Skip to main content
  • Military Veterans of Cuenca

  • Veterans Resources  

  • MVOC Charitable Work in Cuenca

    MVOC (Military Vets of Cuenca) is an organization dedicated to making a positive impact in the lives of underprivileged children. One of their notable initiatives is a partnership with the Tadeo de Torres orphanage in Cuenca. Through this collaboration, MVOC works tirelessly to ensure that the children living in the orphanage feel special, loved and remembered.
  • Scroll Down to view ​our upcoming events 

​Upcoming Events

  • 07-Apr-25 12:00 MVOC Monthly Meeting @ Sabatino's Garden Restaurant Arrive at noon to eat. Meeting starts at 13:00
  • To attend the monthly meeting please fill out the form below. If you are not ordering lunch click on 'Not Ordering' box

Nabon tour 21-Feb-25 08:00 - 17:00 +/-

Mayor Patricio Maldonado has invited MVOC members to tour his historic city, Nabon Ecuador. The Mayor has arranged transportation, leaving 08:00 Friday 21-Feb-25 ($10 ea) and an extensive itinerary. The bus will park next to the Museum of Modern Art at San Sebastian Park. So that folks can head to that side of the park (on Calle Mariscal Sucre) and begin boarding. See the sections below to view the entire itinerary, the extraordinary lunch menu with explanations of the traditional dishes of Nabon and to place your lunch order.

    Nabon Itinerary

    Mayor Patricio Maldonado has invited MVOC members to visit his city. The mayor has helped arrange transportation from Parque San Sebastian to Nabon for the various events he has scheduled for us. Please register NOW: info@mvoc.ec . Click here to order your lunch: 

    Here is the proposed ​itinerary for the NABÓN Tour

    Date: Friday, February 21, 2025 From 09:00 to 16:00 

    Board the bus at 08:00 Friday 21-Feb Parque San Sebastián Friday 21-Feb Parque San Sebastián 

    The bus will park next to the Museum of Modern Art at San Sebastian Park. So that folks can head to that side of the park (on Calle Mariscal Sucre) and begin boarding.

    Departure 08:30

    10:00 Visit to Laguna de Curiquingue Chunasana  


    Commune-Laguna Curiquingue 

    11:00 Artisanal Tour Huactana Ceramics Carved Stone

    Las Nieves Parish: Las Nieves Center Chayahurco 

    12:30 Nabón Center Tour Tasting of Doña Marina Tortillas Central Park Artisan Gallery orchidarium 

    1:30 p.m. lunch Cochapata Parish-Ñamarin Community 

    2:30 p.m. Tequila Production Process Tour Cochapata Parish-Ñamarin Community

    After visiting the Tequila Factory MVOC will go to the Mayor’s Office where Mayor Maldonado will present a plaque to MVOC expressing Nabon's gratitude and friendship for assisting with equipment donations which aided to mitigate the terrible forest fires at Nabon and the nearby areas last November.

    Nabon Lunch Menu Explainer
    Nabon Lunch Menu ORDER Form

    Veterans HCA Medical Clinic now open in Cuenca 

    Dra Kathryn Guillen Astudillo M.D.


    Dr. Guillen Astudilllo was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her family has Ecuadorian roots. She is reliable, organized and responsible. She has 15 years of experience in the medical field. She has traveled back and forth from the States and Ecuador for her studies. Dra Guillen studied in Cuenca and in New York. She has experience in Health Information Technology, electronic medical records, and is also a Medical Auditor in the States as well as in Ecuador. She is a Donor Transplant Coordinator in Ecuador. She has  also managed emergency rooms and surgical rooms in order to have a good patient flow. I am very happy and honored to be a part of HCA and I really hope to start my medical career with treating military veterans with disabilities 
    FAQ's

    Dra Kathryn Guillen Astudillo M.D.


    The doctor is a general practitioner and can handle many of the problems that veterans will be asking about. If a specialist is needed Dra. Guillen Astudillo will refer them to an English-speaking physician in the area where the veteran lives.

