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