The Love for Peru Foundation
provides the opportunity for medical and dental
healthcare professionals to serve in poverty stricken
communities in Lima, Peru. We have been supported
in our work by generous donations from churches,
organizations such as The Smile Train, civic organizations,
and individuals. Each team member pays for his
own expenses, so that all money donated to the
Foundation can be used to help the people.
Existing Medical and Dental Infrastructure
The Love for Peru Foundation
takes medical, surgical and dental teams to work
in Lima and the surrounding communities. These
teams work in locations where their talents can
best be utilized. Primary care and dental clinics
are held in “marginal communities” on
the outskirts of Lima. For example, clinics have
been held in a rehabilitation center, bakery, and
at various schools. We have also had great success
in partnering with the local Catholic Church in
Huaycan, and running clinics in a true clinic building
on the church grounds. Team members always partner
and form a team with the Peruvian staff.
The Foundation has also established
a strong working relationship with three hospitals
in Lima. Hogar Clinica San Juan de Dios (St. John
of God Hospital) is a private pediatric referral
facility that specializes in plastic and orthopaedic
surgery. Our pediatric plastic surgery and orthopaedic
surgical teams are sent there to perform procedures
that might not otherwise be done. The hospital
has a national database of children who need various
operations, and work with us to arrange the cases.
Sadly, there are dozens of children awaiting surgery
because the families are unable to raise the $30
pre-op fee. Would you like to help? Donate
now...
Our surgical teams also work
with the National Cancer Hospital (INEN) in Lima,
sharing techniques in the latest treatment for
cancer surgery. We have been warmly welcomed there,
and have been very impressed with the staff's dedication
and capability.
Additionally, we work with the
local Huaycan Hospital. This small facility is
responsible for all the public health (TB treatment,
vaccinations, etc.), primary care, and urgent care
needs of a population of 150,000, many of whom
are the poorest of the poor. The hospital is staffed
with some dedicated, caring individuals, who simply
don't have the equipment necessary to fulfill the
needs of their patients. They have only one cardiac
defibrillator for the entire hospital and an x-ray
machine that is over 50 years old and barely functional.
There are not even enough gloves to be used routinely
during dressing changes! As we expand our work
at Huaycan Hospital, we see that we will have to
bring every bit of our own equipment, including
sutures and gloves, but the potential for helping
the people is incredible!
Medical/Pediatric Cases
The type of cases we see are
typical to that region: parasites, skin diseases,
gastrointestinal problems, infections, tuberculosis,
arthritis, asthma, anemia, and malnutrition. Likewise,
we see many cases of spinal bifida and cerebral
palsy, which are very likely to have malnutrition
as their etiology. More than that, we see people
who suffered problems such as strokes, or injuries
from industrial or vehicle accidents, (such as
fractures), who have become permanently disabled
for lack of aggressive treatment at the time of
the incident. If you break a leg, and the bones
are not lined back up for proper healing, you end
up unable to walk without crutches, or perhaps
are wheelchair-bound forever. This sort of thing
is rampant in a place where the social and medical “safety
net” doesn't exist, and people have no money
to pay for the medical care they need.
Medical Specialties Most Needed
We have been blessed with many
people who understand that paying their own way
to donate free health care in an impoverished area
is a joy. Starting in 2008, we will begin sending
at least two medical teams each year. One team
each year will concentrate on Surgical cases (Plastics
and Ortho), and the second team will be more Primary
Care oriented (Medicine, Pediatrics and Dentistry).
Medical Equipment Needs
Delivering health services in
poverty-stricken communities is difficult, at best.
For example, during the first medical trip, the
parish clinic had virtually no equipment; they
had an x-ray machine, but no film. They had some
lab equipment, but no reagents. We didn't see an
otoscope, ophthalmoscope, or blood pressure cuff
anywhere in the building. In the dental room, there
was virtually nothing but the chairs! Since then,
we have helped the parish clinic gain equipment
and supplies that enable them to treat the people
throughout the year.
At this time, we are gratefully
accepting donations of medical equipment, and storing
them safely until time to ship them to Peru.
What to expect from this humanitarian
trip?
To have a life changing experience.
To experience the enormous
gratitude and appreciation of truly needy
patients who welcome your presence.
To experience a cross-cultural
doctor-patient relationship.
To experience and appreciate
the practice of medicine and dentistry with
limited resources.
To treat the whole person
by speaking to the patient’s spiritual
needs as you treat him.
To develop long lasting friendships.
“The
best word I can use to describe it is overwhelming,”
said Dr. David Sanford, a pediatrician who made
his first mission trip with us in February 2006.
“The medical needs there are overwhelming,
but so is the gratitude and love you feel from the
people.”
In
you are interested to join our medical and dental
teams or would like additional information, kindly
please contact:
Dr. John L. Meade - Medical Director: jmeade@statdoc.com
Our friend Betsey
Child in need of surgery
Magali and Eric, another
hearing aid recipient
Meet Medalid
Medalid being fitted with
simple prosthetic leg
Medalid walks for the first
time
Dental team
Medical team takes time to
do home visit
Infected leg
Another child in need of
surgery
Providing a hearing aid to
little Pilar
Ronald with new hearing aid
Child awaiting surgery
"It
is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man
can sincerely
try to help another without helping himself." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