    Health Care Alliance Group operates HCA clinics world wide. Learn more about them here.
    You can learn more about Medical Benefits for US Veterans Overseas here.
    What you Need

    What you need for proper documentation to utilize the HCA Clinic



    • 2) A copy of your ID 
    • 3) A filled out Foreign Medical Program application (if you are not already enrolled) 
    • 4) A copy of your VA service connected disability breakdown letter (you can call 1-800-827-1000 and let them know you want this, and they will email it to you).
    • 5) A copy of your DD-214
    • 6.) Please gather all required medical documentation/service treatment records you may have, or submit a VA request for them.
    • 7.) Please create a login to the VA.gov website

    Once you have all these you can email them to Mark. He is a Volunteer (trained) Veterans Service Officer (VSO).  You can reach Mark via email: vso.ecuador.mark@gmail.com. He will create a folder for you and send off your FMP registration.   

    Please reach out to Mark Tomlinson (vso.ecuador.mark@gmail.com) he will be happy to respond to you.


    Links to VA Resources

    Links to VA Resources

    * You must have qualified for a service related disability to take advantage of the Foreign Medical Program in Cuenca


    Learn about the Foreign Medical Program


    * You must have qualified for a service related disability to take advantage of the Foreign Medical Program / HCA clinic in Cuenca


    .

    Join MVOC

    Join Cuenca Military Veterans Group

    • Volunteer Availability
    • Volunteer Availability *

    MVOC Newsletter Archive

    November 2024 Newsletter
    October 2024 Newsletter
    September 2024 Newsletter
    August 2024 Newsletter
    I Did Not Receive the MVOC Newsletter

    Included in this article are instructions for checking the spam filter for the major email providers. Additionally at the bottom you will find instructions for ‘white listing’ so that emails from us do not get marked as spam.

                                                    

    Checking your Spam / Junk Mail Folders

                                                    

    MSN Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com | Yahoo! Mail | AOL Mail | Gmail | Apple me.com, iCloud.com, mac.com


    Our sending email address is: info@mvoc.ec

                                                    

    MSN Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com
    • Log in to the webmail version of your email account HERE
    • To check your Junk Folder, simply click the Junk folder link on the left.

                                                    

    How to add us to your Safe Senders / Whitelist for MSN Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com.

                                                    

                                                    

    Yahoo! Mail

                                                    

    • Log in to the webmail version of your email account HERE.
    • To check your Spam Folder, simply click the Spam folder on the left. [You may need to click ‘more’ to see it]

                                                    

    How to add us to your Safe Senders / Whitelist for Yahoo! Mail.

                                                    

                                                    

    AOL Mail

                                                    

    The Spam Folder uses special icons to indicate each message type, such as e-mail from bulk senders or e-mail from people you don’t know. It also displays the date the e-mail was received, the sender’s e-mail address, and the e-mail’s subject line.

                                                    

    To check the spam folder:

    • Sign on to the AOL® webmail service HERE.
    • Click the Mail menu, then click Spam Folder.
    • Your Spam Folder will open and display a list of any messages designated as spam.

                                                    

    AOL Help on Spam, Privacy and Whitelisting

                                                    

    How to add us to your Safe Senders / Whitelist for AOL Mail.

                                                    

                                                    

    Gmail

                                                    

    • Log into your Gmail webmail account HERE
    • If the Spam folder does not appear on the left, click the “more” option just above contacts
    • Select Spam to view messages in the spam folder


    Note: Gmail’s spam filters also work in your IMAP client by automatically diverting messages that are suspected of being unwanted messages into ‘[Gmail]/Spam’ and keeping them out of your inbox. Sometimes it’s easier to find the offending email by searching for it using the search box at the top of the screen.

                                                    

    How to add us to your Safe Senders / Whitelist for GMail.

                                                    

                                                    

    Apple me.com, iCloud.com, mac.com

                                                    

    • Log into your iCloud webmail account HERE
    • Select Junk/Spam to view messages in the spam folder
    • Search for and select the email falsely marked as spam and click ‘Not Junk’ in the notification bar.

                                                    

    How to add us to your Safe Senders / Whitelist for Apple me.com, iCloud.com, mac.com.

                                                    

                                                    

                                                    

                                                    

                                                    

    White Listing or adding us to your Safe Senders list

                                                    

    Whitelisting a sender will make sure that messages from a specific email address are always sent to your email inbox.

