Just 27 hours after a powerful earthquake struck Colombia’s Chocó department, the first plane loaded with medical aid touched down there. The man behind the operation, physician Camilo Prieto, wasn’t even on board — he was in Washington, D.C., coordinating the flight remotely to make sure it took off as quickly as possible.
Prieto, medical coordinator for the Fundación Movimiento Ambientalista Colombiano (Colombian Environmental Movement Foundation), packed the aircraft so tightly with emergency supplies that there wasn’t even room for a co-pilot; that seat, too, was filled with medicine and equipment destined for overwhelmed local hospitals.
That first flight was only the beginning. Since the disaster, Prieto has organized a total of seven cargo flights, delivering more than 60 tons (about 66 tons in US measure) of medical equipment, medicine, and hospital supplies to Chocó, one of Colombia’s poorest and most isolated regions, located along the country’s Pacific coast.
To keep the aid flowing, Prieto built a network of donors and volunteers that continues to operate today, restocking hospitals still struggling to recover from the quake’s damage. His effort highlights how the country’s healthcare infrastructure remains fragile in remote areas, and how quickly grassroots coordination can fill gaps left by slower official responses.
To read the full story, visit El Tiempo’s original report.
Source: El médico que ha liderado las donaciones sanitarias y hospitalarias para Chocó: ha llevado más de 60 toneladas (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
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