In sickness, islanders bank on volunteers and God Ayios Minas, Greece Photography by Alkis Konstantinidis. Reporting by Karolina Tagaris. Updated 26 May 2017 26 images Advertisement When locals on this Aegean island fall ill, first they turn to their medicine cabinet. Then they turn to God. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis A volunteer doctor of the Aegean Team examines a local woman. There is no doctor on Thymaina, a barren, wind-swept island in eastern Greece with just 150 residents. Like others in the region, they must travel to a bigger island, or Athens, but in winter the seas are rough and the conditions unforgiving. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis "In winter we count on Saint George," said Dionysia Amorgianou, an 82-year-old woman, pointing to a white-and-blue chapel soaring above the harbor. "We pray that he keeps us healthy because we are neglected here. Isolated." 12 May 2017. Fournoi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis The island of Fournoi. Greece's far-flung islands have long suffered with shortages of doctors and care services, and no relief is in sight after years of economic crisis and austerity. The publicly funded system of free or low-cost health care that millions of Greeks relied on has shrunk, largely because of spending cuts demanded by international lenders in exchange for three financial rescue packages Greece has received since 2010. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Islands with fewer than 1,000 residents have not had a permanent doctor in years. "We struggle a lot in winter and we're scared," said Stylianos Markakis, a retired seaman whose 40-year-old son suffers from a rare and progressively debilitating genetic disorder. 13 May 2017. Fournoi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Locals count the days to summer, when volunteer doctors calling themselves Aegean Team set off from Athens on inflatable speedboats and carry out checks and blood tests on remote islands. On a recent visit, church bells rang out in celebration as the team steered their boats into Thymaina port at dusk. Smoke grenades and firecrackers exploded. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis They set up examining rooms in an abandoned clinic and people's homes. Makeshift signs directed patients to the cardiologist, the gynecologist, the eye doctor and others. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis "Here they're second-class citizens," said Nikos Touroutoglou (right), an oncologist. Years have gone by without a resident general practitioner, creating gaps in treatment. "These gaps cannot be filled with a huge cabinet of drugs," he said. 12 May 2017. Ayios Minas, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis The problems for the next generation are starker. This month emotions ran high at the baptism of Thymaina's first newborn in six years. Couples are putting off having children because even nearby islands lack the infrastructure, said Stefanos Chandakas, a gynecologist leading a team of doctors tackling low birth rates on remote islands. The costs of a routine, 50-euro exam would add up to 1,000 for a woman travelling to Athens, he said. 12 May 2017. Ayios Minas, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Petros Markakis holds his son Minas. In Thymaina, the team covered the family's costs throughout pregnancy - 10,000 euros ($11,245) - and are now offering their services on 27 islands without a single birth between them in four years. Local governors have offered young doctors incentives, including free food and shelter, to fill island vacancies, but many are reluctant to go. 12 May 2017. Fournoi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Florentia Christodoulidou, who joined Aegean Team from New York, echoed the sentiment of colleagues in Athens. 1 / 14 Slideshow 11 May 2017. Lagonisi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis A volunteer doctor gestures from onboard an inflatable speedboat during preparations for a trip. 11 May 2017. Fournoi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis A vessel of the Aegean Team leaves Fournoi to visit patients on the islet of Thymaina. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Inhabitants of the islet of Thymaina welcome the volunteer doctors. 12 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Residents of Fournoi use a sea taxi to cross from the islet of Thymaina. 12 May 2017. Ayios Minas, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Friends and relatives attend the baptism of the first baby born after six years. 12 May 2017. Ayios Minas, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Volunteer gynaecologist Stefanos Handakas, the godfather of the first baby holds the baby during the baptism. 12 May 2017. Ayios Minas, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis An orthodox priest reads the gospel during the baptism. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis A local woman holds her medical booklet as she waits to be examined by volunteer doctors. 12 May 2017. Fournoi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Locals wait to be examined. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Chrysoula Markaki holds her medical booklet. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Markaki sees her grandchildren after finishing her visit at the gynaecologist. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis A bouquet of flowers offered by the locals to the doctors of the Aegean Team is seen on a desk of a school classroom used as an examination hall. 12 May 2017. Fournoi, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis Children play in a school yard where locals come to be examined by volunteer doctors. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis A local prepares to go fishing on the islet of Thymaina. Story "Every one of them told me the same thing: If everything goes OK, you are OK. Something goes wrong, it's just you and God," she said. 11 May 2017. Thymaina, GREECE. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis