his father added. “He has always been a worker” who is able to organize his time to succeed on multiple levels.
The Trek group went to Chimborazo Province, where 63 percent of the indigenous population live in extreme poverty. Many had never seen a doctor and none had ever benefited from the services of a physical therapist.
“The people are so beautiful and so appreciative,” said Tyler Wilps, 25. He said many of the patients were “hard-working farmers” who had muscular or skeletal backpain.
Physical therapists taught exercises to protect their backs and prevent future pain,Mrs. Wilps said.
Dr. Jeffrey Wilps pointed out that the the people in Ecuador “do a lot of walking so obesity is not a problem,” but they’ve never had treatment for heel pain, arthritis and ingrowntoenails.
Last July, the trekkers from Pittsburgh worked alongside the international charity FIBUSPAM, which provided a pediatrician, an obstetrical-gynecological doctor and two nurses. The two organizations will beworking together again in May.
The Wilps describe Ecuador, with its 16 million people and straddling the equator on South America’s west coast, as one of diverse beauty. Its landscape encompasses the Amazon jungle, Andean
Highlands and the wildlife rich Galapagos Islands. But respiratory problems are common because of the active volcano, Tungurahua, Tyler Wilps said. And cataracts, other eye issues and even blindness are a problem because the country is located on the equator, where the ultraviolet rays of the sun are intense.
One of the public health studentsfrom Pitt is working to raise money to buy sunglasses, said Tyler Wilps who pointed out the dark lenses protect againstUV rays.
Tyler Wilps was on the wrestling teams at Chartiers Valley High School andat Pitt, where he was a two-time All-American. Despite the time commitment required of an NCAA Division I athlete, Tyler graduated in 2015 with the high academic achievement necessary to get into the Temple University School of Medicinein Philadelphia.
While studying as a second-year medical student, he has planned the second Trek trip with his friend Kyle Flick, one of the founders of Trek Coalition. The third founder is Michael Tully, who is from New Jersey. All three are returning to Ecuadorin May.
The first Trek trip cost $27,623.30, said Mr. Flick, an economics major at Pitt and who handles the coalition’s finances. Most money comes from team volunteers who pay to makethe trip.
Mr. Flick works for TEKsystemsin Bethesada, Md. That company is now aTrek donor whose contribution includes sending a Spanish-speaking translator on the May trip. Other donors include the Rotary Club of Carnegie-Collier, which gave $1,000 for the firsttrip.
“You provided antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory drugs and other essential medications to [more than] 150 patients,” Tyler told members, when he spoke at one of their meetings.
The Trek Coalition’s goal is to make one or two trips to Ecuador every year.“Hopefully, this is the start of something bigger,” Mr.Flick said.
Go to trekcoalition.org for further information. Tax-deductable donations can be made there, or mailed to 47 Steen Hollow Road, Oakdale 15071. For more on FIBUSPAM go to https://fibuspam.