Day 12: Last Day in Trujillo :(

It's always so sad when things come to an end...but when it ends with a bang, now THAT'S priceless! Which exactly what today was. The other FIMRC folks left yesterday and a new group moved in (all from Chicago) this morning. From the get go, I knew they were out to have a great time in Peru. Definitely an outgoing, friendly bunch. So we decided why not go to the Beach (again) on our last day and introduce them to Trujillo. We definitely left Trujillo with a bang ;-)

Day 11: Site seeing- Huanca de la Luna and Huanchaco Beach

Last night we went to a salsa club. The guys just thought it was ok but I had a blast! I definitely need to take some salsa lessons once I get to Philly. Me tryna mirror the Peruvian girls = major fail lol.

Today was supposed to be our last day in Trujillo, so we had scheduled to see the historical ruins and must see sites nearby. Three of us changed our bus ticket to Lima for a day later however, but we still went. Not much to say except that it was really cool. We went to the museum and then the actual site of the temple- Huanca de la Luna, which existed in what was then the city of Moche in like 800 BC or so.

Afterwards, we went to the beach!!! Good times :)

Day 10: Diabetes Campaign & Flouridation Campaign

We had informed the mothers in Nuevo Jerusalem yesterday that we would be doing diabetes testing today so they had to fast; this is also meant we needed to get there very early in the morning. We basically organized ourselves into stations once we got there. Jon and Diana recorded the quantitative & qualitative data on their laptops, Sudesh did the blood glucose testing and I assisted with that, and I also took the women's height, hip & waist measurement while Daniel took the weight. It was a bit slow at first but we eventually developed a rhythm. Some of the women were fine in terms of their blood glucose level, some were at risk, and some definitely had diabetes. As Jon recorded the data and their answers to the diet questions, he would also educate them on healthy eating patterns. The goal was to get about 40-50 people, only about half of that amount came.

After the diabetes campaign, we had an exercise session for the women. It was something like 30 mins with Jon leading the pack through kickboxing moves and moderate cardio drills. I'm more in shape than these women and I was sweating, ahhh, it was definitely heart pumping.

Afterwards, we moved on to the flouridation campaign for the children. I had created a poster on dental health as written information for them to have. We presented from that and Jon led the verbal presentation using a soccer ball as an analogy. I think the kids got the message. We then concluded by having the children line up and giving them flouride treatments. OMGEEE, definitely some f***ed up looking teeth. A high percentage of the kids had definitely never touched a toothbrush in their mouth and they had cavities upon cavities, holes upon holes.

This was our last day in Nuevo Jerusalem so once we were done with the flouride campaign, we played around with the kids- soccer, tag etc. Fun stuff. I'm gona miss these little fellas.

Day 9: Centro de Salud Union: Shadowing a Dentist

January 5, 2012

I had the best shadowing experience today! Funny enough it was with a dentist not a doctor. Dr. Marcos is the funniest, coolest, and most entertaining medical practitioner that I've ever encountered. His funny jokes and teasing reminded me very much of my dad. We talked a lot about what he does, dental cost as compared to the U.S., my schooling, his schooling etc. His English was pretty moderate and he also pushed me to speak Spanish with him (So I could get better) which was encouraging. Most of the cases I saw were cavities, mostly from children but there were a few adults as well. Coolest thing and most gringing case I saw was an extraction. Eeek!!

Later in the day, we went to Nuevo Jerusalem and gave a presentation on creating a well balanced diet for themselves (mothers) and their children. We also asked them to fill out a survey on what their breakfast, lunch, and dinner looked like. The main problem- they have a heavy carb filled diet. No bueno.

Day 8: Centro de Salud Union: Shadowing an Obstetrician

January 4, 2012

I thought I would get to shadow Dr. Castillo or Dr. walter again...FALSE. I was taken to the obstetrician office, feeling slightly nervous for what I would see there. Sure enough I saw breast and vaginas as I watched the doctor conduct physical examination and PAP smears. For the first PAP smear, she told me to come closer and as my head leaned in between the lady's legs, my eyes scanning the insides of her body, I couldn't help but wonder if this lady was comfortable with me doing this. Unfortunately, the obstetrician didn't speak English- her English was like my Spanish, next to zero. So yup, ish was tough. I did have a pleasant convo with a 22 yr old patient whose 1 year old baby was too cute! That conversation was definitely one of the highlights of that morning. Of course after seeing so many female private body parts, I booked my next gyno exam once i got home lol. I don't see myself being a gyn/obs but this experience was definitely interesting.

