New Adventures in Nicaragua

Hi all,

Dust off your arm chairs for a little arm chair travel. I am off to Nicaragua to do the same type of work that I did in Peru. It’s time to do some work on your geography. We will be primarily based out of Siuana in the northeast of Nicaragua. Look at google.maps.com and you’ll find where we’ll be going! FYI- Nicaragua is in Central America.  We will also travel in some fashion or another to other communites located more remotely outside of Siuana. I will be working with a medical doctor and another physical therapist. We will work with children, families and individuals with disabilities. This is the  a website that has more information about the group I’ll be workin with. www.hermanosporlasalud.org.

I will be leaving June 14th. I will be updating my blog on the travel preps and work.

Adios,

deirdra

Back in the Saddle

After spending Thursday with our Peruvian guide and seeing historic Lima, we enjoy our last few hours having dinner. We are mindful of getting ourselves safely to the airport. We have been instructed about safety in cabs in Lims- only use yellow cabs, lock your doors, keep windows up so people can’t grab in the cabs and snatch belongings out of the cabs, put your belongings on the floor and out of grabbing reach and write down the cab drivers number! So, without our peruvian guide and in light of the safety issues we spend more money and use an airport driver. He is so nice and trustworthy. He is orginally from the Jungle. He had to move to Lima to make money. He left his daughter and wife in the Jungle. It takes us hours to go through customs and immigration. Our flight is uneventful to the states. We have a layover in Atlana. We actually meet people we know in Atlanta. It’s a small world! Steve meets me in Login with flowers. How lucky am I?? We drive straight to Maine. What a contrast- the lack of noise, the smells, the hot water, the toilet paper, the food and everyone speaks English here!!!

I learned so many things on this trip, professionally and personally.

1. I learned more about the Peruvian culture on this trip. I think last year I was so shellshocked by the experience and there so much to take in that I wasn’t able to process all aspects of the culture.  Plus, having a Peruvian on our team was helpful to learn more about the Peruvian people and culture.

2. I was so proud of my students – they were critical thinkers, learned new professional skills and generalized skills to a new environment, they were flexible and sensitive to the people they were serving.

3. I learned from the health education team. They were busy doing a community assessment. They assessed needs and strengths of a community. The strengths of the people in the villages was the interpersonal connections in the community.

4. I learned more about myself in terms of faciliating learning with students.

5. I need to learn more spanish.

5. Again, I come away with an appreciation for the health care we have and all the priveleges we have.

Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers! There are 3 of our team staying for the summer I have created a link to their blog under blogroll. I wish them well! Thanks Peru.

Deirdra

Getting Out of Dodge

11 de Junio, our last day in Huarmey. We have to check on a wheelchair we modified using local materials for a young man with muscular dystrophy. I guessed inorrectly on the angle of the footplate for his wheelchair. The welding shop has to bange it out.  Thankfully at 7: 30 in the morning he says it feels comfortable and I am satisfied with the results.

On Wednesday, 11 de Junio there is a bus strike in the Ancash Province and there are no buses. We scramble and get reiumbursed for our tickets, find taxis to the next province 1 hour away and connect with the public bus system.  One of the crew members, who is from Nicaugra, tells me that in her country when there is a bus strike people  burn the cars who are driving on the roads and are crossing the ¨picket line¨. Somehow that was not reassuring. I have been assigned to one car as my spanish is the best. Wow, that was not a good sign!

We make it to Lima mid afternoon without too much more excitement. We took the afternoon to do a little shopping. We have all had a touch of something and we are all on antibiotics.

Our translator from Peru has arranged for one of his friends to be our guide today while we are waiting for our flight and we do a little tourist thing in Lima. It is a city of 9 million people! How does that compare with New York or Mexico city? The traffic and pollution is horrible. I wonder what the asthma rates are? Our guide was so nice and we had a fun afternoon with her. We went into the historic center and took a bus to a mountain that looks over the city. What a view!

