VOLUNTEERS
12:00 am: It was time for dinner: hot chocolate milk, turkey, applesauce, and fruitcake. After dinner, we opened presents. Mommy got us each a purse and earrings. The whole family, including myself, found great joy in watching Mary’s, our host sister, son open his Christmas presents. I was amazed by the thoughtful gifts exchanged between our family members.
This is where health education comes into play; it must start at the top of the ladder and trickle down. Government officials need to realize the flaw in this policy. Peruvian doctors need to understand the danger in over prescribing drugs to patients. Without understanding that bacterial strands can develop resistance to antibiotics, it seems like there would be no repercussions for giving out pills as if they were candy. Doctors also need to advocate for more restrictions on pharmaceutical distribution. Individuals need to be taught to take antibiotics seriously.
The last patient of the day was a 15-month-old boy with a 42-year-old mother. The young boy could not walk, was unresponsive to verbal cues, and had a fever of 38.6 degrees Celsius (101.5 Fahrenheit). According to medical records, he has congenital heart failure, Down syndrome, and growth stagnation.
It took coercing and candies to get many of the kids to hand over their arms, but this is important. They need to know early if they have anemia. It is worth the temporary pain of a finger prick. Peruvian medicine (and all other medicine) has to remember that preventing disease is far better than finding solutions to disease. This seems intuitive, but it is not always the applied practice.
I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to observe the obstetricians. They were great about explaining each part of the process to me as they went. They drew pictures, and answered the one million questions I asked. I am also thankful for Timothy who also answered a million questions for me and double-checked me on my initial blood pressure readings. Taking blood pressure non-electronically is harder than it seems (or at least it was for me, haha.)
After breakfast, Piero caught a taxi and took us into downtown Lima. We explored the city, walked through shops, and had a delicious lunch. By far my favorite event of the day was when we rode a bus to the top of San Cristobal. It was incredible to stand at the top of the mountain and look down on the massive, beautiful city of Lima.
I am not sure why seeing a stop in Cuba on my flight itinerary did not cause me to research the status of the airport or the requirements for being in transit in Cuba. Unfortunately, not doing proper research cost me $50 and a lot of unnecessary stress during my travels. The stress began when I was urgently removed from the airplane in FLL and called to the front desk. The plane was still being boarded when my name was called over the loudspeaker...
I recently read an article that said there are three types of travel: travel that calms you, travel that excites you, and travel that causes a revolution in your heart. When I returned home, I could tell that I had changed mentally. New perspective, a paradigm shift, call it whatever you want. Something was different and I began to notice myself looking at situations differently.
