Greetings from Sucre, Bolivia! It is a beautiful day here in Sucre. We are moving into our second week of mission. Everything has been going quite well. The new staff at the Hospital Cristo de las Americas has done a great job in preparing for the mission and we are working together well. As challenges pop up we jointly work together to find a solution.

One great achievement was getting through customs in record time and nothing was held back. All our duffels made it through. Prosper worked closely with custom officials to be sure everything was correct. We will be well prepared for next years mission.

There was a grand celebration when we arrived at the Hostal Sucre. Music and dancing in high gear. And it was all before we checked in. After the music and dancing died down we settled in to our rooms and rested before having dinner with the Archbishop and members of Comite` Joliet, hospital staff, the mission team.

As far as the work during the first week everything was good. Surgeries were successful. There were typical surgeries (gall bladders and thyroids) and were several interesting cases. One was a 9 year ago girl who had her face disfigured from a surgery to remove a tumor like mass. It removed bone from her upper nose and area under right eye. She is being reevaluated for what to do next.

The clinic team has been seeing many patients in a variety of locations. They started in the hospital, have gone to parishes and schools this week. The second week will see them do clinic in the prison, a youth center, and an elderly folks home. It has been a long time since we have visited the prison. This will be a good opportunity to renew work at the prison.

Construction and Outreach have been just as busy as the medical teams. The Water with Blessings team has been visiting various locations around Sucre sharing a ministry of water. Women are shown how to use a filter system to provide clean water to their community. This is a ministry of care for their community and is being very well received. The construction team has been working on a bano (bathroom) for a poor family and should complete the work on Monday of the second week. We will then shift to painting walls at the Children's Institute next to the hospital.