This past Saturday, I helped out at my first medical campaign! We rotate locations for the campaigns, and this week’s took place locally in the neighborhood of El Patron de San Sebastian, a few minutes walk from El Jardín.  After packing up all of the medications from the pharmacy, we drove up to the site to set up the tent where the patients would see the doctor. Michael went around the neighborhood with a megaphone announcing the free medical campaign, which succeeded in attracting a large number of people. For the next four hours, I created a list of arriving patients with their ages/weights, helped make sandwiches for the patients, observed the doctor, and chatted with local families and kids.  

One family in particular is in great need of help, and I spent a long time talking with them. The mother cleans for our volunteer apartment, and also manages a market near El Jardín. One of her sons attends El Jardín, so the family is connected closely with the volunteers and Rosa and Mario. The father has vasculitis, and hasn’t been able to work for the past three years because of it. The medicine that would stabilize his condition, but not cure it, would cost over 600 soles, far more than they can afford. The only option for treatment is a kidney transplant, but they would need to find a donor first, and then get on the waiting list. The whole situation really saddens me – the father is only 38 and will probably die soon, leaving his three young children behind with absolutely no hope for education beyond elementary school. Stories similar to this are plentiful where I currently live. The magnitude of poverty is overwhelming at times, and has occasionally left me questioning the effectiveness of my own efforts when the need is immensely greater than we can ever hope to provide for.

The next day, Sunday, was Inti Raymi, which is the largest festival of the year in Cusco. People come from all over, including Lima, to watch the festivities. Inti Raymi takes place at Sacsayhuaman, the old Incan ruins above Cusco. Thousands of people covered the hillsides to watch the traditional dancing and llama sacrifice that ended the festival. I will try and put up pictures from this next time I post.

Yesterday, the pharmacy volunteers and I traveled to a small village called Occopata, which is an hour outside of Cusco. A kindergarden there is currently suffering from an outbreak of scabies, and lacks any means of treatment. We examined the children to determine who was infected (using gloves since scabies is very contagious) and then applied a topical treatment. More medication was distributed for future treatments. Most of the children only spoke Quechua, an original language of the Andes, so it was fairly difficult to communicate with them. In Cusco, nearly everyone speaks both Spanish and Quechua, with the exception of some older folks who just speak Quechua. 

This Thursday, we're leaving for a three-day trip to Puno, a city about 9 hours away from Cusco. It's much colder there than in Cusco, and children die from the cold every winter. We're planning on having a medical campaign there, and will also try and collect clothing in the next few days to bring with us. 

Now that I've been living in Cusco for a little over a week, I'm beginning to get into a routine and really enjoy the city. The past few days have been fairly relaxing since this past weekend was Father's day. We normally do medical campaigns on Sundays, but it was postponed until next weekend. I have yet to partake in a medical campaign, but I can't wait to. We spend all day organizing 120-150 patients to see the doctor, taking vitals and other patient information. The campaigns are free for the patients, and include any medication that they need. It's absolutely incredible that one doctor alone can help that many people in a matter of hours.
On Friday, the other pharmacy volunteers and myself created a weekly schedule of what we will be doing for the next few months. Twice a week, we go to the local elementary school to give oral hygiene presentations to students. We also work twice a week in the pharmacy which is a block away from our apartment. Once a week, we work at El Jardín, the kindergarden that I mentioned earlier. On Sundays, we have the medical campaigns all day. Before the medical campaigns, we spend a few hours putting up posters and signs to advertise for the next day. Mark and Michael also arranged a meeting for us to talk with a doctor at a private clinic in Cusco for shadowing opportunities. Dr. Rodolfo is now allowing us to observe surgeries whenever we want, which is incredibly generous of him. They perform all kinds of surgeries at this clinic, except open heart (the low oxygen at this altitude of 11,000 ft would create all kinds of problems). Yesterday, Sarah and I went in to observe a rhinoplasty (aka nosejob). The surgery was fascinating to watch, but I think my stomach would have appreciated a less aggressive operation the first time in the clinic.
Friday evening, some of the volunteers and I went out to the discotecas in the city. Cusco has a lively night life, and we had a blast dancing until the early hours of the morning. All of the discotecas are free to get into, and a few even have salsa dancing lessons.
The rest of the weekend was spent wandering around the city, and I happened to find a chocolate museum! I sampled té de cocao, which is tea made from the husks of the cocao bean. It's delicious, and I would highly recommend trying some if you get the chance. A less fortunate event occurred on Saturday while walking along the streets near the center. As we were crossing a street, Richelle's foot slipped on the beam across a street gutter, and her whole leg fell into the grating. She couldn't get out herself, but nearly everyone nearby stopped to help her. It took a few minutes, but we finally got her out okay without any broken bones or serious injuries. Apparently this happens frequently in Peru; from now on, I will definitely put a bit more thought into where I place my feet...

