VivePerú Blog

The life of a Vive Peru English Teacher

My experiences as a teacher in the English program in Trujillo with VivePeru were challenging, but extremely rewarding. As the only English teacher in my session, I had a more independent experience from the folks who were in the Clinical Medicine or even the Music programs. I worked closely with Melissa developing my own lesson plans, brainstorming ideas for activities to do with my classes, and overall just having a grand old time. She helped me gather resources, let me know when what I was saying in Spanish was totally off base (which happened a lot), and helped me solidify topics to discuss in class and think of activity ideas. Melissa was a huge help throughout the entire process, and I could not have done anything without her time and dedication.

When I arrived in Peru, I really didn’t know what to expect. My Spanish was decent, but definitely not fluent, which I anticipated being my biggest challenge (SPOILER ALER—it was! But it wasn’t too bad, promise…). Meeting my host family was extraordinarily intimidating. I discovered, though, that I was intimidated for nothing: my host family was extremely kind and understanding, patient with my relatively broken Spanish, and overall fabulous. We tried as much as possible to integrate into our family’s life by adopting their schedules when possible, trying to help out around the house (when Mom would let us!), and spending time doing the same things that they did on weeknights and weekends. A typical day consisted of waking up and eating breakfast with the family, heading to work, coming home for a giant lunch, heading out for more work in the afternoon, and coming back home for dinner and spending time with the family watching TV or just talking. The amount of closeness within the Peruvian family unit was incredible to observe—in the United States, I know a ton of kids who eat dinner separately from their parents and then disappear to their bedrooms immediately afterward. I really enjoyed spending time with my host parents and brothers, and feeling like a part of a Peruvian family.

Another key part to my experience in Peru was the food. Honestly? The food was awesome. We ate a lot of the same things at every meal—some kind of meat (usually chicken), rice, potatoes, vegetables, and a piece of fruit for dessert. We ate almost every meal with our host family, with lunch being the biggest meal of the day. Breakfast and dinner were usually small—we would eat rolls with jam for breakfast, and usually some kind of soup for dinner. Lunch was a larger affair—there were usually two courses (a soup and some kind of meat with rice or potatoes). What I liked the most about meals though was the opportunity to have time to sit down with the family and chat about our days and ask questions about life in Peru.

I worked at a small school a couple of blocks away from my host family’s home, so while most of the other volunteers took buses to work, I walked to work every day. I did quite a few different things at the school, including working as a TA for a high school class, teaching my own English classes at the elementary school level, and giving presentations once a week to classes about various aspects of life in the U.S.  The most intimidating thing about working in the school was the fact that I’m not a super fluent speaker of Spanish, and the idea of speaking in Spanish all day everyday was terrifying. I ended up being pleasantly surprised—though the kids did laugh sometimes at the weird things I said or asked me to say various words and names in my Texas accent, when I was having trouble getting my message across they were pretty helpful in translating what my message was to a more colloquial (read: understandable) version of Spanish. The best part of the program was coming to school and seeing how excited these kids were to learn—their enthusiasm made my job so much more enjoyable.

In my English classes, I taught mostly vocabulary related to a specific theme for the week. We started out with greetings and moved on to colors, shapes, animals, and some other basic English vocabulary. The key when we planned our lessons was to encourage creativity in the kids—a lot of English classes at the school consisted of the kids just copying words and sentences from a chalkboard into their notebooks and then memorizing them. Using art, games (like charades), and some stories, we tried to encourage the kids to think for themselves to help facilitate learning. It was challenging—I remember for the first lesson I showed the children my example of a self-portrait, and instead of drawing themselves they started copying my example. We gradually overcame this, and it was amazing to see these kids really start to grow in creativity, independence, and general understanding of the lessons taught. What was most difficult about the classes was the relative lack of resources—in the U.S. we have tons of technology like computers, YouTube, and books to help with teaching. In my classes, I was limited to the materials that I could bring to class, and designing lesson plans within these limitations was challenging. Luckily, the staff at the school (e.g. the principal, teachers, and Melissa) was extremely supportive and gave me ideas when I was really stuck. It really forced me to think on my feet and be creative in my planning, and really helped make this experience my own.

