Lets go back in time now and I can show you what it was like to be in the jungle, actually in the jungle. The other posts included times when I'd be frolicking through the cities or even the large villages which had electricity available from 6 pm until 11 pm at night (and then much longer if you happened to have your own generator.) So what is it like to live in the jungle?
First things first. It takes a LONG time to GET to the jungle. From Iquitos you can take a Rapido (150 horsepower engine) to either the Mazan port or the Indiana port, both of which are on the Amazon River. Pretty fast ride, and tolerable at the early 8 am when we caught the boat. Once at the port you have to unload all the backpacks, day packs, water (we had about 25 5 liter jugs, fun) and food (also had a lot, enough to feed seven people for six days anyway). Unloading consists of carrying a lot of stuff up a very steep, slippery hill. My 'hiking shoes' (not boots, but shoes, like it says) were not a good match for the wet, slimy concrete as I carried about 50 pounds of crap up the stupid hill. Once at the top, we had to get 8 motokars so that they could lug all our stuff to the other side of Mazan, where you can catch the Napo River.
The Napo River does meet up with the Amazon River, but thats very far down river from Mazan and the Rapidos don't go that far. Once at Mazan, on either river, you have to take a Peque Peque (correct spelling turns out, earlier I was calling them Pechaes, but regardless), and these are 15 horsepower boats with planks of wood for a seat and no sun roof. Let me tell you what, the next 4 or 5 hours (sometimes you lose track of time on the river, especially considering that I never, ever wore a watch and constantly had no idea what time it was) they were pretty miserable. My doxy (malaria meds) <-- also sorry for all the parentheses, this is getting a little insane!> makes me more sensitive to the sun, so I had to be lathered with a good dose of spf 50 prior to this fun little ride.
We fit SEVEN people into the Peque along with all the junk we were hauling out to the villages. This included the group going to Tamanco; Jess, Shelby, Igor and Alia, and my group going to Puinahua; Jason, Beth and I. These boats tilt with the slightest movement and we were definitely feeling pretty heavy and unstable for the trip, but we made it alright. It also turns out there is really nothing dangerous in the rivers at all, so the biggest danger of capsizing is whether or not your group members can swim. Only one person was a non-swimmer (Igor) but he had not one but FOUR lifeguards on the boat in case of emergency (Jason, Shelby, Alia and I). We dropped off the Tamanco group, turning them over to a community that greeted them along the river with smiles and a warm welcome. We continued down river to Puinahua... where nobody expected us at all.
They put us up in someone's home.... and this someone was actually nowhere to be found. We dropped all our stuff there (awkward) and then went looking for our Promoter, Albelardo. Well turns out he was in Iquitos and would hopefully be back the next day. Luckily we had someone show us around the village a bit and we were able to check out the Conapaq (sp?) water tower which pumps river water up to the tank, chlorinates it, and then passes it through three filters before being ready to be dispensed. Villagers have to pay a fee to use the tank but damn its such an amazing thing to have one of these in the village. The stark difference between this and drinking river water is amazing (as we saw when we got to Juancho Playa where Conapaq had not yet been).
There were people back at the house we were staying at, so they helped us string up our hammocks and the bread, which was how they were theoretically going to keep their cat from getting into it. Didn't work, he went up on the beams and then scratched down, making a plethora of holes in the bag. No big deal, that's what duct tape is for, right? Well duct tape is for anything because on the second night, Jason ripped his mosquito net (not good!) and needed the tape for that as well. I know you will have a really hard time understanding this concept, but I swear to you its a true story and it did happen.... the duct tape did not work on the mosquito net. I know! DUCT TAPE! It fixes everything. Apparently these nets have really small holes, smaller than say, a mosquito, and so the tape, even when placed on both sides of the rip, was having a hard time sticking to the net and to itself. By the end of the restless night, Jason had a plaque of about 8 in x 8 in of tape. Wop wop wop. (Fear not! In Junacho Playa he acquired a sewing kit and despite some really awkward moments where the women didn't want him, a male, to sew, he was able to do some surgical stitches and fixed it right up!)
Albelardo was there the second day. Turns out they got a Technico in the village but he's not a full Technico yet, so they were in Iquitos trying to get him to be able to have a fulling functioning Health Post. I think I went through this but for those of you with bad memories, Promoters refer people to the Technicos who are found in 5 different villages along the Napo River. Technicos can give meds and do some easy procedures, but if people are bad enough they send the villagers to the doctor who is in Mazan. For insurance to cover a visit to the doctor, you MUST have a referral from a Technico. The one in Puinahua was giving vaccinations to children, as a part of this really awesome program set up by the government where the mothers get paid to keep their kids vaccinated, but he wasn't yet able to refer patients and had no meds to give at all.
I saw one of the worst things imaginable while I was in Puinahua too. And the only reason we saw it was because the Technico was there, unofficial or not. We were doing some home surveys as a part of CU Peru's research (looking at the health and behaviors related to health of children five and under living in these villages) and suddenly the Technico comes out of the Health Post as we are walking by with Albelardo. He has a child who has cut himself with a machete. Okay. We go in to the health post and we have this 12 year old boy, who is just laying on the bed, and hes not even crying. He looks like he's in moderate pain. We get to see his foot... his ENTIRE pinky toe is gone. Like, the entire freaking thing. I can see a bone that has been sliced in half. Holy crap. Albelardo asks about the toe and guess what Mom has? She has the freakin toe is a veggie bag in her pocket! Its all cleaned up, they apparently thought of cleaning it however hes from the neighbor village, another one Conapaq never went to, so its likely it has been cleaned in the wonderfully bacteria ridden water of the river. Anyhow, its in one of those bags like you'd use to put a head of lettuce in while at the grocery store. Story goes, Mom and Dad were outside with the machete, probably cutting the grass, and they ask their son to put the machete in the house. Even after 4-5 repeats to put it away, he keeps swinging it around and bam, cuts off his damn toe. Wasn't wearing shoes either so we used it as a teaching opportunity too (since wearing shoes is something we are stressing).
