Diospi Suyana Hospital - Maurers in Peru

The Diospi Suyana Hospital

Over 30 % of the Quechuas in Apurímac are illiterate. In the Pisa studies, Peru has always come last in international comparisons. The school education of the indigenous children is particularly inadequate. As a result, they are denied the chance of a better future.

Even in their youth, Dr. Klaus-Dieter John & Dr. Martina John had the desire to alleviate human suffering in the so-called Third World as a doctor. His career as a surgeon took him to the universities of Harvard, Yale, Johannesburg and Berlin, among others.

In August 2002, they founded the charitable association Diospi Suyana with a number of like-minded people in order to address the plight of the Peruvian Indians. This expression comes from the Quechua language and means: „We trust in God.“

Since 2004, the Johns have presented Diospi Suyana through over 3,000 lectures in 24 countries on five continents. They speak in churches, charity clubs, universities, educational institutions and at congresses. On October 13, 2013, Dr. John delivered the keynote address at the 4th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery in Berlin. The missionary doctor concluded his presentation with the following words:

“Tonight, Hindus, Muslims and Christians as well as agnostics and atheists have gathered in this convention center. I have the greatest respect for their worldviews and beliefs. But if you were to ask me privately how I explain the amazing development of Diospi Suyana, I would say: “I am convinced that it was God. HE made it happen. It was the power of Jesus Christ”.

The hospital is located in the southern Peruvian Andean city of Curahuasi at an altitude of 2,650 meters. Thanks to its immediate proximity to the Cusco-Abancay-Lima axis, it has an excellent strategic location. 750,000 people, mainly Quechua Indians, live within a three-hour drive of this center of the lost Inca civilization. Diospi Suyana wants to offer the Quechua Indians in southern Peru comprehensive medical help. The clinic has been equipped with 55 beds, 4 operating theaters, an intensive care unit, laboratory and X-ray facilities. Around 180 Peruvian employees work at the hospital. The approximately 40 employees from abroad are paid by private sponsors. Construction began on May 24, 2005 and over 4,500 people attended the inauguration of the mission hospital on August 31, 2007, including the then First Lady of Peru, Pilar Nores de Garcia, and the Minister of Health, Dr. Carlos Vallejos. In the meantime, a dental clinic and an eye clinic have been built on the hospital grounds.
In April 2012, we handed over the children's house for its intended purpose. With its excellent facilities, it serves the Diospi Suyana children's clubs as the basis for their weekly work.
The Diospi Suyana School extends the association's focus to the aspect of education. The school was inaugurated on March 14, 2014. The school and kindergarten offer the opportunity to care for up to 700 children in the long term.
The work of the Diospi Suyana Media Center began on August 31, 2016. We currently reach the district of Curahuasi via our own television channel. From summer 2017, we will be broadcasting a radio program in the states of Apurimac, Madre de Dios, Cusco and Puno via FM frequencies. The broadcasts are also available online.

Over 150,000 private individuals and 230 companies have so far supported Diospi Suyana's various projects with donations of over USD 38 million. With this amount of money the association built the Diospi Suyana Hospital, a dental and eye clinic, a children's home, the Colegio Diospi Suyana and a media center. In Lima, Diospi Suyana acquired a guest house in 2015, which serves as a base station. In addition, the number of beds was doubled through an extension on the second floor and the construction of an orthopaedic workshop.
The funds have already been used to treat 447,000 patients as of December 2021. The patients' contribution to the monthly budget is around 30 %. The hospital has a capacity of 100 beds. In addition to the outpatient clinic with 16 doctors' rooms, the departments include two intensive care units, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, a modern laboratory, six operating theaters and an X-ray department with computer tomography. In 2010, we inaugurated the dental and eye clinic. In 2017, we built a bungalow as an orthopaedics workshop.
The Diospi Suyana School comprises nine buildings with 27 classrooms, including specialist rooms for physics, chemistry, biology, handicrafts, music and computer technology. A library, canteen and sports hall complete the infrastructure. The kindergarten is housed in one building.
The media center has a TV studio and two radio studios. Diospi Suyana has acquired a total of eight FM licenses in the states of Apurimac, Cusco, Madre de Dios and Puno. In the long term, the broadcasting area is to be gradually expanded.