After school, I went home to eat lunch, take a nap during the siesta, and then went to El Progreso with my fellow volunteers to teach lessons related to literacy, play games with children, and help out some of the medicine volunteers with nutrition lessons. This was one of my favorite times of the day, because the kids and parents were always so excited to see us. Though the kids were shy at first, once they saw that we always had fun games or crafts planned for them they began to interact more. It was an extremely rewarding way to spend my afternoons.

When I wasn’t working, I spent time exploring other parts of Peru. We frequently made weekend trips to Huanchaco to hang out on the beach with other volunteers. My roommates and I also took weekend trips to Huaraz (in the mountains) and Pacasmayo (on the coast). There is such a wide variety in the types of places you can see while you are in Peru, so if you have the means to take some trips and see some of the beautiful things that this country has to offer, I highly recommend it.

Overall, all I can tell you is that this program is so wonderful because you can really make this experience your own. The folks on staff with the program and the people at the worksites are so supportive and wonderful, and are there to help you get the most out of this experience. I left feeling like I did some good in the world, and learned a ton in the process—I hope that you leave as satisfied and inspired as I was.

Rebecca Archer

University of Arizona

Summer 2012, Trujillo

Rebecca with one of her English Classes

Program Profile: Teaching Music

The Life of a VivePeru Music Volunteer

Being a part of the Music Program of VivePeru was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. As both a clinical medicine and music volunteer I had the unique opportunity to experience two very different aspects of the greater VivePeru mission. Future volunteers will want to know that of the two programs I participated in, the music program was definitely the most flexible. Because the music program is so small every persons experience will be completely different, so please know that my experience is simply one of many that you could have in Peru.

I participated in all three of the offered summer sessions and the music program was entirely different in each of these sessions. In the first session I was one of four music volunteers.  We all had the opportunity to rehearse with the Trujillo symphony orchestra in the mornings but because I was also Clinical Medicine volunteer and wanted to improve my Spanish skills, I spent the mornings of the first session taking private language courses and the mornings of the second and third working in the clinics. Throughout the first session I spent the afternoons rehearsing with our created quartet (the four volunteers made up a string quartet) and teaching private violin lessons at the Amadeus Music School. At the music school we worked with Francis, the local cello teacher who is fantastic, and played with/ coached the local youth orchestra. Throughout the first month of the music program we had several concerts with the youth orchestra and the chamber groups created by the volunteers.

Throughout the second and third sessions of the program I was the only music volunteer so my experience was very different.  A local university was looking into funding a beginning violin course and was looking for an instructor for a pilot semester. I was asked to teach a beginning group violin class at Cesar Viejo University which I hesitantly accepted. I was handed a class that took place for two hours every Wednesday night with the instruction to divide the class and teach anything that I wanted. It was extremely intimidating but in the end it worked out and helped me to grow in ways I never thought possible. I created my own curriculum and ended up having great relationships with my students. The hardest part of teaching this class (other than the language barrier) was the fact that the kids were at varying levels. Some students didn’t know how to read music, while others were so advanced that they were playing the Bach Double. I quickly came to realize that with two hours there are plenty of ways to make pieces instructional and interesting to multiple levels. I also discovered different ways of pairing up students so that they could learn from each other. Being in charge of this course stretched my brain, tested my creativity and innovation, made me a better musician, and definitely a better teacher. Of all of the challenges I faced in Peru, teaching this class was both the most intense and the most rewarding. It was in this portion of the music program that I grew the most.

Outside of the music program, Peru was an incredible country to explore. I spent nearly every weekend traveling to the nearby archeological and natural sights. I saw everything from glacier-surrounded lakes, to underground tombs and the third tallest waterfall in the world. Living with a host family was unlike any other experience I have had traveling. A large part of family life in Peru revolves around food. We ate every meal with our host families, with lunch being the biggest and most important. The food essentially consists of rice, bread and meat. Every lunch is two courses starting with soup or a salad and followed by the main course. Breakfast was usually fruit with drinkable yogurt and bread with jam, butter and sometimes avocado and egg. Every meal is accompanied by fresh squeezed juice, except for dinner, which is smaller and consists of tea, rolls and a small plate. Every Sunday in my particular host family we would have lunch in Huanchaco, the small beach town outside of Trujillo, where our host mother was raised. Living with my host family was slightly different than I was expecting because instead of spending all my free time with my family in common areas, I spent most of my free time out or in my room. Living with my host family was more like being a boarder in that I mostly saw them during meals and not during my other free time. However, this varies from family to family. Even though the largest periods of time I spent with my host family were during meals, I still grew very close to them and consider them my family in Peru. Living with a host family creates a bond unlike any other living experience abroad.

