Navidad and Casas and 2012

Well as 2011 wraps up, I'm just here packing a bag to go home for the holidays!  Before leaving though, some things needed changing.  Like casas.  I moved from something like the Soho of Trujillo, to something more like the Bronx (you know, sketchy but up and coming).  If you've ever visited us, surely you remember Senora Nila who has worked in the clinic since its foundation.  She's offered me a room at her place in a much closer neighborhood to the clinic and right across the street from where two of our obstetricians live.  As a new Christian, Nila returned from Argentina to her home town of Trujillo after her husband died of cancer in 1997.  Shortly after, she became a grandmother and then, at age fifty something, went to school to become a licensed vocational nurse.  It's obvious that she loves working at the clinic where she can use her gifts to care for the sick and also share the gospel freely.
Speaking of medical ministry, we would appreciate prayer as we go through some growing pains.  I was sure that when our missionary doctor left not many patients would continue to come, especially since we haven't had any medical campaigns in quite a while.  On the contrary, there has continued to be a rapid increase in new and returning patients every week!  This encourages us that God will keep things going strong even after our dear Dr. Julton leaves in January to specialize in surgical medicine in the United States.  Julton's plan is to return to Peru after a few years and teach surgery in the mission's hospital!  We are all so excited for him.  We have already found one new Christian general practitioner and are one the search for a few more.  Peruvian or American.  Know any?  Please pray that God brings us good, caring doctors who share our vision and help us spread the gospel through medicine.  We also are praying for wisdom that we manage our finances wisely and in obedience to the law of the land, while still being able to help those who cannot afford even our affordable care.  The trouble is that we want to help everyone but still have many taxes and  of course need to pay our Peruvian employees.  As all donations these days are being used to build the hospital, we are now running  mainly on patient revenue.  This transition has been a bit rocky but we trust that the Lord will bless our work that we are doing all for Him.
Thanks to my family, Trinity Church, Grace Reformed Church and a few other individuals, I am blessed to say that I will also be able to return to Peru in January 2012.  Huzzah!  I'm super excited that the medical team administrator is set to return to Trujillo shortly after me!  I have lots of ideas to share with him and can't wait to hear his too.  Next time I hope to tell you more about that!

Scared

She refused to go any health care establishment.  With reason too.  Those places are scary and often times chaotic, especially for one who lives a simple life in an underdeveloped project in Peru.  "But they're Christians," her grandson persuaded.  By the time this Peruvian woman arrived to our clinic and was awaiting her turn to have an ultrasound, her pain became unbearable.  Terrified to speak, she began moaning and writhing and hyperventilating.  I was sure it was a medical emergency, but upon assessment, I couldn't find anything to be abnormal (besides the pain).  She couldn't answer any of my questions.  Her grandson felt useless.  I called Dr, Julton who could find no reason for alarm but showed concern anyhow.  Pastor Percy jumped right in to help do what he does best.  Willing to receive prayer, she quietly nodded and awaited the petition to be spoken.  Her grandson became speechless as we all gathered around her and bowed our heads.  Nurse Nila held her hand after, until it was her turn for the ultrasound.  Then Dr. Julton  during the exam.  Turned out to be Kidney stones.  Not life threatening, but extremely painful.  They left with medication and a smile.

No pictures or words can do justice.

That's why it's so special to receive visitors from home who can experience life in Peru for themselves!  In September, Anna Garaway, a friend from Santa Cruz, California came and brought some much needed medicine donated by Dr. Karl Johsens.  She helped the mission move offices and did random jobs in the clinic such as entertaining children and arranging supplies.  She also accompanied me to a few beaches in Northern Peru that I had been dying to check out....

...including the one that's known for its realllly long waves.