Due to their limited resources, Jason jumped into action. He got his first aid kit while Beth got her Ibuprophen (the only thing we had available). We gave him one pill and after the wound was cleaned with water (only slight whimpers from this guy), it was cleaned with iodine (and now he's screaming, poor kid). They wrapped it up with Jason's ace bandage and sent him on his way. He actually went home, which we didn't learn until later, but upon follow up (we went to his village essentially to make him go to the doctor) we found out that the promoter of that village had already taken him to the fully functional Health Post and he would be able to get antibiotics there. Crazy. Jason, in his last year of medical school, has never seen an amputation, so I'm going to take that as a sign that this may be a very unique experience I've had.
By the way, when you live in the jungle there is really only one major thing that you worry about. Snakes. There are four kinds that can be deadly if you don't have anti-venom available. So what they do is eliminate any tall grass (where the snakes hang out) by cutting the grass. Sure, makes total sense, right? Except for one thing... they dont have lawn mowers. Of course they don't, they live in the middle of the freakin jungle! So they take these incredibly sharp machetes (they would have to be!) and they hand cut it. Tons of it. I was blown away by the amount of area in the jungle that has no tall grass and only because these families go out and cut it down constantly. If they are doing it right, they use a stick to move the grass and check for snakes before cutting too, and they usually are wearing their botas which will protect their legs.
Okay back to what we were doing and living in the jungle as an outsider, haha. I did not, in fact, cut any grass with a machete, although interestingly enough, three of the groups did HAVE machetes while out in the villages. Jason had one for us. So the hammocks were amazing. A very comfortable night of sleep along with a great mosquito net and made me feel incredibly safe from the swarms. The food included a TON of rice, which while I got sick of it in Mazan I soon learned that I mostly just loved the rice. Good for your digestive tract (and keeping a regular schedule, if you know what I mean) but also, whatever they do to this rice is AMAZING. It tastes so incredible. I will definitely miss the rice. And plantains. We had these at about every meal. These are those green bananas you always see. When they fry them... oh man. To die for. I would eat so many of these when they were available.
Oh and in the villages there is livestock... everything you could find out in Calhan, CO. They have chickens and ducks and pigs and dogs and, you guessed it, cows. Mean cows, at least in Puinahua. You had to cross a cow pasture to get from our home to Albelardo's place, and one night Jason was 'pushed off a cliff'. The way he tells it sounds worse than what we finally came to learn, but Beth did see the cow literally come toward Jason and 'push' (still not quite sure if he actually had physical contact with the cow or not). Either way, they bothered both Beth and Jason, but every time I was around, the cows would literally just walk out of our way and leave us alone. It was the most bizarre thing! It was almost like they knew about my steer riding days (or just that one day where I rode a steer and ended up in the hospital, haha). Anyhow, finally toward the end of our time, one of the cows got sick of moving for me and started shaking his head (with its big horns) back and forth at me and stomping his feet. Scary when you are only three feet away! But this wasn't until after I was dubbed the Cow Whisperer and this became our group name (hence the title of this post!)
Besides the livestock we also got to see an Iguana. It was amazing. About the same size (around) at the cat that was stalking it, but three times as long (mostly because of its long tail, which is what the cat really wanted to get at). This was definitely the coolest thing I had seen in the wild. I have never seen such a huge reptile, and he was quick too! I would know, I tried to follow him to get a closer photo, haha.
After hanging out in Puinahua we made our way (once again by the slow moving peque) to Jauncho Playa where we worked with Leo and Never. Leo (maybe how you spell it, maybe not) is a female promoter. We learned from her that physical abuse is way more of a problem than we ever guessed, and even more so once alcohol gets involved (although who is really surprised about this? Anyone?) It was nice to get a different view of village life, and interesting to see the differences between the two. The drinking water, the latrines (which in order to promote health need to be made in a particular way so as not to pollute the ground where the animals eat and the children play), the schools (teachers actually showed up and taught in Jauncho Playa, not the case in Puinahua), and even just the people. The whole town would gather around and just shoot the shit with one another, late into the night, whereas in Puinahua we never saw anybody unless we were literally invited into their homes for the surveys. It felt a lot more like America there, where people kept to themselves, but this was not the case in Jauncho Playa, and I loved it.
The kids were the best. They LOVED the idea of digital cameras, taking a picture and then getting to actually see it after! I wish we had had a way to take photos and then leave them there (Polaroid style) with them. The food here was more variable and one night, no joke, I got chicken soup with a chicken uterus in it. A freaking uterus! Jason got the liver and Beth just got a regular old hard boiled egg, and I had a UTERUS. Gross. It freaked me out so I barely ate anything, I mean I certainly wasn't going to eat chicken uterus (although really it probably just tastes like meat, since it is all muscle, eww though haha). I ended up eating a lot of snacks, and maybe even a PBJ sandwich that night.