Throughout the program, afternoons are generally offered as siesta hours before evening commitments. Instead of taking siestas however, I chose to use this time to teach nutrition and first aid courses to kids with the other medical volunteers. When I did have a little free time, I spent it either with the other volunteers exploring the city, shopping in the local markets and discovering different cafes or with the Peruvian friends that I made while working with VivePeru. In the evenings following dinner, I either spent time with my host family and the other volunteers, or skyped with my friends and family back home. To be honest, most of the time I was so tired from my busy schedule that I was asleep not too long after dinner.

In the end, the experience you have with VivePeru is entirely up to you. The beauty of working with a small program like Vive Peru is that you have the flexibility to really create any experience you want. If you want to play a solo with the local symphony you can let them know before you leave for Peru and they will try to make it happen. If you want to teach a certain age group or a style of music they will try to accommodate the things that interest you. It is important to know however that things in Peru change at the drop of a hat so you have to be willing to go with the flow and not have everything go as you planned. As long as you are flexible and willing to stretch outside of your comfort zone this will be an incredibly rewarding experience for every musician. A few things I would recommend to a future music volunteer would be to bring as much music as you can and if possible get donations of things like strings, bow hair etc to bring with you. Finding music and supplies, particularly for string instruments, is very difficult in Peru so anything you can bring with you will be treasured. Even if you can only bring your own music books or files on your computer, printing and copying is very cheap so they will photocopy full books of music for every student. One of the best parts of teaching music in Peru is that because musical instruction is so limited in Peru, every student realizes how lucky they are to have the opportunity to play music. Many of the students I taught had never had a private instructor before I taught them and it was a privilege to work with kids that were so excited to soak up everything that I could teach. If your time in Peru is half as inspiring as mine was you will have a fantastic time being part of the Music program of VivePeru.

Sylvia Tagney

UC Berkeley

Music and Clinical Medicine Volunteer, Summer 2012

Program Profile: Social Work

The Life of a Vive Peru Social Work Volunteer

VivePeru is an amazing organization that offered me the opportunity of a lifetime. While in Peru I learned so much about Peruvian culture, built many lasting relationships, and experienced an adventure of a lifetime.

While in Trujillo, Peru I lived with a Peruvian host family. My host parents were extremely welcoming and genuinely cared about my well-being. Mealtimes were when I saw my host parents most often. We would spend hours chatting, laughing, and singing while eating all the bread you can possibly imagine. My fondest memories of my host family are the trips we took to the beach, where we would have lunch at their friend’s restaurant, visit a quaint posteria, and walk the pier and around the surrounding neighborhood.

My experience at Hogar San Jose as a social work volunteer was extremely rewarding. A normal day consisted of helping the teachers with their lessons, helping the boys with their chores, and filling their free time with fun and educational activities. Since the boys at Hogar San Jose have certainly been through emotionally trialing experiences many of them exhibited behavior problems and self-esteem issues. Learning to handle these situations as best as possible allowed for much personal growth. Every morning all of the boys would be excited to see me and would be extremely eager to find out what activities and prizes I had brought for the day. Planning and putting on special events for the boys, such as a movie night, mural project, and field days was always a blast. Every now and then Hogar San Jose would host outings to nearby parks, which were always a pleasure to attend. These boys will work their way into your heart, and you will be devastated when you have to go.

In addition to working at Hogar San Jose I helped plan and put on an after school program in an extremely impoverished area of Trujillo. The after school program occurred next to an outdoor market on a dirt street, twice a week. As soon as we would arrive all of the kids would come running to greet us. Generally we would play a few games, do an arts and crafts activity that either had an educational message or had a purpose of boosting self-esteem, and afterwards we gave out healthy snacks. Visiting with these kids was always a special treat and greatly enjoyed by all volunteers.

In my afternoons I would often visit nearby markets, parks, and on occasion the mall in walking distance of where I lived. On weekends I would go on trips to nearby destinations such as Chiclayo, Mancora, Otuzco, and Chachapoyas. Each city served as a new adventure and had a different aspect of Peru to admire.