The transitions from the mountains to the city and the land of the privileged leaves one feeling like balancing a fence. Truly, we are already missing the people greeting us with Buenos Dia. We were also the only ¨gringos¨ in the moutains so we were celebrities.

Adios, Peru. You have given us much. Thank you.

El Hokey Pokey

So, You want to know about the hokey pokey in Peru? Hokey Pokey is a new phenomon that has swept Paricoto and Huarmey off it’s feet. All of us have worked together at motor skills groups with kids in Paricoto and Huarmey. What great fun we had teaching them the hokey pokey! It has been translated with the appropriate new words… They love it and want to do it after we are gone. We are so thrilled an d lucky to be with the people in Peru. We have learned so much.

Today we  fixed wheelchairs, taught kids about hand washing, and did a teacher workshop at the special education school.  We were interviewed for the radio station and will be on the local station tomorrow morning at 9 am.

We leave Huarmey tommorrow for Lima and the group goes it separate ways. We are sad to leave our Peru friends and crew team members behind. We will bring many happy memories with us. Deirdra

 

The finishing stretch!

Our crew member has been released from the hospital to our care. He is back walking around, eating a bit and even laughing. He is on antibiotics and needs follow up blood work in a couple of days. What a trooper. I can not believe what a great attitude he has. The hospital did not charge us as they are so appreciative of all the work we do for the community.

We contacting folks in the mountain villages about the situation with the typhoid and found out another crew member has been bitten by a dog! There are many dogs in Peru.  One of our translators got sick this morning and almost fainted. She seems to be on the mend. Most of the other folks have had a touch of digestive issues, but nothing severe.

Our favorite Gringo restaurant is Jessica’s. We know the food is safe and we will be okay eating there. There are lots of great vegetables in the market, but the restaurants do not serve them. Mostly papas and arroz with pollo or carne…. But, we have taken to buying our vegetables in the market and bringing the vegtables to the restaurant and they cook them for us… Nice to have fresh vegtables. We do not eat anything this is not cooked!! That is how our crew member got sick. He ate cerviche-a popular yummy dish, but also a great way to get typhoid!

The health educators have been working on their community assessment. A great opportunity to assess the strengths and needs of a community.  Today the PT group worked on fixing up a chair for a young man with muscular dystrophy. We saw a couple of kids with significant disabilities and ran a prenatal exercise class for 3 obstetricans and 2 mothers. We were able to provide a cane for a young girl who is blind. She will use the cane to get around her community independently. She was so appreciative she sang a song for us. She is a singer and this was her way of thanking us! How wonderful is that!

It is hard to believe we are wrapping up our work tommorrow. We head to Lima on Wednesday and get ready for departure on Thursday. We have all learned so much about understanding the culture. We are developing a deeper understanding about our interactions and the delivery of health care in different cultures. One of our translators is from Peru and we are learning alot about food and cultures from him. He is the only man in a group of 7 woman. He is learning English and how to work with so many woman. It is not easy for him!

A la manana!

Typhoid

One of our crew members has  come back from the moutains as he has Typhoid…. He is recovering. He is in Huarmey Hospital and we have visited him in shifts today. He is in good humor, still weak and happy to have our visits. His plan of care seems to be consistent with care in the US. They should release him tommorrow and stay with us in the Hostel. What a scare…. Interesting experience to observe the Peru heath care system first hand. The hospitals are not accrediated by Joint Commission and have a different level of care than we are use to.

The PT crew was busy today molding a new leg for a young women who has a prosthesis from the Village Empowerment project. In addition, we instructed her in an exercise program and did more gait training. It is great to have my students to bounce around ideas together.  We started her leg at 9 in the morning and finished at 5 in the afternoon. A long day that we should be proud of. This young woman is how John Duffy, head of the VIllage Empowerment Project, and I met. So, it was special to me to meet her and help her with her prosthesis. She was very moved by our work together. We also met her mother who brought us mandarin oranges from her fruita stand.

Another day to feel blessed and see the goodness of God!