Lastly, in regards to living in the jungle for these two trips, we were 'showering' in the river, with only a bucket and a swimsuit. Which was awesome minus the incredibly cold water and the fact that when NOT bathing with a bucket, you might get bit in the armpit by a fish (no joke, this did happen to me!) It certainly makes you enjoy showers a little more, and then once home I was like, wait, what?! They make these things with hot water? Like, actual hot water? In fact, in Philly, I couldn't get the shower quite cold enough the first night back. It was just too warm! lol
And for now I bid you all goodbye, until the next time (probably in like an hour, haha) I decide to write about living in the jungle.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Airports & Such
I kept a day by day journal for my trip. I was going to blog the whole thing but really, what can you say thats entertaining and witty in 2 pages (small pages, this isnt a stupid spiral notebook here)? However, after I decided to condense the whole thing into much more exciting and hopefully at least somewhat hilarious posts, I let Mom read my journal and she especially wanted me to share the first couple of days because at that point, I was bored at the airport/on the planes and had some witty things to say. :) So here goes.
Day 1: 7/3/11
Got x-rayed at the airport. Apparently getting 27 hours of radiation in the next 23 days wasnt enough. Had a pony tail in my pocket with which I planned to overtake the plane with, but they caught me and had to pat down my right pocket. They didnt take it away from me though. And I live to see another day.
I'm entirely on edge. Couldnt find my camera awhile ago and freaked about it. Luckily I had tucked it way into my jacket, likely to protect it (from all the dictionaries, I wonder?) I never made time to put music on my iTouch and also packed the charger like an idiot. Tomorrow will be a very long day. Possibly no music, or when I do have it, it will be repetitive, for 8 hours of airport enjoyment. I have two books plus all the Spanish I could ever want to know. (3 dictionaries: Medical, General & Phrases).
PS - Checking in there were some guys who seemed intrigued by the backpack (weighing in at 29 lbs). One thing I do miss about CO is the boys. :/
Day 2: 7/4/11
Red eye flights suck. I find myself sleepless and sore on a foggy 4th of July morning. My insistence to avoid caffeine the past two weeks was irrelevant as I drank my Vanilla Latte upon arrival. I managed to read Tess Gerritsen's entire book Bloodstream, which is now a forgotten item at the Newark Airport.
As the fog decides to lift, I can see NYC across the river. I thought I had seen the tops of a few of the buildings from the plane, I guess I was right! I definitely have to make a better effort to come back to NYC and visit.
Its funny, being stuck in an airport for 8 hours. It makes you finally understand movies when they talk about walking up to the departure board and picking a random destination. Bermuda just loaded. After me is Germany. Earlier I saw Shanghai board. Probably due to anxiety, I find myself longing to go to one of thes places instead. I guess that means I ought to halt the reading and study some Spanish instead? Ugh.
The child sitting behind me is driving me insane. When stretched out, his feet push against either my lower back or my butt. 8 hours of this?! It wouldnt be so bad if he was sitting still, but he does it, then stops, then does it, then stops. The people he is with don't give a damn. Some people's children!
In other news, apparently movies are free, so I'm now watching Hes just not that into you, my last run in with the industrialized world. While I study Spanish of course.
Finally landed and got through the airport. The delay in seeing my bag at the baggage claim forced me to believe it was lost somewhere in New Jersey, but it finally showed up. Diana is awesome as is Renzo, who Diana often works with. Jessica is here too, having missed her flight to Iquitos today. It's raining, which apparently never happens in Lima. Btw, Lima is huge! I didnt expect it to be so large. Drivers are a little crazy.
Well its midnight in Philly, so I will close my eyes and imagine fireworks going off. I wake up in 5 hours for my 630 am flight to Iquitos. Jess and I will be sharing a cab back to the airport, which is awesome.
Still freaked out about the Spanish. Jess is super easy going though so thats awesome. Apparently we will be eating a lot of chicken... and fish! My favorite! What did I tell you all? This summer is the best diet plan ever. Food I hate, lots of exercise, and diarrhea! Thats an automatic 5 pounds a week, right? ;) Ill have to remember to weigh in when I get home to let you all know if it works. "The miracle jungle diet, only $3000!' lol Lovely.
Well I'm not just here for the diet but for the jungle and the people too, so I ought to get some sleep so I can be alert tomorrow. Cheers!
Day 3: 7/5/11
What an interesting day! The early wake up was terrible, I could have used about 4 more hours. Then I take my flight and got to see some amazing mountains and the Nanay River. Jess ended up flying in on the next flight w/ Jason... which was delayed for two hours!
So I met Pablo. He does jungle tours, but not 'the stupid touristy ones with the fake Indians w/ makeup.' On his tours you see 'the real jungle.' He was very entertaining. His friend, mistaking my miserable Spanish for no Spanish, had a conversation which included the words bonita and prometedor ... yea not looking for any engagements this summer! (Assuming that is what he meant). He kept talking about my blue eyes.
Once they finally arrived, we took Pablo's other friend's mototaxi/motokar. Interesting! The driving is fairly rule-less but they do stop at red lights. Its incredibly dangerous for pedestrians though, and I almost learned this the hard way. We got to Nativa Apartments and its wonderful! No hot water :/ but at least its nice. (Not in journal here... turns out you can turn on the water in the rooms individually, so we did have luke warm showers after that first day).
Everyone has been incredibly welcoming, which is great. I was so nervous. We have a couple people with little Spanish, but having been identified earlier, they were given less responsibility than me. I also offered up my camera and 8 gig card for filming :( But! This is only for 4 days and Dr. Amstet (sp?) is going to transfer everything to his computer, so I can have my 8 gig card for the rest of the trip.