To any one who is thinking of participating in VivePeru’s social work program I would recommend brushing up on their Spanish. My biggest challenge was communicating with the kids and teachers at Hogar San Jose. On occasion I had a Peruvian volunteer come to Hogar San Jose with me who could translate, which was extremely helpful, but often I had to rely on my limited Spanish and dictionary. If you are not a strong Spanish speaker I would advise bringing an English-Spanish and Spanish-English dictionary to work everyday so that the boys and teachers can utilize the dictionary as well.

While in Peru be open-minded and adventurous and I guarantee you too will have an experience of a lifetime.

Ariel Rowe

University of Arizona

Summer 2012 Social Work Volunteer, Trujillo

Looking back on Vive Peru, Looking forward to PA/MPH

Looking back to my first day in Lima, Peru, too nervous to speak a word of Spanish and excitedly anticipating orientation, I see such an immense change when I fast forward to today, a month later, as I have just returned home from work at Hospital de Chepen, speaking Spanish all day and learning to perform physical exams.  Stated simply, I am truly amazed at how much I have adapted and grown over the past four weeks.  There are so many aspects of this program that have influenced me more than I can express: exposure to medicine in a completely unique way, complete cultural immersion in the Peruvian lifestyle and in the Spanish language, and working with the Pacasmayo community to teach healthy living practices.  Before embarking on this trip, I never imagined the affect this exposure would have on my current and future goals, as well as how much it would challenge my ability to adapt to a way of life that is so far from my comfort zone in the United States.

Holding the newborn I helped deliver!

In only a month, I have come to many realizations that I did not expect to encounter while in Peru.  My newfound interest in Pediatrics and Obstetrics has been one of the most surprising of these discoveries, as my time spent shadowing healthcare professionals in the United States did not involve these specialties.  The hands-on experience I have gained in the Neonatalogy and Pediatrics units at Hospital de Chepen has been invaluable, as well as the immense amount I have learned through discussions with the doctors and interns at the hospital during consultations and on ‘rounds’.

Vaccinating a newborn at Hospital de Chepen.

My proudest moments by far during this program have been under the roof of Hospital de Chepen: attending to newborns directly after birth, performing sonograms on expectant mothers, cleaning wounds in Surgery, and learning to perform physical exams in the Pediatric consultation rooms and Obstetrics department.  The challenge of being taught all of these techniques in Spanish, as well as the corresponding medical theory, has been overwhelming at times, but not an obstacle that I have let deter me from continuing to ask questions and learn from the intelligent and friendly doctors that I have worked with everyday in Chepen.  My passion for healthcare has truly carried me through the often challenging times of overcoming the language barrier with colleagues and learning procedures that I have not even been taught in English!

Hanging out and eating ceviche with other volunteers and the Medical Interns at Hospital Chepen.

Aside from all of the fun and exciting hands-on activities, learning how to build relationships and work with Peruvian professionals has been a learning experience in itself.  Learning to work in harmony with others, gain their trust, and communicate effectively in stressful situations are all important skills no matter where you are practicing medicine, and I feel as though I have worked hard to refine this teamwork dynamic while in Chepen.  I have learned an incredible amount about medicine, the Peruvian healthcare system, and clinical applications since coming to Peru, and I only strive for more as I head back to the United States next weekend.

Practicing Injections at Med Class with Dr. Jose.

When reflecting back on our classes with Dr. Jose and our time spent with the families of El Progreso, a conversation I had with Rachel in our 35 minute colectivo ride home from Hospital de Chepen last week immediately comes to mind.  While discussing aspects of the Peruvian healthcare system that are so different from the United States, including contraception use and prenatal care, I remember being surprised at how much we had truly observed, learned, and compared while being abroad…and also how passionate we had each become about the subject (we discussed it for the entire ride home!).  My passion for global and public health has always surfaced in various aspects of my involvement at University of Arizona, in volunteering and teaching positions, but it was been magnified over the past month as we work at El Progreso and teach preventative care to the children and families.  Health education is something I feel very strongly about, and I feel so rewarded knowing that the families of El Progreso will have a better understanding about their health and have the tools to prevent basic illnesses; knowledge that is crucial in underdeveloped communities with limited access to healthcare.

