Peru Medical Mission – Take 2
Having returned recently from our second medical mission trip to Jose Galvez, I am still
struggling to find an appropriate response when people ask me “How was the trip?” The simple
answer is that the mission was very successful: We saw over 1,300 people in 5 days of clinics.
The clinics flowed more smoothly than last year, partly because this year we carried our
medicines and supplies with us and partly because we had more translators and more Spanish
speaking care providers. The team was well organized and efficient. We worked well together
and people pitched in when they saw someone needed help.
Rosemary Russell
But that’s hardly enough of an answer. The truth is that the trip was amazing. Last year our first
day started slowly; this year people were lined up and waiting well before we arrived. Their
gratitude for our simple gestures overwhelmed us many times each day. Even when we had to
turn people away and ask that they return the next day, they were grateful that we would see
them tomorrow.
Many of the people we saw required nothing more than ibuprofen and daily vitamins. We were
well stocked with both and happy to meet their needs. There was this year a sense that we saw
more “sick” people -several children with high fevers or severe allergies, a few cases of
malnourishment. One of our doctors identified a case of abuse in a young woman who was
brought by her father worried about her lack of appetite and extreme social withdrawal. After
spending hours asking questions about the local health system and following leads, the doctor
is connecting the young woman to a psychologist for therapy.
Although the mission team comes from Tenafly, there are many people in Jose Galvez who
make our service easier. We reconnected with the Sisters from Santa Teresita who helped
ensure the site was set up for us the first day and who checked in with us throughout the week.
They also accompanied one of our doctors on their visits to the homebound. We all have a
friend in Clay who works for the parish school in Jose Galvez but managed to find time to help
us, including his day off. The administration from Trinity School opened the school on a holiday
to allow us to see patients.
Most wonderful, however, were the director and residents of San Jose Obrero Rehabilitation
Facility. These men, who are recovering from various addictions, helped us unload, set up,
repack and reload and in the meantime acted as translators and guides for the patients.
Alejandro, who used to work in hospitatlity, even volunteered to handle the station where we
tested people for reading glasses. They helped us but they also provided an example of faith
and commitment. They start each day with prayer and singing and they sung for us the second
morning, songs of praise to Jesus and a song of praise to the Blessed Mother and to their
mothers who are helping them through the difficulties of their lives. It didn’t matter that not all of
us understood the words, the song brought many of us to tears.
So this trip, as the last, brought home the truth of our service. No matter the months of planning
and the daily hard work and exhaustion, we come home having received so much more than we
gave.