So Iquitos... wow. One word. Poverty. Another word. Chaotic. Everyone calls it noisy but they all live in CO. None of them in Philly, I feel right at home! lol Anyhow, buildings are in complete disarray, the streets are filthy, its all very impoverished. Many places have 3/4 walls, which is interesting. I haven't seen much jungle, like its not around how I pictured it. Maybe if I go to the boat docks tomorrow I'll see it better.
----
And thats all she wrote folks! Lol. I know. I think I'm clever.
Day 1: 7/3/11
Got x-rayed at the airport. Apparently getting 27 hours of radiation in the next 23 days wasnt enough. Had a pony tail in my pocket with which I planned to overtake the plane with, but they caught me and had to pat down my right pocket. They didnt take it away from me though. And I live to see another day.
I'm entirely on edge. Couldnt find my camera awhile ago and freaked about it. Luckily I had tucked it way into my jacket, likely to protect it (from all the dictionaries, I wonder?) I never made time to put music on my iTouch and also packed the charger like an idiot. Tomorrow will be a very long day. Possibly no music, or when I do have it, it will be repetitive, for 8 hours of airport enjoyment. I have two books plus all the Spanish I could ever want to know. (3 dictionaries: Medical, General & Phrases).
PS - Checking in there were some guys who seemed intrigued by the backpack (weighing in at 29 lbs). One thing I do miss about CO is the boys. :/
Day 2: 7/4/11
Red eye flights suck. I find myself sleepless and sore on a foggy 4th of July morning. My insistence to avoid caffeine the past two weeks was irrelevant as I drank my Vanilla Latte upon arrival. I managed to read Tess Gerritsen's entire book Bloodstream, which is now a forgotten item at the Newark Airport.
As the fog decides to lift, I can see NYC across the river. I thought I had seen the tops of a few of the buildings from the plane, I guess I was right! I definitely have to make a better effort to come back to NYC and visit.
Its funny, being stuck in an airport for 8 hours. It makes you finally understand movies when they talk about walking up to the departure board and picking a random destination. Bermuda just loaded. After me is Germany. Earlier I saw Shanghai board. Probably due to anxiety, I find myself longing to go to one of thes places instead. I guess that means I ought to halt the reading and study some Spanish instead? Ugh.
The child sitting behind me is driving me insane. When stretched out, his feet push against either my lower back or my butt. 8 hours of this?! It wouldnt be so bad if he was sitting still, but he does it, then stops, then does it, then stops. The people he is with don't give a damn. Some people's children!
In other news, apparently movies are free, so I'm now watching Hes just not that into you, my last run in with the industrialized world. While I study Spanish of course.
Finally landed and got through the airport. The delay in seeing my bag at the baggage claim forced me to believe it was lost somewhere in New Jersey, but it finally showed up. Diana is awesome as is Renzo, who Diana often works with. Jessica is here too, having missed her flight to Iquitos today. It's raining, which apparently never happens in Lima. Btw, Lima is huge! I didnt expect it to be so large. Drivers are a little crazy.
Well its midnight in Philly, so I will close my eyes and imagine fireworks going off. I wake up in 5 hours for my 630 am flight to Iquitos. Jess and I will be sharing a cab back to the airport, which is awesome.
Still freaked out about the Spanish. Jess is super easy going though so thats awesome. Apparently we will be eating a lot of chicken... and fish! My favorite! What did I tell you all? This summer is the best diet plan ever. Food I hate, lots of exercise, and diarrhea! Thats an automatic 5 pounds a week, right? ;) Ill have to remember to weigh in when I get home to let you all know if it works. "The miracle jungle diet, only $3000!' lol Lovely.
Well I'm not just here for the diet but for the jungle and the people too, so I ought to get some sleep so I can be alert tomorrow. Cheers!
Day 3: 7/5/11
What an interesting day! The early wake up was terrible, I could have used about 4 more hours. Then I take my flight and got to see some amazing mountains and the Nanay River. Jess ended up flying in on the next flight w/ Jason... which was delayed for two hours!
So I met Pablo. He does jungle tours, but not 'the stupid touristy ones with the fake Indians w/ makeup.' On his tours you see 'the real jungle.' He was very entertaining. His friend, mistaking my miserable Spanish for no Spanish, had a conversation which included the words bonita and prometedor ... yea not looking for any engagements this summer! (Assuming that is what he meant). He kept talking about my blue eyes.
Once they finally arrived, we took Pablo's other friend's mototaxi/motokar. Interesting! The driving is fairly rule-less but they do stop at red lights. Its incredibly dangerous for pedestrians though, and I almost learned this the hard way. We got to Nativa Apartments and its wonderful! No hot water :/ but at least its nice. (Not in journal here... turns out you can turn on the water in the rooms individually, so we did have luke warm showers after that first day).
Everyone has been incredibly welcoming, which is great. I was so nervous. We have a couple people with little Spanish, but having been identified earlier, they were given less responsibility than me. I also offered up my camera and 8 gig card for filming :( But! This is only for 4 days and Dr. Amstet (sp?) is going to transfer everything to his computer, so I can have my 8 gig card for the rest of the trip.