Volunteers lead a hand washing clinic in El Progreso - Pacasmayo

Simultaneous participation in both El Progreso health workshops and working in a hospital have truly shown me the interconnection between the fields of public health and clinical healthcare, and how to understand one you need to implement much of the other.  This is precisely what I hope to study as a Physician’s Assistant/MPH student next year, and my time in Peru has solidified this passion after being exposed to both areas every day for the past month.

Aside from all that I have learned and experienced in regards to healthcare and global health practice, the cultural immersion and use of Spanish on a daily basis has truly added a unique component to this already incredible program.  Diving into a culture in which asserting yourself, asking pertinent and intelligent questions, and constantly striving to simply converse and understand your colleagues is the norm, I know I have acquired skills that will be of great use to my future as a healthcare professional in the United States.  Learning medicine is hard enough in your native language, and finding myself completely out of my element with a substantial language barrier has been such an eye-opening experience, that I know I will carry much of what I have learned from my time spent working with the amazing doctors here back to the United States.  Honestly, I have surprised myself more than I thought possible, and if you had told me a few months ago that I would soon be learning medical techniques in Spanish I would have laughed in disbelief!  After participating in this program for a month, I am excited to continue chasing after my goals after finally being able to get a real glimpse as to what my career will (hopefully) be like.

The cultural and intellectual challenges that have presented themselves during my time in Peru have reinforced how much I love global medicine, travel, and philanthropy.  I know this trip will only be the first of many, but it is an experience that I will always remember as my first taste of foreign travel and global medicine.

Enjoying the beautiful landscape just outside of Otuzco.

Note: Several months after writing this reflection, Taylor was accepted to PA school.  She begins her studies in Fall 2013.

Six Months Later: A Perspective on Health, Music, and Living in Peru

Being a part of VivePeru was unlike any other experience I have ever had. I pride myself on the fact that for my age, I have seen a lot of the world and so going to Peru I thought that I knew a little of what to expect. But boy did underestimate the impact that a summer in Peru would have on me. I have traveled to study for school, work with animals and play concert tours but I had never before traveled with a program where my sole purpose was to try and enrich the lives of the people around me in any way possible. I almost feel like a fraud saying that I taught while I was in Peru because I learned more during my time in Peru than I could ever teach anyone.

Working with the kids in El Progreso was one of the highlights (as it was for many volunteers) of my time in Peru. Getting to know those kids and seeing how happy they are, even though by American standards they have nothing, was a huge reminder of what is important in life.  What VivePeru does for those kids every week is amazing, but what is even more impressive is what VivePeru does for them long term. Creating a space for these kids to work, play and learn safely and getting the government to issue them ID cards is incredible.  I am so proud that I was able to be part of a program that is having such a lasting impact on these communities.

I have the same feeling about all of the medical campaigns I was able to be a part of over the summer. The fact that Vive was able to provide nearly 1000 patients with free medical and dental care is awe-inspiring. Along with the medical campaigns, working in the clinics was a great learning experience. I learned so much and was so impressed by how helpful and accommodating all the doctors and nurses were.

And finally my music kids. Even though they spent most of our classes laughing at my broken Spanish, I loved working with those kids. It was frustrating sometimes because I couldn’t communicate exactly what I wanted to, but just seeing their faces light up when they finally understood what I was trying to explain made all the giggles worthwhile. Also, the fact that all of the music students in Trujillo know how lucky they are to have instruments and really want to learn makes teaching that much more enjoyable.  Working and getting to know those kids made me wish that I could stay for years just to see how much progress they could make.

Finally, my host family and all of the VivePeru staff and volunteers were incredible. Everyone made me feel so loved and I am so happy that I am still able to consider them all friends and family from thousands of miles away. Before leaving for Peru I thought I wanted to pursue an advanced degree in Public Health but I wasn’t really sure how. Working with VivePeru made me positive that I want to study Public Health. Working in Peru, particularly helping with the nutrition classes for El Progreso made me realize my passion for health outreach work. I would love to someday create my own preventative care interventions and help implement them in high-need communities, similar to El Progreso. Working in Peru I felt like I was constantly having a positive impact on peoples lives (and my own) and that feeling is one that I would like my everyday life in the U.S. to contain. My time in Peru solidified my passion for working in the field of Public Health and for that, as well as much more, I am eternally grateful.

