Trip is over!

Hello friends!  sorry i've missed a few days, internet can be spotty down here at times, and over the weekend I didnt' have any service at all.  Thursday and Friday i spent at very rural clinics.  These clinics served poor rural communities.  Thursday, the townspeople were alerted to our clinci by microphone!  Young and old came to see the dentist, doctors and eye doctors.  Friday I started my day at an even more rural clinic in a town where their chief occupation is making adobe shingles for houses that they then sell in the city.  Half way through the day we were called to leave this clinic to assist the larger clinic that was swamped with people!  Friday evening we had a wonderful Peruvian buffet dinner at a nice restaurant at the Plaza de Armas.  There was good food, yummy pisque sours, traditional Peru music and dancers.  Several of us loved the music and joined in the dancing!  The next morning we all said our good byes which was very difficult.  We all had a such a good time and really worked well together.  We all went our seperate ways then, but 19 of us took the same tour to Machu Picchu so were able to spent a little more time together.   We toured the sacred Valley and spent the night in Agua Caliente.  Today we got up early and headed out to the bus to Machu Picchu.  It was so beautiful and awe inspiring.  We arrived back here to Cusco around 930p. Tomorrow we board our plane to Lima to spent the day sightseeing and shopping.  Then its off to the US and Home!!  See you all soon!

Wednesday

hello!  Another busy day at the clinic.  I was so excited, today I was able to utilize my wound nurse skills!  I have seen four cases over the last three days and today even got to do a follow up with a burn case from Monday.  I am  so happy to be able to use my wound knowledge to help these people.  They are so poor and have a very difficult time getting to and paying for healthcare.  The paraplegic boy with wounds I saw today was brought in by his mother.  His wounds were pretty severe but she hadn't been able to take him to the doctor because she couldn't afford the transportation to get him there.  The wonderful MMI team stepped in a found a way so they could get regular transporation to the hospital for wound follow-up after my treatment.  MMI is truely a great group doing so many good things for these people.  I was so thankful to have the wound supplies that I did.  Esther and Starr both had very busy days.  Esther is working with the opthamalogist, Dr. Nathan and Starr has been working in Integrated Health.  Integrated health is where the patients go after they have received their medicine and get instructions on their diagnosis, medications, and general healthcare.  Starr has been working mostly outside as has gotten a bit of a sunburn! Today we had a little highlight as well, a 103 year old woman came in for a check up.  The only thing she needed was a wheelchair and some vitamins!  Tomorrow its off to a more rural location, the past three days we have been just outside of town.  There are two locations, one is very small and the other is just a bit smaller than the one we have been at.  I was chosen to be in charge of the pharmacy at the smaller clinic (I was very flattered, how cool is that?)  Starr and Esther will be going to the larger clinic but still working the same jobs.  We are being treated so well, the food is spectacular.  They always are bringing around snacks and treats for us while we are working.  My spanish is getting a bit better.  From working in the pharmacy I can write very well in spanish and from being around the people I have picked up a few more words.  I can even follow the general meaning of a conversation!  Keep us in your thoughts!

tuesday

Hola! today was a busy day.  Up again at 5am, breakfast at 630 and off the clinic by 730.  Today we saw even more patients than yesterday.  I am just amazed at how happy and appreciative the local people are, some of them walk miles to come to the clinic, old and young.  We even saw elderly people 80-some years old and little children 10 years old that had never been to a doctor in their life!  The people are so loving and the children are so well behaved, even though the clinic was filled with children you never hardly knew they were there (well except for the occaisional crying child from the dental clinic!)  The days have been warm, sunny and dry, totally opposite of any forecast we saw before we came down, so of course we are roasting.  We all brought long johns, hats, scarfs and heavy coats, so we'll be doing a little shopping before the week is over.  We crossed our first Peru street today in traffic and lived so we must be pretty lucky.  The days are long and tiring but so very much worth it.  Tomorrow is our last day at our current location for the clinic.  The next two days we are splitting into two groups and heading to smaller more rural locations to provide for the Quechua natives (they are the indigenous people of Peru).  Keep us in your thoughts!

Sunday and Monday

hello friends!  sorry to have missed a day of updates but internet is spotty down here in Cusco and not always reliable.  Sunday was  a busy day, we went to church in Cusco to an Evangelical church.  In Peru the people are very animated in their worship, lots of music, dancing, cheering and jumping up and down!  The rest of the day was busy getting medicines ready for the clinic.  We repackaged hundreds of medications and had a meeting to learn all about how to run the clinic. 
Monday am:  we had to up for breakfast by 630a.  Left for the clinic at 730a.  The clinic was to be in a large auditorium.  Unfortunately the night before there was a large party there and the room we were to use for the pharmacy was still filled with beer bottles (100's of beer bottles) from the party.  We couldn't use the room (and didn't really want to!) so we improvised and used two ping pong tables instead.  It all turned out to work perfectly.  The other areas Intake, Triage, Medical, Eye assessment, Eye exam, Dental, Optometry and Integrated health all were set up with ease.  The day started with a song and prayer.  We started to see patients by 830a.  They brought us a nice sandwich and fruit lunch to eat on site.  After 9+ hours and seeing over 300 patients the day was over.  Everyone was tired but still smiling.  The weather had been completely opposite than what the forecast said before we came.  Its been in the mid 60's and sunny with a nice breeze.  The sights are beautiful, Cusco sits in a gorgeous valley surrounded on all sides by mountains.  Traffic is chaotic, fast and jam packed but we havent' seen any accidents.  The MMI staff has been wonderful!  And the food is fantastic Peruvian dishes...mmmm.  Looking foward to tomorrow.

Cusco

Buenos Noches friends...we are settled into our hotel in Cusco, Inkas Illyori Hotel.  This will be our home for the next 10 days.  We had time today to tour a bit around Cusco, Plaza de Armas and the local markets.  Saw many many street vendors all trying to sell something, some handmade some not.  Down here everything is negotiable, you can haggle over the price of just about anything.  The traffic here is like Philly X10, if you want to cross the street you just have to step into traffic!!  The people of our group seem great, we have some other new missionaries and some that have come to Cusco over 20 times!  Our medical director has been very good about checking our oxygen levels and making sure no one is getting altitude sickness.  Praise be that none of us (myself, Starr, Heidi and Esther) have seen much affect of the altitude.  We all felt a little woozy at first with a bit of numbness and tingling but other wise are ok.  Climbing the four flights of stairs to our room is a challenge, and this bum arm isn't helping things at all but we're all getting by.  We keep drinking lots of water and eat our coco candy (coca tea or leaves have not been available).  Tomorrow we will be attending the church of Heidi's good friend Carrie that has been a missionary here in Cusco for 5 years now.  Then its off the start setting up the clinic.  Keep us in your thoughts!

Buenos dias friends!  we made it to Lima and are heading to the airport to catch our flight to Cusco, no problems with altitude yet and landings were perfect.  Customs was a breeze, but Esther´s personal luggage made an unexpected extra trip to the airport without her this am.  Its returning to us here at the Manhattan hotel

Hello Everyone!

Hi!  So I decided to start a blog of my trip to Peru.  I am heading to Peru for a medical mission trip to Cusco with Medical Ministry International.  My friend Starr, Starr's daugher Heidi and Starr's friend Esther are also going.  We are going to be participating in a medical clinic for the poorest of the poor of Cusco, Peru.  We leave early morning Friday November 4 and continue the project until November 12.  After the three of us are staying in Cusco to do some sightseeing and see Machu Picchu.  I will try to update as much as possible!