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Home > Missions > Peru Mission Journal
Monday, May 26
Lima, Peru
Day 6 ~ Monday
Today we went to the hospital for the first day of operations. Due to some custom clearance issues, the day started slow, but we strove onward and lived by the mission motto we were taught in mission training, “Always be flexible”. The day went slowly but surely and I had the chance to play with many of the children who were prepped for surgery and those who returned from surgery As the student team, we shifted our focus for the day into pre-op preparation. This is a vital step of the children’s process to surgery because it prepares the child for the experience of entering the OR. In order to prep the children we dressed the children and ourselves up in surgical caps, rubber gloves, facemasks, and blue gowns so that they would realize there is nothing to be afraid of. We also familiarized the children with the face mask used to give the anesthetics so when asked to breathe into it; they would understand that it would not harm them. The day was a bit hectic, but we all managed to pull together to make it through. I have to say that the in-country volunteers and translators made a world of difference. It would have been impossible to explain the purpose of the anesthesia mask in my broken Spanish. As part of the student team we arranged a few school visits, one was the second half of Monday. Robert, Pat, and I left the hospital in a cab bound for a prep school called Marcam College. As I got out and looked at this huge school I began to have doubts about whether the children attending this wealthy school really needed our donations but I was soon relieved to find that we would be attending a weekly service project in which students from this school go out to the poor outskirts of Lima and tutor children. As I boarded the bus with the Marcam students, I really did not realize what I was in for. I looked out the windows of the bus as we steadily headed toward an area of hills called Pamplona. The streets originally started off normal and well groomed but slowly I watched the road steadily separate into loose cobblestones and huge pot-holes, which became more and more prominent until there might as well have been no road at all. The streets became dirty and worn and trash was everywhere. The vehicles began to change as well, as we neared these massive dust covered hills, only taxis and motor-bike cars remained. I told my fellow student Pat to begin taking pictures so we could show this problem to others, it was so much different that the surroundings I am used to. At this point, we entered the dusty hills and I realized that people live in these hills. Their houses are constructed out of almost anything, many times combining tin, wood, plastic, tires, and anything that could be glued, stacked, or somehow bound together in order to create the semblance of a dwelling. Miguel, the teacher who ran this tutoring group, explained to us that the reason the roads and houses grew steadily worse, was because the people in these areas were too poor to be able to pay taxes, and as a result the municipalities in these areas have no money to work with on public projects. Due to the terrorist groups, those that live here have moved from the countryside. As they began settling outside the city of Lima, these villages and dwellings sprang up. The people on the hills are pig farmers; their shacks often house themselves, their family (often extended), as well as their livestock. The reason they raise pigs is because they do not require much room and will generally eat almost anything. Since these people often lack enough money to spend on food for themselves, they can certainly not afford it for livestock. In order to deal with this dilemma, oftentimes they cook and burn trash for the pigs. In order to make a fire, they need something to burn and since wood is a superb building material, few people spare it for burning. Instead, the people use tires to burn over which they cook the food for their livestock and sometimes food for themselves. The smell of burning rubber was palpable as we walked up the loose, dusty hill and by the time we left we could all feel a slight burning in the back of our throat. Miguel also explained why so many dogs could be seen in the streets and running between the houses. These dogs serve as a form of security for the people of Pamplona; the people will feed a dog and in return the dog stays around the house. If someone who the dog is not accustomed to attempts to get close to the house, the dog will bark and scare them away. Miguel explained that despite the condition of the people in Pamplona, there are still some who would steal from them. I also witnessed a few dogs that specifically followed one child and even waited outside the school while their master was inside. After we walked to the top of the hill and into the school house, many happy little children came running from wherever they were hiding or playing and crowded into their small 14 x 20 foot schoolhouse. After we gave our presentations, we handed out several toothbrushes and combs to the children for their families as well as to the parents. We also emptied our huge rolling suitcase packed to the brim with crayons, markers, paper, games, books, and many other items onto a large, barren 4 shelf book case. As we left the schoolhouse to begin our walk back down the mountain, I observed the children run out to the old, rusted play-yard and begin to swing and climb the jungle gyms just above the trash that littered the ground around them. Despite the poverty I witnessed, I was taken aback by one huge aspect of the people of this area. They kept their dignity and self respect while also being grateful for the gifts we had brought them. The people respected their own appearance and tried to keep themselves and their children clean. In the end I realized this hidden strength and will in the people of this area that is easily overlooked by outsiders, but when you see it, it is truly beautiful.
- Alex Baumann, Student Volunteer
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May 25, 2008
Lima, Peru
Hello from the Operation Smile mission in Lima, Peru!
Our team of about 40 international volunteers have screened 314 children with facial deformities over the past two days. Each child has received a full evaluation from our nurses, plastic surgeons, pediatricians, dentist, speech pathologist, nutritionist and child life therapist. Our team would not be complete without the volunteers who coordinate our paper and electronic medical records, our patient imaging technicians, and our biomed technician.
To see photos and read more from Jill Gora in Lima, Peru vist her blog at http://limasmiles.blogspot.com/
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