Looking back, my time in Peru almost feels like a dream. I am truly blessed to have had such an incredible, life changing experience and I am so thankful to everyone in VivePeru for treating me like family and making me feel like I belonged in a place so far from home. Everyone I got to know kept a piece of my heart with them in Peru and I wish nothing but the best for all of you.  I am honored to have been a part of such an incredible program and I hope to continue to be a part of everything you accomplish. Thank you for one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Volunteer Reflection – Hogar San Jose

Standing in front of a group of boys with a large poster in hand, Sharon, Yash and myself prepare for the day’s activity and read out the contents of our poster aloud. “Metas para el ano Nuevo – Resolutions for the new year. What resolutions do you all have for this new year?”
“ To forget the past and continue working towards the future,” replied Jeison, a recently turned 16 year old boy living at the Hogar San Jose.
The Hogar San Jose, located in Trujillo, Peru, is a government-run orphanage that houses boys, particularly boys who come from troubled backgrounds, until they are 18. For about 3 weeks, the Hogar San Jose also became my home. As a VivePeru social work volunteer, I had the opportunity to work with the boys of this community and to plan and share in activities with them.
From attending mass with the Hogar boys on Christmas Eve, to going on hikes around Trujillo, to discussing New Year’s Resolutions with the boys – there are so many memories VivePeru gave me that I will never forget.
One thing that particularly struck me was the optimistic attitude of the boys living in this community. Despite overcoming many hardships – abusive families, drug problems, etc. – the boys remain so positive and they support each other as brothers. They carry personal radios with them and sing, laugh, and dance over English songs and they are incredibly talented at making bracelets for one another – yet another reflection of the tight knit bond the boys share.
There is a mural on one of the walls in the Hogar San Jose – it reads “La vida es bonita. Todo depende de ti.” This translates to “Life is beautiful. It all depends on you.” My time at the Hogar helped me realize this through the eyes of the boys. Life is beautiful indeed. Thank you VivePeru for allowing me to share in this experience and, to in turn, let me share my own experiences with the boys.

Anjali Menon

UC Berkeley

Social Work Volunteer, Winter 2012-2013

Blog #4: The End is Near, Snot and Tears, and a Grapefruit

Well, I made it. I finally got around to writing this last blog post about all the crazy that went on during the last week in Pacasmayo, Trujillo and Lima. I might cry during the process, but since you can’t see me, it’s not like this is embarrassing or anything.

Thanks Ellery

Monday came around and we were all super bored because Onelia didn’t end up coming that day. My roommate had been getting super pumped because she was going to get to give shots to the janitors. But our lady didn’t show up. Furthermore, we had just gotten back from the beach the day before and were suffering the consequences of eating whatever looked good and greasy. Brittany looked like she was going to die amidst the boredom and the pain, Madison resembled a cute little zombie (is that comprehensible?), and I had no nail polish to chip off for fun. It was decided that we should take advantage of the wheelchairs and race around professionally through the ER. Let me tell you, I am really good at maneuvering around hospital beds. Except for that one time I ran into one of the walls in the birthing room, I did all right. Eventually we left early because we felt like poop and because there was no one in the ER. And napping on the hospital beds isn’t that fun. Also, the nurses gave us one look and told us to go home. So we headed back to Brittany’s at around 10:30 and watched The Vow.  SUCH a rough workday I know!

We did our rounds in hospitalization on Tuesday and thank god Onelia came to chill with us. It was the 25^th anniversary of the hospital so everyone was looking super fresh and cute. We went around with her and put in IVs, gave injections and cleaned wounds. One of the old men in the ward kept saying that he had fifty-five children and he had to take care of all of them. Everyone laughed and he would just cry happily and repeat it.

There’s a guy who comes in every Thursday, Tuesday and Saturday to get his eye socket cleaned. He had a really bad case of conjunctivitis and had to get his left eyeball removed. In theory, he could clean his socket himself but he chooses to go to the hospital and he always says the same thing.

“Hola soy Juan David Romero, vengo a que me limpien el ojo.”

“Muchas gracias señorita muy amable. Juan David Romero edad ocho cuatro.”