The other half of the day was spent in Nuevo Jerusalem creating more vegetable gardens. In the process, playing with kids was definitely a necessity. lol. They are so adorable!!! Spending so much time with kids makes me realize how much I've missed working with children 10 years and under. For the past two years I've been working with children 12 years and up (through ASE academy, a saturday enrichment program), I really miss the younger folks.

Day 7: Centro de Salud Union: Shadowing Doctors

January 3, 2012

Finally some health stuff!!!!!! So today I got dressed in my professional wear and left the house with my white coat on and a stethoscope hanging around my neck. Yea I felt pretty legit. Dr. Adejare. At the clinic- Centro de Salud Union- me and Suddesh got introduced to the cheerful Dr. Monica Castillo. She welcomed us warmly and assigned me to Dr. Cruz Walter, a general doctor, to shadow for my session today. Honestly, I was slightly nervous at first cause it was like noooooo, how I'm going to survive with barely any spanish?! However, turns out Dr. Walter was pretty good with his English. In addition, he was so helpful and patient and explained each problem after the patient (obviously spanish) had spoke. Furthermore, he would translate his diagnoses and treatments for me in English. He was so nice. The coolest part however, was when he would let me use my sthetoscope and listen to the breathing or heartbeats of the patients as he was.  Can you say awesome shadowing experience? It definitely was. It surpasssed all my expectation and I was so pleased. I took the opportunity to ask him what were the most common problems he saw in patients and he told me respiratory, abdominal (food), and skin infections.


Midway through my session, Dr. Castillo switched with him and once again, another amazing experience. I absolutely love her vibrant energy. From her attitude and the way she relates to patients, it's quite obvious that she loves her job. Even when a patient broke down and started tearing up because she had been trying for 10 years to have a baby and finally got pregnant, but then lost the child (Dr. Castillo explained this to me later), I saw Dr. Castillo's compassion in the way she talked to her and hugged her. I was just like yup, that's the kind of doctor I wana be like. I tool the opportunity to ask her about common problems she saw and she said diarrhea, obesity/ diabetes, and respiratory. We also talked a little bit about her personal life and being a doctor in Peru. She's being a doctor for 5 years, she wanted to do surgery at first but its difficult for women (or not allowed, can't remember) making it a male dominated field. Anyway, she now loves what she's doing and this is obvious from her actions. She's always smiling. I love it :)

I left the hospital at about 12:30pm and went home to get ready for Nuevo Jerusalem. It was definitely manual labor cause we got down and dirty in the sand making the garden. The finished product was awesome. I just hope it grows.

Day 6: The Reality of Nuevo Jeruasalem

January 2, 2012

Today was the big day, we finally got to see Nuevo Jerusalem. as the car went up the dusty hill up to the small town, I couldn't help but think this is definitely not Agallpampa. In my mind, Agallpampa was the poorest town we would see in Peru. I was wrong. All around us were houses made from cardboards, strawmats, I mean straight up shacks. I was surprised. And even more surprising was how desolate the area seemed as far as vegetation. Everywhere was simply sand. As I walked outside exploring the area, my eyes adjusted to the dust flying around. We walked into Senora Kelly's home and I was surprised to see that the floor of the house was none other than sand. Loose sand. Yup this was definitely a wake up call to a different degree of poverty. Besides that, I had a great times exploring the area. I absolutely love Senora Kelly's sun Usher (or is it Asher). The kid is so adorable! We also met up with the ladies to discuss what they had done as far as knitting scarfs, hats etc. Unfortunately, that endeavor hadn't gone so well since most of the women couldn't afford the wool. Bummer.

After Nuevo Jerusalem, we went back home and discussed what we as a group could do to improve the lifestyle of the people. Ultimately, we decided that an economic initiative involving guinea pigs would be the best. I didn't know this prior to this trip but guinea pigs are actually quite nutritious (and apparently delicious) and are great for growing kids. They are also expensive at 25 soles each for a medium sized one. Senora Kelly had a pen in the back with a few of them and we noticed that to feed them, she actually had to buy the food. Hence our new development plan is now to plant vegetable gardens in the homes of some of these women, so that they can grow an abundant amount of food for these guinea pigs, and in turn grow them, have them reproduce, and sell them in the market for profit. This way they have an income coming in from somewhere else. Right now, the guinea pigs are just meant for dinner, but with an abundance of food and a chance to reproduce at a high rate, heeyyyy money money in the bank!!

Oh and tonight, kids from a different program moved into the house (FIMRC). We played truth or dare with them. Sigh. I don't know maybe its coming from Georgia Tech and UTexas, or if its just them being nerds, but they are hands down not has vibrant, chill, and outgoing as we are.....well except for one or two.