So Iquitos... wow. One word. Poverty. Another word. Chaotic. Everyone calls it noisy but they all live in CO. None of them in Philly, I feel right at home! lol Anyhow, buildings are in complete disarray, the streets are filthy, its all very impoverished. Many places have 3/4 walls, which is interesting. I haven't seen much jungle, like its not around how I pictured it. Maybe if I go to the boat docks tomorrow I'll see it better.
----
And thats all she wrote folks! Lol. I know. I think I'm clever.
Monday, July 25, 2011
An Afterthought
So I´m going out of character tonight and I´m going to write about my afterthoughts on my trip before I´ve really given you guys some good blog posts about how its been up until now. Please forgive me. If it really bothers you, you can always close the tab and go on about your life as though this never happened.
Alright so where to begin. As of this morning, I really started to get sad about leaving. I was doing great, then the last two days I´ve been really excited to get away from the itchy legs and the lack of fresh veggies, but today I find myself in a spot of endearment for the area. I´m going to miss the Spanish speaking and forcing myself to have conversations with people just to improve. I find that I can easily form full sentences without much thought. Its great. I was writing in my journal the other day and many of the phrases I was thinking were coming out in Spanish BEFORE English. Tell me that´s not weird.
Guess what else? I´m actually going to miss the God awful Cumbia (sp??) music that kept me up for hours in Mazan as well as a couple of other areas (one particularly long night in Juancho Playa as well). Look it up. Not sure if you can find it, I´ll keep you posted about it once I get back because I have to share this with everyone hah.
I think some of the things I learned down here were insane. Like the total sexist attitudes that still exist here. Woman have so few rights! And girls get pregnant around 14 to 16, although luckily here they then marry their baby-daddy, but since they have no say and there really is no such thing as divorce, often times they get caught up in an abusive relatioship. Its so hard to see that happening and be so powerless to reach out and help. What is one stupid gringo going to do in the three days where she´s out of her element and incapable of fluidly communicating? Yea. Its a helpless situation for me to be in. Which brings us to other helpless situations, the poor pups here. I am too much of a doggie lover to be down here seeing all the dogs. They are in the worst shape sometimes. They are kind of like some farm animals in the states, they are there but nobody really gives a shit about them. I can´t count the number of dogs who were swarming in gnats because they had horrible gashes or ulcers on their skins that were just open. Okay enough of that talk, I won´t get any more in to it in case you all feel the same.
I learned a TON about the health system (or lack thereof) down here in the districts of Mazan and Amazonias. In the villages you go to a Promoter (although you dont have to) which is kind of like going to your 1st year med student daughter. She looks at you and goes, sure you´re sick, you need to see someone. Which means you have to get in your Pechae Pechae (boat) and travel to the village that has your clinic where there is a Technico. These guys are trained for 3 years, I think, after highschool. Depending which one you have, you may have a good chance at getting the right meds or you might not. If you are sick enough, the Technico refers you to the Doctor in Mazan. There is one Doctor.... for the entire area. Something like 5 or 6 thousand people if I remember correctly. You HAVE to be referred for your insurance to cover the cost, but for many villages the trip to the Technico is in the opposite direction of the Doctor, and the Doctor is often up to 6 hours away from your village in the first place. Plus many of the Technicos are proving to be somewhat worthless.
Our goal was to improve the conditions in individual communities by working with the Promoters in both prevention and in triage. We are going to try in the future to stress prevention more, now that we know that triage isn´t going to be overly useful if we are sending people to Health Posts where the Technico is clueless!
My future may or may not include working with one or two of the CU first year students on a woman´s health project during our 4th year down here. I really want to come back and do this, it just depends on how I can formulate something that will fit into my tight 4th year schedule. We´ll see. I would really love to come back and address these woman´s health issues. Diana has been doing some stuff with that too (she´s an RN who moved down here and started working with a handful of the villages on improving their health). Anyhow, any ideas are always appreciated although I think it will be hard for any outsiders to come up with something tangible since there is no good way for me to really explain to you the dynamic of woman in the community here.
Alright enough rambling for the night. Look forward to some more entertaining, and perhaps informational, posts when I return to the states. I fly back tomorrow... in Jersey at 533 am on the 27th.... so crazy!
Alright so where to begin. As of this morning, I really started to get sad about leaving. I was doing great, then the last two days I´ve been really excited to get away from the itchy legs and the lack of fresh veggies, but today I find myself in a spot of endearment for the area. I´m going to miss the Spanish speaking and forcing myself to have conversations with people just to improve. I find that I can easily form full sentences without much thought. Its great. I was writing in my journal the other day and many of the phrases I was thinking were coming out in Spanish BEFORE English. Tell me that´s not weird.
Guess what else? I´m actually going to miss the God awful Cumbia (sp??) music that kept me up for hours in Mazan as well as a couple of other areas (one particularly long night in Juancho Playa as well). Look it up. Not sure if you can find it, I´ll keep you posted about it once I get back because I have to share this with everyone hah.
I think some of the things I learned down here were insane. Like the total sexist attitudes that still exist here. Woman have so few rights! And girls get pregnant around 14 to 16, although luckily here they then marry their baby-daddy, but since they have no say and there really is no such thing as divorce, often times they get caught up in an abusive relatioship. Its so hard to see that happening and be so powerless to reach out and help. What is one stupid gringo going to do in the three days where she´s out of her element and incapable of fluidly communicating? Yea. Its a helpless situation for me to be in. Which brings us to other helpless situations, the poor pups here. I am too much of a doggie lover to be down here seeing all the dogs. They are in the worst shape sometimes. They are kind of like some farm animals in the states, they are there but nobody really gives a shit about them. I can´t count the number of dogs who were swarming in gnats because they had horrible gashes or ulcers on their skins that were just open. Okay enough of that talk, I won´t get any more in to it in case you all feel the same.