One of the nurses told me that he comes in because his daughters don’t want to take care of him so he lives alone in his little house and comes to socialize a bit as well. The whole time we worked there he would always come in with his big grandpa classes, his floppy hat and suspenders and greet everyone oh so kindly.

EsSalud Hospital in Pacasmayo

Wednesday was our last workday. Brittany and I were both excited that we got to end our experience with OR day (I really do miss the smell of burnt Fritos). We were also excited to get to say goodbye to Felipe of course. Janae came with us that day because she hadn’t been able to see any surgeries yet. Boy, did she get what she wanted.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SURGERY WAS SUPER UM… INTIMATE AND INVOLVED FELIPE BEING GROSSER THAN USUAL. NOT REALLY FOR THE SQUEAMISH/ EXTREMELY SQUARE/ VERY UPTIGHT. BUT IT WAS STILL REALLY COOL. CAPSLOCK off.

I read the chart for the first patient of the day. Mid 70s, hernia operation. Standard. “Boring”, I thought to myself. We went to go get the patient into a wheelchair. As we were getting her into the chair, I caught a glimpse of something particularly bulbous in her lower region. “Is she a he? What is that thing down there? What is that? WEIRD!” Felipe came in looking super excited.

“JA! YOU GUYS ARE IN FOR A TREAT!” he hollered.

And just like that he whipped off the hospital gown from the patient.

“What the….. What is that?”

“Brittany, what do you think, is it a girl or a boy?”

“Um, I don’t know a girl? There isn’t really a…. you know.”

“YOU’RE WRONG! LOOK!”

Well, this man (who coincidentally was Felipe’s neighbor) had a hernia about the size of a grapefruit that had descended into his groin and had caused the penis and the testicles to retreat. As a result, it looked like he had a huge ball and a hole down there. You may think we were stupid, but everyone else was really confused about it too.

The Hernia (Yes that whole thing)

Here’s where I’m going to get all gushy mushy (tehe) about the surgery. Even though it was initially perturbing, it was an awesome surgery to watch because we were able to really see the entire intestine and get a good look at what was happening. The other surgeries had been on a smaller scale so we couldn’t really understand what was going on. Here we could see the hole in the abdominal wall, the intestine oozing out and the tissues in extreme detail. And Felipe was being extra nice (like teacher nice not creepy nice) and explaining all of the steps of the surgery. Onelia was also assisting which meant she would offer any additional explanations on the equipment. Felipe ended the surgery by taking the penis out of hiding (his words not mine) and giving it a very mild flinging around. REAL classy Felipe. What happens in the OR stays in the OR. Except in this case.

 The stuff that’s left over when you put everything back in its place

 Onelia playing around with the sack that held the protruding intestine

After this gem of a surgery, there was surgical facial cleaning of someone who had been in a car accident. The guy’s face was so badly beat up that they had to knock him out while they gently cleaned out all of the dirt and dried up blood from his face. There was a lot of ointment smothered on his face and then a lot of gauze wrapped around it. Before I move on to Thursday, let’s take a look at the final edition of OR quotebook.

“They don’t have sacks this large in the USA am I right?”

Felipe pointing at the damaged caused by the hernia.

“See this? This is what makes women happy! It’s the royal pathway though which sperm travel!” ­

The weird part was that the patient was still semi conscious so when they were lifting up his seminal vesicle he was chuckling too. Men.

“We’re almost done. We’ll go get whiskey afterwards.”

Felipe is totally in favor of Wasted Wednesdays. That’s a fine quality.

“Hey did you find drugs in Perú? Do you find drugs in Colombia?”

Very funny, make the Colombian drug joke.

“You get two mesh walls because you’re my neighbor!”

Felipe was referring to the mesh he was sewing into the hole made by his intestine. (Today’s special offer! Buy one get one free!)

“JA! You see it now? It just came back from partying!!”

Open readjusting the penis he yelled this at Brittany. He was very pleased with himself about this joke. He started to pick on her for a bit after that.

“Do you hit men Brittany?”

“Did you like seeing the little bird Brittany?”

I know what you’re thinking. He was on a roll!