 We helped cook for a couples dinner at the Manuel Arevalo Presbyterian church (planted by Peru Mission, and situated right next to the yet-to-be-completed Missional Hospital).  It was to honor married couples, a much need encouragement as marriage here is often considered an inconvenient and expensive nicety rather than well, biblical.  Statistics show that only 28.6% of Peruvians are married while 24.6% live with their partner out of wedlock.  There are even sectors of Peru where couple are not allowed to marry until they have lived together four years!  Pastor Wes Baker spoke at the event and did a fantastic job.

Just a few days after Anna moved on from Peru to Costa Rica, I went to pick up my dad in Lima!  Within just a few hours of being in Peru, he commented, with his Lebanese accent, "This place is so backwards, pretty much like where I grew up."  First, we flew to Cusco, did the city tour, and I got altitude sickness.  The next day we took the Peru Rail to Aguas Calientes and hiked the Inka Trail!  Well only a small fraction of it.  Next time I would like to hike the whole thing.

Money Shot from the not-so-lost-city of Machu Picchu.
That night I marinated in the mineral baths while dad enjoyed cable and wifi in the hotel room.  Then we bumped into each other in the main square and watched little Peruvian Harry Potters, princesses, spidermen and pirates chanting "Halloween!  Halloween!  Halloween!" through the streets as they searched for candy.  The next day we toured the Sacred Valley which was absolutely beautiful.   

The architecture of ruins like that of this Inkan fortress town called Ollantaytambo (on the way to Machu Picchu) inspired me to draw up in my head my dream-house made of big stones that fit just like puzzle pieces, while we road back to Cusco.

 

We had a blast eating like royalty, stocking up on handmade baby alpaca things, meeting all kinds of fun and interesting people from all over the world, and then running into them again in the markets and at the ruins and restaurants and train stations.

  After all the fun I brought my dad back to Trujillo to see Peru Mission and where I live and what I do.  The comparisons to where he group were innumerable.  We celebrated his 64th birthday and he made a Middle-East feast for my friends who in turn made frozen limeade and taught him how to salsa.  In the clinic, he painted some much needed signs for us.  The adventure of buying the paint and brushes was a fun one that I'm sure he would love to tell you about some time over a cup of Peruvian tea.

Cajamarca!

Sorry about the lack of updates as of late.  For all it's worth, I blame it on my ancient laptop that I'm too cheap to replace, lack of internet (too cheap for that too) and a very un-user-friendly blogging program.  Anywho, let's cut to the chase shall we...

Every year, since the beginnings of Peru Mission, a medical team comes from First Presbyterian church of Jackson Mississippi to Cajamarca (a beautiful but very underdeveloped city of about 217,000 people in the Northern Andes Mountains) for a week-long campaign.  This year I got to come too, along with our Peruvian doctor from the clinic in Trujillo and some other missionaries.  What a hardworking and dedicated group they were! The team included two OB/GYN's, a pediatrician, surgeon, dermatologist, two triage nurses, 5 dentists, a med student, and two medical defense attorneys and a CPA who just like to get their hands dirty. 

The first day we saw patients in Jesús, a small and even more underdeveloped town about an hour outside of the city.  They gave us the use of the government clinic for the day!  The pic above is of the team at the welcoming ceremony held in the city hall of Jesús, held just before we started seeing patients. 

 

Just about everyone in town showed up for free health care.  Anxiety was a bit high as I was assigned to translate for the OB/GYN (the one subject I almost flunked out of in nursing school).  Thanks to all who were praying for me, it all went really well.  I learned a ton about the subject I am the most afraid of in medicine, tell a few ladies the good news that they were pregnant (some were not as excited as others) pray with them, and so on.  An amazing experience.   The rest of the days we worked in the city.

I always have to remember that some of these folks probably don't know what things such as a child-proof medication bottle is, or how to open it for that matter.

 These dentists brought all the equipment that you would see in their offices in Mississippi in portable wood boxes to perform root canals, fillings, extractions, pretty much everything.

Quite a few of the wives and children of the doctors and dentists came to do VBS with the children in town.  I'm always amazed at how language barriers won't stop some people from ministering to kids.

