Peru, February 2008

This past February, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru with The Hope Alliance on a medical humanitarian expedition. We flew into Lima and from there took a bus 12 hrs south to Nazca. There we did three days in the operating room and one day in clinic in a neighboring village. After working we were able to have a few days of relaxation in Cuzco and Machu Picchu.


A village in the Desert on the way to Nazca. The desert was so bare that it looked just like the moon in some parts and you wonder how people survive.

The city of Nazca. It was in a valley below the desert, it was amazing what a little water could do. Lots of farms and orchards. The Hospital in Nazca where we operated.

Pre-Op. My mom and I getting two patients ready for hernia repairs. Notice, no gloves... and we were re-using IV tubing. Patients were required to bring their own linens, medications, sometimes operative supplies, food, and a family member to care for them after surgery. I was blown away, the things that I take for granted!

The Operating Room. Our surgeons performed the first ever laparoscopic procedures in this hospital. The local nurses were pretty freaked out. We did about six surgeries a day for three days and normally they have about one surgery a week. As you can tell the operating room isn't well equipped to perform major surgery. This being said, people still die from ruptured appendixes because the doctor's simply do not feel like working, again the things we take for granted!!

In Clinic. Mom and I were in charge of the pediatric clinic. We saw many kids, most with strep throat and bad ears. As we would see patients we would write prescriptions and then the people would take them down the hall to the pharmacy to have them filled. It took a couple of times to figure out how to say and write in spanish..."take one pill twice a day with food" But thanks to a great interpretor we survived!

Waiting in line at clinic. They heard we were coming and were lined up waiting when we got there. For awhile it felt like the line would never get shorter. Eight hours later it did and we were able to see everyone that came.



Cuzco. It was so beautiful, but at 11,000 feet above sea level you had to take it pretty easy. We found that the coco tea and peppermint lifesavers worked the best to ward off altitude sickness.

Kids are cute no matter where you go!