My First Public Health Campaign!

Saturday was AMAZING! Made me want to be a doctor, hehe! We met at casa ProPeru at 6:30am for a public health campaign in Churu, a VERY small town on the top of a mountain about 30 min. from Urubamba. There were five students from the ProPeru Cusco study abroad program, in addition to three NGO interns (me.) Three doctors, a dentist, a surgical dentist, and a gynecologist also came, and they deserve all the credit in the world for volunteering their time to do this!

First we drove about 45min, as far into this valley as we could...it was kind of like the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land, almost flying out of our seats every time we went over huge rocks...it was quite comical because we had to keep stopping, getting out, letting the van go through obstacles without us, and then piling back in. We got to a point where the van couldn’t do it anymore, so we unloaded all of our stuff and started up...seriously, straight up! There was a trail at some points but it was still incredibly steep. Two hours later, we got to the top, and the views were, literally, breathtaking (gotta love that altitude)!! Being from Colorado is a blessing, but it would have been like doing an intense hike up in Breckenridge, and I’m not sure my lungs were quite ready for that :) and I am definitely feeling it in my muscles today!

But seriously, wow! Here we were at the top of a mountain in the Inca Valley! How cool is that!! And I have no right to complain because I only had to do it once...the people that live there have to go up and down on a regular basis! When I was huffing and puffing my way there, a 16 year old girl carrying her baby sister on her back passed me like it was no big deal!

Churu is home to about 100 people, and they very rarely get any good medical care. It was kind of amazing how fast we created a mock hospital out of nothing. One table was for dentistry, another for triage, another for taking basic measurements like blood pressure and weight. Someone was pulling teeth, while another was giving injections. Then there was a doctor writing prescriptions and sending people to the pharmacy, (where I worked.) Once I learned the names of about seven medicines that we were giving out frequently I was OK...but wow was it overwhelming at first! I had to try and find the correct medicines, and then decipher the correct amount of pills from the description on the Spanish prescription! Maybe now I can say I am a qualified pharmacist??

We also have to keep records of everything we give out. When I was in charge of having people sign to certify that they got the medicine, I thought it was very telling that most of the men could sign there name no problem, but almost all of the woman had to sign with their fingerprint instead.

It was a busy four hours, but we accomplished sooooooooo much! It is great to know that what you are doing will have a direct and significant effect on people’s lives in a few days!

So, have you ever eaten a hamburger while sitting next to a cow, or chowed down on some fresh chicken while starring at a rooster?? Because after the health campaign we were invited to lunch...and yep, it was a feast of guinea pig and potatoes! And while I was delicately trying to remove the toenails and trying to calm my gag reflex, there were about 20 more guinea pigs running around squeaking at my feet! By far the most interesting lunch I’ve ever had! I’m just hoping I don’t get sick later!

And thus ends my first full week here in Urubamba, I am settling into a routine, and embracing this new, beautiful, and constantly surprising place! Below is the link to view some more pictures. If it doesn´t work, just cut&paste the URL.
Lots of love and hugs to everyone! Oh ya, I know that it is very hard to leave messages on this blog, so if anyone wants to write me an e-mail at klilly4@gmail.com, I would LOVE to hear from you!! That’s all for now, adios!

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