As always, it was fun to get a taste of Southern culture while hanging out with these gems.  Here, for example, after the morning Bible devotion, everyone is singing the Ole Miss alma mater with such allegiance.  Throughout the week they would tell me about the best Southern beaches to go to, the all the places to avoid, how great the churches are there, and so on.  One gal told me that when I talk, I sound just like someone she knows from Seattle.  Woot!   

We saw over 1,300 patients in five days.  They were all so tired after waiting in line, but still so grateful.  Now we pray that the souls whom we cared for physically will also be healed spiritually in the great aftereffects of such an event in their community in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Tell me more! Tell me more! (The Clinic Part 2)

   To hear about the humble beginings of this place makes me so excited for what is to come.  And it´s all happening relatively fast with the help from many churches in the states!  I need to find some before pictures from the other missionaries to share with you all.  It´s really mind blowing.
   Okay when I was telling you about the clinic before, we left off with triage.  Now after you are seen by our general practitioner or obstetrician, you might need to get a prescription filled.  No prob.

Our farmacia is growing daily and we pray one day to have an independent one next door to the clinic.

Or you might need to have some labs drawn.  Well just waltz upstairs and Kelvin can help you out with that.  The second floor was added not too long before I arrived.  The same folks who built it will most likely come and build a third floor soon!

Has it been a while since you´ve seen a dentist?  Dr. Angel and Kenedy will gladly have a look at your teeth for only three soles.  They can do cleanings, X-rays and fillings too.

The church across the street from the clinic has recently opened a little cafe where you can go for a tamal, papa relleno, baked good or a glass of freshly blended juice (all for s/1.00 each) and read a book from the library to brush up on your Spanish (or English).  Almost always you can hear some kind of music being practiced in the church classrooms not too far away and there´s a peaceful garden just outside where you can always find someone to chat with or just lay on the grass and enjoy the sun and fresh coastal air.  All of this has been built little by little by mission teams from the US. 

On the other side of town, in a sector of Trujillo called Manuel Arevalo, we bought a block of property a few years back.  On this property stands a new church that is thriving as of late and this.  We started building this rather huge clinic a few years ago with pledges that would fund it completely.  Well, shortly after the economic disaster of October 2008, the promised funds stopped coming in.  So here we are with a half-way constructed facility.  We refuse to give up though.  God certainly has his purposes for everything.  Dale Ellision is on furlough in the States right now raising funds in hopes that we can open by the end of the year.  I too am going back in June for two weeks in order to raise funds for me to stay and help with this new work!  This leads me to my first prayer request: that churches will team with me financially (and spiritually as some already have been) to keep me hear another year.  It´s hard work and far from friends and family, but I´m happy to be serving here while I can and think that it´s definitely too soon to go home.  Also, we are praying for the presidential elections that are soon to take place.  Everyone I talk to is kind of up in arms because both of the candidates have major ethical issues that are super concerning.  As I mentioned before one of them might even kick us Americans out for good (which would take a good while to enforce, but still).  He basically is a huge fan of communism, and has won the votes of the poor (which is kind of the majority) by promising them the moon.  So there you go, my prayer requests for the next few of months.  Thanks for reading.  Please keep in touch     
-Y

"Por el GRAN CAMBIO"

Just about every square inch of Peru has been decked with campaign paraphernalia over the past few months.  I even woke up one morning to find that the view from my office window had been completely blocked by a banner the size of Florida with one of the candidates for president smiling down at the street vendors in front.  Absolutely everyone was obligated to vote yesterday.  The punishment for not fulfilling that duty is that of being prohibited to leave the country or access your own bank account.  A little harsh no?   You vote in the town you were born in, unless you've changed residency, which would kind of make you a trader.

So it was a bit tricky getting a taxi and traffic was kind of terrible.

Not only have people been wearing all kinds of brightly colored advertisements, but the streets have been full of fireworks and music and dancers and balloons and floating lanterns.  This was only allowed up until a few days before the elections.

