In Colombia, ACT has equipped and supported "health brigades" (brigadas de salud) to deliver basic primary healthcare to underserved indigenous communities of the region. The brigades are initiatives designed by the indigenous elders of southwest Colombia who have seen the damage to their communities caused by an absence of social services, a scarcity of authentic shamans who can heal them with uncompensated traditional medicinal treatment, and a dependence on western medicine which often times is inaccessible and unaffordable. The brigades have the effect of reinforcing local indigenous cultural pride and identity, reducing dependence on expensive western medicine, and spreading traditional medicinal knowledge across great distances. Indigenous healers are strong advocates for conservation since their medical treatments depend heavily on locally available forest resources.
The brigades consist of traveling groups of traditional healers and apprentices of UMIYAC--the union of traditional healers of the region--who travel monthly to remote Amazonian communities lacking any form of health service. The apprentices who accompany the healers receive indispensable hands-on training, and the shamans enjoy ideal circumstances under which to observe the progress of their students. Typically, the groups spend several days at each site to provide basic traditional healthcare. The brigades achieve several thousand patient visits annually.
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