A man rides a donkey across the mountains. Rain and wind lash his skin. It’s an exhausting journey. But he keeps going. His name is Jorge Fusaro, and he’s a doctor. For some people in the mountains of northern Argentina, he’s the only doctor they will ever see.
Dr. Fusaro has led medical tours three times per year for the last four years. He travels across Cerro Chañi. The mountain’s snowy peaks are home to pumas and condors.
Some people here have never seen an outsider other than Dr. Fusaro. They have no schools, post offices, or police departments. Dr. Fusaro doesn’t just treat wounds and sicknesses. He brings medicine for first-aid kits. He helps people fill out government paperwork. He even carries the mail.
“If we don’t go, no one will,” he says. He is concerned that government budget cuts will make future trips impossible. He’s already had to cancel one trip due to lack of funds.
Doña Virginia Cari lives in the settlement of Ovejería. She, her husband, and her son are the only people still there. “I’m very happy when I see the doctor arrive on his mule. He brings the medicines we take here for months,” she says. “The work with animals is hard. We’re old, and our bodies ache.”
When Dr. Fusaro arrives, he helps with the work. He and his partners chop vegetables, cut wood, and take long walks to fetch water.
“That way, we understand their efforts and worries, their knee or back pain,” says Dr. Fusaro. “If they don’t have a bed and we need to sleep on a sheep’s hide, we do it. If they only have soup at night, we drink soup. This helps us think of medical solutions within their possibilities and daily lives.”
Some people refer to Jesus as the “Great Physician.” He traveled from heaven to Earth to reach those in need! He experienced the same suffering people do. He brought healing. Now we take His healing message of salvation through faith into the world.
He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. — 1 Peter 2:24