I learned a TON about the health system (or lack thereof) down here in the districts of Mazan and Amazonias. In the villages you go to a Promoter (although you dont have to) which is kind of like going to your 1st year med student daughter. She looks at you and goes, sure you´re sick, you need to see someone. Which means you have to get in your Pechae Pechae (boat) and travel to the village that has your clinic where there is a Technico. These guys are trained for 3 years, I think, after highschool. Depending which one you have, you may have a good chance at getting the right meds or you might not. If you are sick enough, the Technico refers you to the Doctor in Mazan. There is one Doctor.... for the entire area. Something like 5 or 6 thousand people if I remember correctly. You HAVE to be referred for your insurance to cover the cost, but for many villages the trip to the Technico is in the opposite direction of the Doctor, and the Doctor is often up to 6 hours away from your village in the first place. Plus many of the Technicos are proving to be somewhat worthless.
Our goal was to improve the conditions in individual communities by working with the Promoters in both prevention and in triage. We are going to try in the future to stress prevention more, now that we know that triage isn´t going to be overly useful if we are sending people to Health Posts where the Technico is clueless!
My future may or may not include working with one or two of the CU first year students on a woman´s health project during our 4th year down here. I really want to come back and do this, it just depends on how I can formulate something that will fit into my tight 4th year schedule. We´ll see. I would really love to come back and address these woman´s health issues. Diana has been doing some stuff with that too (she´s an RN who moved down here and started working with a handful of the villages on improving their health). Anyhow, any ideas are always appreciated although I think it will be hard for any outsiders to come up with something tangible since there is no good way for me to really explain to you the dynamic of woman in the community here.
Alright enough rambling for the night. Look forward to some more entertaining, and perhaps informational, posts when I return to the states. I fly back tomorrow... in Jersey at 533 am on the 27th.... so crazy!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Mazan Training - 7/7 to 7/10
If I were to describe the training we did in Mazan in one word it
would be Phenomenal. One member of the Llchapa group called his
Powerful. I think both of these accurately describe the events that
took place over the last four days.
Upon arrival to the trainings, the health promoters from the District
of Mazan were introduced to one another and had a chance to play some
ice breakers where it became evident, not just to the CU students but
also to the other promoters, that we were all surrounded by some very
diverse and interesting individuals. For the entire afternoon and on
through the evening, everyone was very upbeat and eager for the
trainings.
The second day began with a pre-test which assessed a variety of
health promotion and triage skills including checking vital signs,
diagnosing diarrhea and treating dehydration. It soon became clear to
the group that we may be in over our heads. Many of the promoters had
never used a stethoscope before, and had trouble understanding the
difference between pulse and respiration. During the next two days the
student facilitatorsspent every training hour working in small groups
with the promoters to give them the knowledge that they needed in
order to utilize vital signs for diagnostic purposes. It was not until
the post-test that we were able to see exactly how well the trainings
had gone. The results are astounding. The overwhelming improvements in
knowledge in just two days of trainings were, in my opinion,
incredibly unexpected.
I think the best part of the trainings was the attitude that the
promoters held throughout the entire process. They came with an
incredibly intense eagerness to learn. And it wasn’t just learning
that they came to do, it was teaching too. There were so many
promoters who took the time to teach what they had learned in the
past, either in their own communities or at previous trainings, to the
other promoters who had less experience. Not only were they willing to
teach one another, they were very receptive about teaching the CU
students as well. My group in particular was especially helpful at
expanding my vocabulary and improving my accent. I knew I would learn
the language more easily once I was fully immersed, but I never
imagined it would go as far as five individuals who genuinely were
interested in helping me do it.
Another aspect that came from their attitude at the trainings was
their collegiality with one another. Never once did I see the typical
students who nobody wanted to hear from, or who never had a chance to
speak up. They all remained respectful, friendly and even caring of
each other. One of CU Peru’s goals was to help form a network among
the promoters and it was evident that these trainings did exactly
that. Each one of them was polite and relaxed, and part of this was
that many of them were downright funny.
I don’t think I have ever worked with a group of individuals who were
more grateful than these promoters. Many of them had to travel for up
to six hours to get to the trainings. It was clear that they came
because they wanted to be there, in fact they were missing four days
from work to come, but on top of that they were also unbelievably
appreciative that we had come. The value that they placed on the tools
we had given them was also an amazing spectacle. They would take
special care of their stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and
thermometers, to the extent that almost across the board, the
promoters would disassemble their stethoscopes and place each part in
their respective plastic bags before putting them back into their
satchels.
The last day, at least for me, was the most emotional. I had formed my
own network among my group members, and among some of the other
promoters who I had close contact with, and it was hard to bid my
goodbyes. The value of tools and the gratitude that the promoters had
also came out during the closing ceremony. Each promoter is given a
certificate that indicates they had attended the CU Peru training, and
with those in hand, all of them went from student to student, thanking
us and giving both hugs and handshakes. Many of them requested
pictures of their group with their group leaders, and with their new
friends. It was certainly a moving event.
One last thing of note is that the mayor of the District of Mazan, Dr.
Edward Reátegui Salas, went out of his way to visit not only the
training in Mazan, but also the training in Llachapa, to say a few
things to the promoters. This said to me that not only did the
promoters value our presence in Peru, but the mayor did as well. In
addition, he obviously respected that the promoters had come to learn
as well.
