Peru Fall 2019 (Part 1)
The GA2030 team of Roger and Rob are headed down the Amazon. They are traveling with Centura Health and the Global Health Initiative.
Roger and Rob arrived and hit the ground running after catching the red-eye flight to Iquitos. The day began with meeting with the Centura Health team and getting briefed on how the clinics would be set-up and run, getting supplies for the filter systems, and lastly meeting with the local Rotary Club and Conapac to discuss future partnerships.
The first two days the team went to the villages of San Rafael and Santa Rosa along the Amazon River. These days were spent assisting the medical team with set-up, preparing for our filter educational workshops, and lastly assisting with medical lab tests when Roger and Rob were available. A lot was learned from the communities about their current water gathering methods, the daily routines, and conditions of water towers.
After a couple days of research, they arrived at the village of Manati Zona I. Roger and Rob trained the medical residents and key community leaders how to build the filter systems using locally sourced buckets. The goal was to provide filters as an enhancement of the Family Health initiative. The filters provided an incentive to meet program requirements and grow a sense of earned ownership of the filter systems.
The following day, the team arrived at Iquique while word had traveled about the work our team was doing. The mayor of Indiana had requested that Roger and Rob present their work to the clinic and leaders of the town. It was a moving day as Roger stood below an outdoor waiting area he had helped construct several years prior. At this place, Roger had inquired about the number of patients and the reason people were lined up at the clinic—diarrhea and gastrointestinal issues. This is the place his journey began.
The final day on the river with the Centura Health team was spent with the medical residents Sinchicuy where Roger and Rob had an afternoon of laughs and building friendships. A total of sixty-five filters were delivered. A couple systems were built for the medical dorm and school, while the remaining filters would be used to promote the Family Health campaign in Sinchicuy.
It was a successful week. The lives of many families were impacted by our teams work. Our teams plan to monitor the usage and effectiveness over the coming year.