Last week this matchbox was set on my table when eating ceviche at the market next to the clinic.  I also scored a key chain that serves as a bottle opener.  A couple of the missionaries ordered beer with their dinners at a local restaurant a couple of nights before the elections.  A little while after serving it to them, the waitress came back and apologized that because of the 'dry law' (stating that alcohol can't be sold or served so many days before and during the elections) they were going to have to take the beers back.  Public meetings are also prohibited on election day, meaning most churches had to cancel their services. 

All my friends wanted this guy on the top left to win but he failed to make it to the top two.  The candidates who did make the top two will run again in a few weeks for the final presidential position.  I hear that one of them, if he wins, will probably boot us non-Peruvians out of the country.  Bluh.

Soles 4 Souls

 The other campaign I had the privilege of participating in recently was that of washing feet and giving out shoes. A team from Soles4Souls came to serve Trujillo with us, bringing approximately 1,500 pairs with them.  This was their second visit and surely not their last.  The team leader was Christian and fun to hang out with and share experiences of working abroad.  The team itself was super patient worked very hard and we had a great time serving with them.

          

Here's a happy face from our first of four locations, Peru Mission's Presbyterian church in Arevalo.

Washing feet and distributing shoes at the Wichanzao Presbyterian Church (right next to our clinic)

Parque Industrial is an impoverished sector of Trujillo where we hope to have a clinic in the future.  We often go to the church there for campaigns and this week was no exception.  In this pic you can see one of our pastors sizing one pair of feet as another walks out with some new tennies.

Nothing like a smile on the face of someone who so appreciates the love and simple gift of shoes that we were able to give on this two·day campaign.  Sorry I don´t have too many pics of thier sweet faces, but if you search on the other missionary blogs, I´m sure you´ll find better photos.  Many of them were still wearing the same shoes that were given them the last time Soles4Souls came!  One of the coolest things was when some of the folks from these neighborhoods recognized me from the clinic or previous campaigns. 


Praises:  God has continually blessed me with good health, great relationships, and financial means to this point.  I am so grateful!
Prayer requests:  That the people we reached might come to church and be more aware of the church's presence in their community.  For the clinic as it continues to grow and become well known in the Wichanzao sector of Trujillo, that we may show Christ in all that we do.

If You Build It, They Will Come!

We've had some really fun campaigns lately.  A medical team recently came with Independent Presbyterian Church from Memphis, Tennessee.  Every morning for a week they set up a day-long clinic in an under-served part of Trujillo to meet the medical needs of the community.  When we arrived to the different campaign sites every morning, it would appear as a ghost town.  Not a soul in site.  Just tumbleweeds and a wild dog or two sniffing piles of rubbage.  Then as we would begin to set up, people gathered around.  We brought a megaphone to go around announcing what we were doing in their neck of the woods and before we knew it, there were people everywhere.  The presence of a team gives us the opportunity to make many new contacts in these neighborhoods, and allows us to spread the word about the availability of our clinic in the Wichanzao sector of Trujillo. In addition, many people also get a taste of what our churches are like in the surrounding areas.  

Pastor Baker translating for the pediatric nurse practitioner.  

The pharmacist came prepared. 

The dentists cleaned and pulled a lot of teeth.

Everyone went home with new toothbrushes and toothpaste and floss!

The patients patiently lined up as they waited to be triaged.  A couple of the team members were devoted to playing with little ones as they waited.

Taking down chief complaints while a nurse from the team takes vitals signs.

This gentleman isn't a doctor.  He came to give away reading glasses!  He brings a huge box full for people to try on and then has them read the bible to see if it's the right fit.  Cool idea ya?


Trujillo is large and has many different neighborhoods.  Neighborhoods that I have been instructed not to explore on my own.  This campaign was a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the areas where we plan to build clinics in the future (and churches and schools etc).

Prayer requests: That the contacts we made through the medical campaigns would receive spiritual healing as well as physical healing.  For my health and safety as Trujillo is reportedly becoming more crime ridden and I am frequently coming into contact with people who have contagious diseases such as tuberculosis.


