Peru Intern Journal, June 21, 2011: Zenobia's first day at work

Zenobia Gonsalves, our MEDLIFE Media Intern in Lima, arrived in Peru midnight on Wednesday, June 15.  After one day of rest, she was ready to get to work -- on the final day of a 2-week MEDLIFE Mobile Clinic!  Here's how it went:

MEDLIFE performs tooth extractions,
cavity fillings, and teeth cleaning at
our Dentistry station.

Hey everyone! It’s Zenobia, one of MEDLIFE’s three summer interns in Peru. I arrived in Lima about a week ago and have been having an amazing time! My first official day on the job was the final day of a two-week Mobile Clinic here in Lima, and it was a jam-packed introduction to the world of MEDLIFE, definitely my favorite day of the internship so far.

I got to witness first-hand exactly what a MEDLIFE Mobile Clinic consists of and play an active role in bringing primary care services to Pamplona Alta, a shantytown located on the outskirts of Lima. My first glimpse of Pamplona was shocking, especially after driving through Miraflores – a wealthy district along Lima’s coastline – the day before. I couldn’t believe that thousands of people live in such poverty literally 4 or 5 miles away from upscale districts like Miraflores.

After arriving in Pamplona and setting up our Mobile Clinic facilities, participants split up into their assigned stations (patient education, pharmacy, shadowing a medical professional, laboratory, etc.).  I ended up jumping around from station to station, snapping pictures, taking everything in, and helping out where I could. After about seven hours of assisting doctors and dentists, testing patients’ blood glucose levels, providing medicine to patients, and building stairs in the steep valleys of Pamplona, we called it a day and spent some time playing with local children. We then took a tour of recently built MEDLIFE stairs in the area. 



MEDLIFE volunteers putting in some quality time

with the children of Pamplona.

  

Community leader of Torres de Minas, Pamplona Alta,
shares words of thanks with the Mobile Clinic volunteers.

Walking around Pamplona Alta was trying, to say the least. With the incredibly steep and treacherous dirt roads and lack of proper walkways, it’s not hard to appreciate the need for staircases in this area. The tour we took consisted of visits to stairs recently built by MEDLIFE for various communities in Pamplona. The highlight of my day was interacting with members of each community who came out to show their thanks and appreciation for all the stairs constructed by MEDLIFE. In each staircase project, MEDLIFE participants worked alongside community members, and you could tell that the locals really appreciated the opportunity to spend time with our group.  The completion of each set of stairs was celebrated with the breaking of a champagne or beer bottle at each site, followed by Pamplona residents offering MEDLIFE snacks to our volunteers, usually soda and saltines with jam or butter.  One community even prepared a traditional dish, carapulcra, which is a stew of potatoes, beans, and chicken!  Some community leaders gave heartfelt speeches thanking MEDLIFE for the funds and effort contributed to create safer environments for their children.

 

How did we "inaugurate" each staircase?
By throwing rocks at hanging bottles of
champagne, of course!  Bon voyage,
MEDLIFE Staircase!

My first day at the mobile clinic was an incredibly eye-opening experience. Not only did it teach me to be thankful for all I have, it allowed me to actively take part in a greater effort in bringing sustainable health care to the poor. I’m really excited about my future work with MEDLIFE and my time here in Peru! Tomorrow, Minnie (another intern in Lima) and I will be conducting patient follow-up visits with Carlos and Ruth, two MEDLIFE employees here in Peru. Check the blog within the next few days for an update on that! For now, take care!

Thanks, Zenobia!  As a Media Intern, Zenobia will be responsible for capturing photos and video of our work in Lima.  Keep an eye out for future photo- and video-journalism posts in the coming weeks!