When we left of Thursday it didn’t hit me for a while. When Madison and I said bye to our host mom and our house it didn’t really move me because frankly we hadn’t spent that much time with her. It may sound pessimistic but it was better that way. Less people to cry about (it sounds terrible but at the time it was strangely comforting). I saw a lot of the group crying and normally that does it for me, but not this time. Everything was just frozen. A bit of it was because I’ve had to say goodbye so many times that it becomes a routine but it was also because I was more focused on other things. Like how I didn’t want the bus door to close. And how the bus station doesn’t seem dirty and sketchy anymore but warm and familiar.

All those times that you imagined what you’re going to get when you go back home (Starbucks, the movies, your bed, even Chipotle) seem absurd. You don’t really need Chipotle do you? (Yes I do but at the moment it seemed irrelevant). If you lived without it for 5 weeks you can live without it for a few more. But you can’t live without that sense of community, the raucous dinners, the (mostly) calm nights of reading contently in your bed due to lack of wifi. It’s a lifestyle you won’t ever be able to reciprocate again.

Chela starts crying.

Noooo! Chela! DON’T CRY!!! I WILL STAY!! DON’T CRY!! I had this paradoxical sensation of numbness and hysterical sadness inside of me as I watched everything grow smaller and smaller. I wish I could keep writing more sad stuff, but I fell asleep shortly after.

When we got to Trujillo I was super antsy and hungry. I just wanted to get all the meetings over with and go get nom noms. As soon as I could I devoured four slices of pizza (Sorry to the people who didn’t get any; may the odds be ever in your favor some other time) and had two donuts in the first super market I had been to in a month. I ended up passing out on the overnight bus to Lima even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to remember everyone’s yells and laughter.

We stopped by the airport first and I said goodbye to everyone. I was expecting to spread snot and saltwater all over my roommate but I didn’t really cry. Someone said it was because I was emotionally troubled. That’s probably it. After that we went to Mickey Ds at 6 am and got a delicious breakfast sandwich and gross Peruvian coffee (sorry I’m biased). I was alarmed by the “regular” prices and the Swedish stoner hobo that I found there. They don’t have that in Pacasmayo. Everything was dirt-cheap and no one did drugs. I did not like this one bit. Ah modern civilization!

My last lunch was at the little restaurant where we had our first meals. I had to leave during the lunch to catch my flight. Being the one to walk away from everyone laughing and eating was sad. I guess I left everyone the same way I met them. When I got to the airport all of these random things kept happening. There was an alarming amount of people in ASU shirts (not happy) and I kept thinking that I was hearing or seeing the people I had just said goodbye to. I would hear a laugh and think, “That’s funny that sounds a lot like…” or I would see a glimpse of someone’s face and think it was a person who was still in the hostel. On one of these occasions it did happen to be people from our group, and it was comforting to be with them in the airport while I prepared to leave the country.

I roamed around for a bit, got a massage (you know how it is), bought random stuff at the duty free, and finally got on the plane. As the plane got higher and higher the dusty city got harder and harder to see and eventually it was no longer in Peru, but among the big fluffy clouds.

Exciting Development: Volunteers Meet the Mayor of Trujillo!

Our Trujillo volunteers had the unique opportunity this summer to meet the Mayor of Trujillo and Founder of Cesar Vallejo University, César Acuña Peralta.  Our group was first given a tour of City Hall, including getting to see the press conference room. We then had  personal time with the Mayor. Volunteers from each program explained our work and their experience in Peru, and music volunteer Sylvia played a short Peruvian piece with her students for him as well.  In return, he thanked us for our work and dedication to the most underprivileged communities of Trujillo and La Libertad Region, and promised to support our work in what way he can.  He noted that our purpose in our work is the same – to serve, and presented each volunteer with a small gift from the City of Trujillo.  While this was a great experience for our volunteers, it was also an opportunity to connect with the city so that we may continually learn how to serve its residents. We are excited for the possibilities of working together with the city and the university to increase our impact in the region!

Volunteers Show Creativity and Initiative in Placements

Workshops Serve Communities and Children

In Pacasmayo, in addition to nutrition workshops, our volunteers added a hygiene component to teach the importance of hand-washing and dental hygiene.  The workshops included a song and dance about brushing teeth, and taking the children outside to practice washing their hands.  Afterward, we handed out toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap to the children to encourage them to put into practice what they learned.

Thank you to our volunteers for creating workshops that were both fun and informative!