Things here are going really well.  Thank you all so much for your support.  Will try to keep the updates coming.  Until then... - Yvette

Otorrinolaringologo

We had an ENT doc come from the states....

His name is Dr. Berry and we had a blast learning from him.  He comes every year for a special ear, nose throat day at our clinic.. 

We announced it to the public ahead of time so there was great anticipation.

 

                  

We saw a lot of swollen tonsils (which he was a little dissapointed that he could not operate on), diagnosed some Mineir´s disease, seasonal allergies, deviated septums, benign paroxysmal vertigo, chronic otits media, TMJ, etc.  We cauterized some bleeding noses and inner cheek sores (aphtas they are called.  I always knew them as kanker sores). 
A new skill I´ve mastered, that of cleaning out the ears, was made easy by a new contraption Dr. Berry brought us which is basically just a spray bottle connected to a little tiny hose.  Once I got past the grossness of what was coming out of these poor folks´ears, it was instantly gratifying when my patients would say ¨I can HEAR now!¨ 

It was good to tag-team the translating with Dr. Joulton who is our full-time Peruvian MD.  He speaks English really well, but I was pretty still pretty useful with some translation.

 ¨Now what do you you think that is?¨ Doctor Berry would ask.  When we would give a wrong answer, he would respond with some cute southern sounding anecdote like ¨Now when you hammer, everything looks like a nail.¨

    In between patients Dr. Berry would tell us about his clinical trials he did for a new throat cancer drug in China, or about how he treated folks like Alison Krauss when he worked at a voice center in Nashville.  He convinced both Dr. Julton and I that we absolutely need to visit the south someday!

   Prayer requests:  We would love to have the capacity for guys like this to do surgeries.  We have some space (our church building next door) but the anastesiologist and equipment, not so much.  Sounds like a lot to ask, but it may be a reality pretty soon!  Will tell you about that next time.  Until then, thanks for reading.
                            -Yvette
 

Oh how I Wish You Were Here...

...so you could see for yourself.  But you´re not.  So I´m going to try and bring it to you

In the Wichenzao neighborhood of Trujillo, we have our clinic that was 
originally run in a little room of a church.  It´s now in its own two story 
building and eventually, God willing, will grow into a mini hospital.



We open our doors at 0800 and start the day with scripture and prayer, which our patients are more than welcome to join.  Today it´s Lydia´s turn to read.  She´s one of our interns that plans to go to med school after her year Peru.  Her Spanish is really good which has been a huge help to those of us mostly uni-linguals.



Then everyone forms a line to register and pay for whatever service they came for.  I´m proud to say that we are stinkin reasonable compared to what the other options are in town, not to mention what you would pay in the States.  7 soles for a medical or obstetric consult.  5 for a nebulizer treatment.  Just examples.

This is the room where we triage, administer injections, do ear irrigations, IV transfusions, wound treatments, etc.  It´s very open which can be a bit odd. At one time we could have one person getting nebulized, another their blood pressure taken while answering medical history questions, one being weighed, and yet another getting a shot in their rear.  You see the folding curtain on the left?  I was trying to use it one day when it was as busy as I just described in order to give an antibiotic privately.  My patient chuckled, said something along the lines of ´let´s just do this thing´ and pulled down her pants and bent over in front of everyone.  The other folks in the room were obviously in agreement so I didný protest.  We also have 3 rooms for the doctors to see  patients in more of a private setting.

I haven´t taken care of little kids since nursing school so this has been a fun change of pace.  I´ve also been learning to do new things like place stiches, nerve blocks, joint injections, etc.
Story: We had a gal with asthma come in who was basically going into respiratory distress as one of our nurses was trying to give her a neb treatment.  As anyone would be, our patient started freaking out due to her lack of air.  She felt claustrophobic with the mask on and this anxiety led to even worsening bronchospams, which doesn´t help the gas exchange at the alveolar level (where the oxygen actually transfers into the blood in the circulatory system).  I overheard the nurse saying that our gal needed to go to the hospital because we weren´t outfitted to treat her worsening condition.  Our patient started balling because she couldn´t afford that.  Again, this doesn´t help the respiratory distress. 