With currently 220 Peruvian employees in the hospital, school and media center, Diospi Suyana is one of the most important employers in the state of Apurimac. Its long-term upkeep is financed by a large international circle of supporters, to which 1,139 people belonged in December 2021. Another source of funding is the Diospi Suyana Foundation. The Peruvian state helps by refunding the VAT paid and offering a discount on the electricity bill. The missionaries' circles of friends, who do not receive salaries from Diospi Suyana, play a major role. By the middle of 2021, over 200 long-term missionaries had worked in the various fields of our mission. They came from 14 countries. The regular length of an assignment is three years.
Diospi Suyana is recognized as a non-profit organization in Peru, Germany and the USA. The financial situation is regularly audited in these three countries. The low administrative costs of well under 10 % can be explained by the high level of voluntary work. In 2008, the daily newspaper “Die Welt” praised Diospi Suyana as an example of responsible handling of donations. Our missionary organization has been awarded the German Evangelical Alliance's seal of approval. This award is preceded by a detailed examination by a state-certified auditor. (Status: 17.7.2021)
The missionary doctors John have made the vision of Diospi Suyana known through over 2,900 presentations in 24 countries. According to the database, over 550 reports about Diospi Suyana have been published worldwide on television, radio and in the print media. The book “I have seen God” is now in its 11th edition. It is available in German, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch and Polish. The book “God has seen us” has reached its 5th edition. This was followed in 2020 by the third book entitled ”Walking on Water". In total, over 100,000 books about Diospi Suyana have been printed so far. (as of 31.12.2021)

The missionary hospital opened its doors on October 22, 2007.
Since that day, our doctors and nurses have treated over 427,000 patients. The hospital's good reputation, excellent facilities with state-of-the-art equipment and low prices have created a great demand. The usual picture in the morning is long queues at the main entrance. Our patients come from all 25 states of Peru. There are often four patients from four different “departamentos” in one patient room.
A glance into the full waiting room shows that most of our visitors are Indians in need. Most Peruvians have heard of Diospi Suyana through 53 television reports and countless press reports. The country's mass media call Diospi Suyana “the hospital of faith”. This name is well chosen for three reasons.
1) The Hospital Diospi Suyana is a modern high-tech hospital for the Quechua Indians of the Peruvian Andes. It offers a standard of quality that can compete with Western medicine. This “miracle” was made possible by a chain of coincidences and answers to prayer. The story is reminiscent of a thriller that fascinates Christians and non-Christians alike. As initiators, we even claim that God became visible in the development of Diospi Suyana. This explains the title of the book about our work of faith: “I have seen God! Diospi Suyana - Hospital of Hope”. Many readers devour the book, the 11th edition of which was published by Brunnen Verlag in 2020, in one night.
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2 Jesus Christ healed the sick and encouraged the poor. His followers should follow his example. Diospi Suyana is part of this tradition. The founders of the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Christoffel Mission for the Blind, World Vision and countless other organizations were and are convinced Christians. Our commitment to the poorest of the poor in Peru has to do with our following of the Nazarene and not with mere humanistic motives.
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3. even though Diospi Suyana Hospital practices conventional medicine on a daily basis, we do not see the definitive solution to human suffering in medication, life-prolonging interventions and extensive operations. We all have to die sooner or later. The question arises as to what happens after death. Jesus Christ promised everyone who believes in him eternal life in the presence of God. The staff at Diospi Suyana are convinced of the validity of this promise. That is why every weekday begins with a morning devotion that focuses on this hope.

The following service areas are currently in operation (as at February 2023)
- General Surgery / Dr. Lukas Steffen
- General Medicine /Dr. Oliver Schmidt, Dr. Karla Aguilar, Dr. Lincy Herrera
- Anesthesia / Dr. Natascha Lopata
- Pharmacy / Leonie Hilliges
- Ophthalmology / Dr. Ursula Buck (ophthalmologist), wanted: additional ophthalmologists and dentists
- ECG laboratory / John Lentink
- Endoscopy / Dr. Klaus-Dieter John, Dr. Karla Aguilar
- Occupational therapy / vacant
- Obstetrics / vacant
- Vascular Surgery / Dr. Thomas Tielmann
- Gynecology / wanted: Gynecologist
- Pediatrics / Dr. Martina John, Dr. Simon Then, Dr. Oliver O'Neill
- Laboratory medicine /
- Speech therapy / vacant
- Orthopaedics / Dr. Fritz Meiswinkel, Daniel Müller, Christian Haupt
- Physiotherapy / Paola Busch, Zoe O'Neill, Julia Kruse
- Radiology & Computed Tomography / Daniel Wiens
- Traumatology / Dr. Fritz Meiswinkel
- Ultrasound / John Lentink (RTA)
- Urology / Dr. Benjamin Zeier
- Dentistry / Dr. Hanna Tielmann
- Dental laboratory / Sonja Müller (master dental technician)

Opening hours

Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (outpatient clinic). Emergency service: 24 hours a day
Dates
As we do not want to discriminate against poor patients, we do not offer medical appointments by telephone or internet. All patients report in person at the hospital gate.

(Source: www.diospi-suyana.de Nov.2023)