To sum it all up I would use two words. Phenomenal & Powerful.
would be Phenomenal. One member of the Llchapa group called his
Powerful. I think both of these accurately describe the events that
took place over the last four days.
Upon arrival to the trainings, the health promoters from the District
of Mazan were introduced to one another and had a chance to play some
ice breakers where it became evident, not just to the CU students but
also to the other promoters, that we were all surrounded by some very
diverse and interesting individuals. For the entire afternoon and on
through the evening, everyone was very upbeat and eager for the
trainings.
The second day began with a pre-test which assessed a variety of
health promotion and triage skills including checking vital signs,
diagnosing diarrhea and treating dehydration. It soon became clear to
the group that we may be in over our heads. Many of the promoters had
never used a stethoscope before, and had trouble understanding the
difference between pulse and respiration. During the next two days the
student facilitatorsspent every training hour working in small groups
with the promoters to give them the knowledge that they needed in
order to utilize vital signs for diagnostic purposes. It was not until
the post-test that we were able to see exactly how well the trainings
had gone. The results are astounding. The overwhelming improvements in
knowledge in just two days of trainings were, in my opinion,
incredibly unexpected.
I think the best part of the trainings was the attitude that the
promoters held throughout the entire process. They came with an
incredibly intense eagerness to learn. And it wasn’t just learning
that they came to do, it was teaching too. There were so many
promoters who took the time to teach what they had learned in the
past, either in their own communities or at previous trainings, to the
other promoters who had less experience. Not only were they willing to
teach one another, they were very receptive about teaching the CU
students as well. My group in particular was especially helpful at
expanding my vocabulary and improving my accent. I knew I would learn
the language more easily once I was fully immersed, but I never
imagined it would go as far as five individuals who genuinely were
interested in helping me do it.
Another aspect that came from their attitude at the trainings was
their collegiality with one another. Never once did I see the typical
students who nobody wanted to hear from, or who never had a chance to
speak up. They all remained respectful, friendly and even caring of
each other. One of CU Peru’s goals was to help form a network among
the promoters and it was evident that these trainings did exactly
that. Each one of them was polite and relaxed, and part of this was
that many of them were downright funny.
I don’t think I have ever worked with a group of individuals who were
more grateful than these promoters. Many of them had to travel for up
to six hours to get to the trainings. It was clear that they came
because they wanted to be there, in fact they were missing four days
from work to come, but on top of that they were also unbelievably
appreciative that we had come. The value that they placed on the tools
we had given them was also an amazing spectacle. They would take
special care of their stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and
thermometers, to the extent that almost across the board, the
promoters would disassemble their stethoscopes and place each part in
their respective plastic bags before putting them back into their
satchels.
The last day, at least for me, was the most emotional. I had formed my
own network among my group members, and among some of the other
promoters who I had close contact with, and it was hard to bid my
goodbyes. The value of tools and the gratitude that the promoters had
also came out during the closing ceremony. Each promoter is given a
certificate that indicates they had attended the CU Peru training, and
with those in hand, all of them went from student to student, thanking
us and giving both hugs and handshakes. Many of them requested
pictures of their group with their group leaders, and with their new
friends. It was certainly a moving event.
One last thing of note is that the mayor of the District of Mazan, Dr.
Edward Reátegui Salas, went out of his way to visit not only the
training in Mazan, but also the training in Llachapa, to say a few
things to the promoters. This said to me that not only did the
promoters value our presence in Peru, but the mayor did as well. In
addition, he obviously respected that the promoters had come to learn
as well.
To sum it all up I would use two words. Phenomenal & Powerful.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
23 Days Without Electricity, Showers & My Mutt
Assuming the old scale in the bathroom isn't lying to me, I will be carrying 26 pounds of 821 dollars worth of crap on my back for 23 days in the jungle. You may think, well 26 pounds is not that bad! Which is exactly what I think. My pack is durable and fits exactly as it should, so carrying the weight around, at least up and down the three stairs to the living room, has not been a problem thus far. What in the world cost me $821 though? I'm sure you're curious. Let me just tell you this... the price includes seven shirts, two pairs of pants and two pairs of capris. And that's it folks! Lucky for me, underware and socks are much smaller and lighter, so I am able to take two weeks worth. I have been promised by the CU students that we will be leaving the jungle once during our trip to 'escape the mosquitoes' and during this escape, we will have a chance to launder our clothes.*Sign of relief.
Oh! I can not forget to tell you all the most interesting thing. CU students decided that it would be pretty cool if they let me know what in the hell we are doing while we are there! Isn't that awesome? It goes like this, four days of teaching how to take vital signs and how to diagnose and determine the level of severity of someone's diarrhea. Think of it as a camp for all the caregivers from every village. Dehydration kills, turns out. And after that its all up in the air! Small groups will fan out to all the different communities to asses which medical aspects the villagers are lacking in and teach them some key points to help them out. Which sounds great and all, except for the tiny little minute fact that this is something I can not even begin to prepare for! I had better improve my medical Spanish, and fast! Oh yea, and maybe learn some medicine too. Side note, CU sent me an email that said 'you will most likely be one of the group leaders'.... YIKES! I emailed them back with the longer version of 'thanks but no thanks'. I kind of wonder if they have confused me with an upperclassman?