On a side note, I've heard from a few people that the 'followers' application on my blog isn't working. Every time I update my blog, the followers are supposed to get an email notification, but they aren't. Since this is the first time I've had a blog, I have no idea how to fix it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks!

I figured I should add some photos of Cusco, so you have an idea of what the city looks like as well as where I am living and who I am working with. This is my current room, and it is located on the top floor of the apartment building. In a week, we will be moving down two floors to make room for some other volunteers who are coming soon. Since the room is connected to the outside and there is no heating, it is freezing at night (around 30 degrees). Luckily we have warm sheets and blankets, but I still wear multiple layers to sleep. 

This is the a view of the city from near my room.

Yesterday was my first day working at El Jardín (the free kindergarden for the people of Los Nogales).
Here are a few pictures of the kids!

 Today, four of the pharmacy volunteers including myself held an oral hygiene campaign at a local elementary school. We went to four different classrooms of first and second graders and gave a short video and presentation. I really enjoyed the campaign, and the kids loved it as well. Afterwards, we gave everyone a toothbrush since many of them don't have one. The kids in Cusco are incredibly accepting and friendly. As soon as they saw us outside their classrooms (dressed in clown hats to make it more fun), we were instantly swarmed, receiving hugs and kisses left and right. Here, the proper way to greet someone is to kiss them on their right cheek.
On Friday, we're going to be going back to the school to give presentations for four more classes.

After the health campaigns, we went downtown to get lunch and walk around. It was my first time going to the Plaza de Armas, which you can see in the picture below. The three and a half hours that we spent walking around went by incredibly quickly. It's easy to spend a lot of time talking with random people on the streets, since the locals are so friendly and interested in white people who speak Spanish. 

I also took my first bus ride in Cusco today. The buses are a little intimidating, since they only stop for a few seconds, and start moving the instant you've gotten on, whether you're seated or not. However, they're cheaper than taxis, and only cost 60 centavos for a 30 minute ride, which is the equivalent of 20 cents in US money. 

Lunch at a small restaurant outside of downtown. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and almost always includes soup, your choice of "secondario" or second dish, and a drink. 

Tomorrow, I'm meeting with a surgeon to organize shadowing in a hospital. Mark and Michael helped us set this up, and then we'll be able to see surgeries on a regular basis.

I’ve made it to Cusco! I wish I could say that the traveling went smoothly, but I don’t think that’s possible these days. One 40 minute delay due to a cockroach infestation after my first flight completely messed up the following four flights, so I had to spend the night in Houston as well as Lima. Luckily, I met someone from UDUB who had the same thing happen to him, so we became traveling buddies until Cusco. I thought that either Michael or Mark (the two guys running the pharmacy) would pick me up when I arrived, but was pleasantly surprised when my friend Richelle from high school appeared at the airport! We had planned to meet in Cusco to volunteer together, but I had thought she wasn’t arriving until July. We walked together to Los Nogales, a neighborhood close to the airport but far from the center of town. Our apartment is located here, and I was able to meet the rest of the volunteers after they woke up. Many of the volunteers are working just with the school, a kindergarden located a ten minute walk away from the apartment. A few others, including myself, are working with both the pharmacy and the kindergarden. Only Michael and Mark work solely with the pharmacy, which they helped create two years ago. 

        My first day in Cusco was slightly stressful, to say the least. I had to quickly adjust to the Cusco drivers, who don’t seem to follow any apparent rules. Taxis and buses have the right of way everywhere, and separate lanes don’t exist. Pedestrians have to be extremely vigilant to avoid getting hit or stepping on a stray dog (of which there are hundreds all over) In addition, the altitude, combined with only having had 6 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours, provided the perfect combination for a pounding headache. After a short nap in the morning, I woke up and decided to go to the center of town with Richelle. However, in the process of rearranging my belongings, I somehow misplaced my debit card, my sole means of obtaining money. Two hours of intense searching left me frustrated, stressed, and still debit card-less. 

        However, today went much smoother than yesterday. After talking with my parents, I found that I can get a new card sent to me in less than a week, which made me feel immensely better. I also had my first day of volunteering, both at the school and the pharmacy. I worked with the 3 yr olds from 9-1, helping the teacher attempt to calm the craziness created by about 30 young children in a tiny classroom. I found I was able to communicate with everyone, but had to figure out ways of conveying things like "Stop eating that box of crayons!" and "Don’t open the door to the porta potty when other kids are going to the bathroom". Even after just two days, I can feel my Spanish improving, which is really exciting. 

        Tomorrow, three other volunteers and I are going to a different school to give oral hygiene talks to all of the classes. We’ll also be giving out toothbrushes to all the kids, which should be helpful since many people here don’t take care of their teeth. 

        There are so many other aspects of Cusco I could talk about right now, but I’ll stop for now and leave it for another blog post. I can already tell that these next two and a half months are going to be challenging, but also incredibly fun and rewarding. I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of my time here!