Back In Huarmey

We are back in Huarmey-our central post! We have traveled for 3 days up and it feels like coming home! I am so proud of the students. They are doing a great job-being flexible, adjusting to a variety of situations and keeping a smile on their faces. And they are also doing great work. We have wonderful translators-Lyvier and Gerber. They make our work possible. Gerber is from Peru. So, he is helping us learn spanish and Peruvian customs. Lyvier is a seasoned medical translator and world traveler. She is a great mamasita and takes good care of us.

Our first stop in our travels, was Casma. It is a town 1.5 hours north of Huarmey. It is twice as big as Huarmey. The PT students did a prenatal exercise program for the staff, a crutch training program, a prenatal program for mothers and a back school program for 15-20 people with back pain. The students were not expecting to do a back school program and it was wonderful!

Our next stop was Paricoto. A remote village about in the mountains. It is beautiful with limited access to health care services. The health ed team taught the elementary kids about water safety and did more community assessments. The PT students ran two prenatal exercise programs, a crutch training program and did 6 evaluations for patients. The nurse was wonderful and participated in all the trainings for parents and kids. The PT and Health Ed teams worked together on a motor group for kids in an after-school enrichment program run by the catholic priest.  We have been donating equipment and supplies at each of our stops.

Today is Flag Day… We have had the pleasure of days of parades. Parades for days in several different cities.

Good work and wonderful learning from the experiences and people in Peru! Deirdra

 

3 Junio

We awoke in Huarmey. The morning market is set up outside our hostel.  There was alot of activity outside our hostel last night- a disco party and a rooster who did know when the cock crows. The ear plugs were a big help for me this year. There always seems like alot of activity going on outside. Many of the folks spend the day getting supplies and packing. My students and I worked with the kids who have more severe motor impairments at the special education school. Their teachers came so we could give them activities to do with the kids in the classroom. The health education team went to a public school and did a lesson on safe water. The whole team was able to meet for lunch. It will be the last time the entire team is together. The physical therapy team was able to go to the school with the health education team and observe their great work in the schools. The kids in the school are so excited to have people from US! We have packing to do for the next section of our trip. We are going to Casma to work with obstetricians and pregnant mothers and teach some prenatal exercises classes tommorrow. We will be away from internet and I will provide an update when we get back to Huarmey!

 

 

Winter in Peru!

We arrived safe and sound. The flights were uneventful. A little tricky getting through customs.
It´s winter in Peru. But, it´s like high 50´s or low 60´s. Sounds like spring in New England! We are in the same time zone, but they are on eastern standard time, not daylight saving time. So, we are an hour behind you.
This morning we spent working with a women 20 years old, who lost her leg in an accident when she was 10 years old. John and his students built her a prosthetic leg.. The students did a great job managing her ´”evaluation´”. She needed to have the leg lengthened and some more work done on her leg. She needs some gait training and exercises. We will have a follow up appointment with her on Sunday, the 8th to do some more work with her.
The rest of the day was spent traveling to Huarmey, which is a 5 hour bus ride. We all had dinner together and we had meeting with a “liason” from the hospital to set up a schedule for the next week.
More tommorrow.

Deirdra

Adios Estados Unidos!

So just, imagine all of us- about 12 arriving together in Logan Airport in Boston and trying to organize bags, boxes and people! John Duffy, the leader of the pack and Village Empowerment project, stays calm, cool and collected. I am not sure the airlines are so keen on all the excitement!! We arrive 3 hours early – anticipating that we have many bags, long lines in security and an array of potential situations, which might befall us getting through security and all the other stuff. Nicky Champagne, Health Education Faculty and crewmember, and I finally get a chance to catch our breath and think about some planning experiences for the students. All the while keeping in mind that it is a flexible schedule- más o menos (more or less). Meanwhile, we attempt to get to know some of the other crewmembers. Some I have met last year, some are new, and some will meet us there. Rafael and Carolina have already left and are meeting us there….

So, do we look ready to go and seek further adventures and be good citizens! I think so…. ¡Más mañana de Perú!

 

 

Deirdra