    MSN Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com | Yahoo! Mail | AOL Mail | Gmail | Apple me.com, iCloud.com, mac.com

                                                    

                                                    

    Our sending email address is: info@mvoc.ec

                                                    

    MSN Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com

                                                    

    Add the From address you want to receive mailings from to your MSN Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com Safe List:

                                                    

    • Open your mailbox HERE and go to Settings then Options (upper right hand corner).
    • Under the “Junk E-Mail” section, you’ll see “Safe Senders”.
    • Click the “Safe Senders” link.
    • Add our email sending addresses or domain into the dialog box.
    • Click the “Add” button next to the dialog box.

                                                    

    Tip: If the mailing is in your “Junk E-Mail Folder”, open the email and click the “Not Junk” button.

                                                    

    Note: You should also check that the mailing’s email address is not in your Blocked Senders list.  You can find your Blocked Senders list by following the directions above and going to “Blocked Senders List” instead of “Safe List”.  If you see the mailing’s from address on this list, select it and click the Remove button.

                                                    

                                                    

    Yahoo! Mail

                                                    

    Set up a filter to redirect the mailing you want to receive in your inbox:

                                                    

    • Open your mailbox HERE and click on “Settings” (upper right hand corner).
    • Then select “More Settings” and then “Filters” on the left hand side.
    • Click the “Add” button on the Filters page.
    • In the “From header:” row, make the drop down “contains” and put our email sending addresses in the box.
    • At the bottom of the page Click the “Choose Folder” pull down menu and select “Inbox”.
    • Click the “Save Filter” button.

                                                    

    Tip: If the mailing is in your Yahoo Spam Folder open the email and click the “Not Spam” button.

                                                    

    Note: You should also check that the mailing’s email address is not in your “Blocked Addresses” list.  You can find your “Blocked Addresses” list by clicking “Settings” then “More Settings” and then “Security & Privacy” on the left hand side.  If you see the mailing’s from address on this list, select it and click the “Remove Block” button.

                                                    

                                                    

    AOL Mail

                                                    

    Add the “From address” you want to receive mailings from to your AOL address book:

                                                    

    • Click the “Mail Options” menu and select “Address Book”.
    • Inside the “Address Book” window, click the “Add” button.
    • Inside the “Address Card for New Contact” window add our email sending addresses [or the domain] you want to whitelist in the “Other E-Mail” field.
    • Make our From address the “Primary E-Mail” address by checking the associated check box to the right of it.
    • Click the “Save” button. I

                                                    

    Tip: If the mailing is in your SPAM Folder, you can open the email and click the This Is Not Spam button.

                                                    

                                                    

    Gmail

                                                    

    To make sure Gmail never filters as spam mail from a certain contact or domain:

                                                    

    • Click the Settings gear icon on the top right in Gmail.
    • Choose “Settings” in the menu and then select “Filters & Blocked Addresses” along the top.
    • If there’s a list scroll to the bottom and click “Create a new filter”.
    • Type our email sending addresses under From:
    • The click ‘Create Filter from Address’ and choose “Never Send To Spam” then save by clicking “Create Filter”

                                                    

    Tip: To whitelist an entire domain (all mail from an address ending in 'example.com', for example), type the just the domain name or the domain name preceded by '@'. To whitelist 'example.com', for instance, type '@example.com' (not including the quotation marks). You do not have to create a separate filter for each address. Separate addresses with '|' in the From: field instead. To whitelist both 'jenny@example.com' and 'jelani@example.com', enter 'jenny@example.com | jelani@example.com', for example.

                                                    

                                                    

    Apple me.com, iCloud.com, mac.com

                                                    

    To make sure any Apple webmail never filters our email as spam:

                                                    

    • Log into your iCloud webmail account HERE
    • Click the ‘Actions/Settings’ gear icon, usually in the sidebar
    • Click ‘Add a Rule’
    • Set the filter, if a message is from our email sending addresses then move to your inbox.
    • Click ‘Done’

                                                    

                                                    

    Our sending email address is: info@mvoc.ec


    Burn Pit Registry

    FALLS CHURCH, Va. – 06-Aug-2024

    The Department of Veterans Affairs is advancing efforts to address issues associated with military-related toxic exposure by launching a redesigned Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, known as the Burn Pit Research Registry.

    Join MVOC


    Join Cuenca Military Veterans Group

    • Volunteer Availability
    • Volunteer Availability *

    Health Insurance Options for Military Veterans