Our nurse immediately started praying with her as I snuck this snapshot.  Now do you see that oxygen tank behind them?  ¨Why isn´t our patient hooked up to that?¨  I asked.  ¨Because it´s empty and it´s for CO2.¨  Oh ok.  Huh?  Turns out this thing was ´converted´.  We bought it in Lima with O2 in it and the CO2 label covered up by a label saying ¨OXYGENO¨ and now when we go to fill it up, nobody will do it ¨...because this tank is engineered for carbon dioxide¨ they tell us.  Agravating....

So this leads me to my first prayer request.  In order to purchase the proper tank, we need to raise about $300 (American).  At least it´s cheap to fill up once we have it.  If you or anyone you know want to pitch in, let us know. 

Also, we need to find another full-time nurse to fill the shoes of ours (pictured above) who is getting married in October and moving to Lima.  Honestly I don´t know how we´re going to find someone as awesome as her.

Lastly, my Spanish skills could use a lot of prayer.  I´m translating for some medical campaigns in a few days and really don´t want to mess anything up.  Especially with the surgeons.  Could you imagen the damage that could be done?

Thanks for reading and there´s a lot more to tell so stay tuned. 

Need catching up?

 Alright, after living in the 'Emerald City' for almost 2 years I felt it was time to move on. Returned to the Golden State in spring where I spent time with family, old friends and made some new.  Heard about a Presbyterian mission that had a clinic in northern Peru, yada yada yada, off I went to learn Spanish.  Spent the fall (our fall, their spring) in the southern part of the country, headed back to the states for Christmas, and now here I am.  Arrived in Trujillo (northern Peru) on New Years Eve.  Reunited with the Ueltcheys (who I studied Spanish with in Arequipa and will work with in the clinic) at their new digs where I also met some of the other missionaries.  Went to the beach where we we saw a mostly drunken firework display at midnight, and then stopped by the church office for the non-drunken after party which I hear lasted until 5am.  I really think I'm going to love living here.  It'll be nice to be near the ocean again.  Can't wait to meet tons of new people, work in the medical ministry and be a part of taking over Peru for Christ, yeehaw!  Our mission has tons of other outreaches to the city including biweekly soccer games, free English classes daily, a paper company, a furniture company, a micro-financing program, three churches, plans for a school and more.  Even out and about it's so much easier to preach the gospel here than in the states.  Folks everywhere are more interested in engaging in conversations about life and death, God and man, sin and redemption, etc. They seem to be more conscious about the need to depend on something greater than themselves in contrast to what you find when chatting with your neighbor in the States.  Why is this you think?  Share your thoughts under comments if you like  :)
     My first impression of Trujillo is similar to Arequipa except for subtle differences like brighter colored buildings, more options for public transit, different word for menu, things like that.  I was advised to take the first week easy.  Didn't do it, now I'm pooped.  Will try harder this week.  Have a huge apartment to outfit for being hospitable.  It's really secure.  I have five keys and a watchman.  Already locked myself out twice (the stinkin doors lock automatically).  The second time, our watchman had to pull a spiderman and propel down into my third story window from the above apartment via a rope he dashed home to get on a little pink bike. The lady to who lives in this apartment was also there when I locked myself out the first time which was a little embarrassing but hey, now we're good friends.  Made the decision not to bring my laptop in hopes of reading more.  Pastor Wes says I'll be sending for it within weeks.  I think I can hold off as there is a place across the street from my apartment that only charges one sol per hour (35 cents) of internet/computer usage.  I apologize for the lack of pictures to go with this fascinating entry but I haven't had the courage to pull out my camera in public much in fear of it being stolen.  Anyhow, stay tuned for my next installment about the clinic!

View from my window