So I've pretty much run out of witty things to say. I leave this Sunday night at midnight (well, 11:59 pm to be exact, I'm sure they do that so people don't get confused and show up at the airport on the wrong midnight). I get to enjoy the comforts of Newark Liberty International Airport in Jersey for a lovely 8 hours on Monday... which as I mentioned before is also our Independence Day. You think they'll let me light some fireworks? Yea, me neither.
Well, that's all until after my trip (or MAYBE an update while I'm in Iquitos mid-trip). And as my brother would say:
Take it easy. And if it's easy, take it twice.
Oh! I can not forget to tell you all the most interesting thing. CU students decided that it would be pretty cool if they let me know what in the hell we are doing while we are there! Isn't that awesome? It goes like this, four days of teaching how to take vital signs and how to diagnose and determine the level of severity of someone's diarrhea. Think of it as a camp for all the caregivers from every village. Dehydration kills, turns out. And after that its all up in the air! Small groups will fan out to all the different communities to asses which medical aspects the villagers are lacking in and teach them some key points to help them out. Which sounds great and all, except for the tiny little minute fact that this is something I can not even begin to prepare for! I had better improve my medical Spanish, and fast! Oh yea, and maybe learn some medicine too. Side note, CU sent me an email that said 'you will most likely be one of the group leaders'.... YIKES! I emailed them back with the longer version of 'thanks but no thanks'. I kind of wonder if they have confused me with an upperclassman?
So I've pretty much run out of witty things to say. I leave this Sunday night at midnight (well, 11:59 pm to be exact, I'm sure they do that so people don't get confused and show up at the airport on the wrong midnight). I get to enjoy the comforts of Newark Liberty International Airport in Jersey for a lovely 8 hours on Monday... which as I mentioned before is also our Independence Day. You think they'll let me light some fireworks? Yea, me neither.
Well, that's all until after my trip (or MAYBE an update while I'm in Iquitos mid-trip). And as my brother would say:
Take it easy. And if it's easy, take it twice.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
An Introduction: Anxiety, Cancer, Espanol and Malaria
I’m not quite sure yet what it is. It could just be that I’m nervous and anxious and entirely out of my element right now. There’s something that’s making me sick, with fever and sweats and a searing headache. I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong because I have absolutely no idea what could be wrong. Which just goes to show how little I know about being a doctor so far. If I can’t even figure out what’s going on in my own system, how in the world am I going to figure out what’s going on in yours? Forgive me, though, I’ve gotten away with myself again. I tend to do that when I’m exhausted and have so much to say in so little time.
It all begins with a dream, a dream that I had as a little girl. Cure cancer. And I was going to do it from a hut in the jungle, if you can imagine that. I was smart enough to know that drugs and cures came from the exotic plants in the jungle. I was intrigued by the jungle too. All those shows you see about people doing cool shit in the jungle. I guess that’s where I got it. Humungous bugs and alligators and tarantulas. Such interesting stuff. Then I got in to medical school and found a way to finally get to the jungle. Not to cure cancer mind you. That dream is gone, along with the incredible nature of cancer which is not, in fact, a singularly curable disease. Calling it cancer is entirely wrong in the first place. There are so many different types which have so many different features. But I digress.
The hardest part about this whole trip is the language barrier. I want to learn Spanish. And I’ve always wanted to improve my Spanish. Here I am, nearly fourteen hundred dollars deep in plane tickets to the middle of the jungle, and I have not a clue how I’m going to survive with what little Spanish I currently know. Which is stupid. So stupid. I should have been more careful. Okay sure, I’ve been relearning the language lately and am doing a pretty decent job. The problem is that my vocabulary is incredibly narrow. I need to expand, and soon. Like, oh I don’t know, maybe before I embark on this trip. This is my one chance to complete the dream I’ve always had. When in the future will I get to do anything as exciting as this? Maybe not until I’m old and decrepit and finally making enough money to start paying off loans, in which case I won’t be spending it to travel to exotic countries!
And that brings me to where I am now. Learning a language on my own, with the help of good ol Rosetta Stone. A good program really if you can get past the outrageous prices associated with it. That, an incredibly awesome website (http://studyspanish.com/lessons/regverb3.htm) and some really amazing people who work at my clinic. Oh, and some good old fashioned motivation would be nice. Just throw a teaspoon of each into the bowl and stir, and then maybe, just maybe, you’ll find yourself a courageous (or is it cocky) wanna-be hero, spending her summer in the depths of the jungle surrounded by exotic animals and plants galore!
You’ll soon find that this could be an incredibly interesting blog. It all depends on how this summer proceeds. The internetless atmosphere of the jungle will keep me from rambling online while I’m down in Peru, which may be a good thing. I’ll be journaling though, don’t you worry! When I return home, which involves a day of boats rides, two days of flying, a day of rest and two days of driving across the country, I will probably pass out and delay putting my journals onto the world wide web. But! After that time, I will eventually become less motivated to study, and will need to find something else to do to distract me. And it is at this time that I will likely inform you all of what it’s like to live in the jungle for a month, surrounded by students that you have never met, speaking a language that you barely know, practicing medicine that you are only mediocre at providing.
Lastly I will inform you all, in case you even had the slightest doubt, that carrying extra batteries and storage space will be a priority so that I can continue my role as paparazzi even as I trek through monsoons and avoid coming down with malaria. Keep me in your thoughts; I embark on July 3rd, arriving in South America on our Independence Day, which is of course entirely irrelevant to my trip. I will then return to society and good hygiene on July 27th, arriving back in Philly on the 30th, to start another rollercoaster adventure through the wondrous second year of medical school.
Adios!
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