NEWS from Alto Cayma, Arequipa, Peru

Report #5
March 20, 2008

Students:     Libby Godwin, Katelyn Stone, and Carol Walker

      This week we visited an elementary school here in Arequipa. This school is operated completely by the community with no help from the government. Most of the children who attend this school reside in other areas of Peru, such as Cusco and Punto. Many of their fathers still live in those cities and the children come to Arequipa to live with their grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other relatives. They chose to travel here for the educational and healthcare opportunities. One significant observation was that the children were well mannered and genuinely kind.  The 6th grade teacher showed us the classrooms of grades 1-6. We spent time talking to the 6th graders who amazed us with their maturity and intellect. When asked if they liked school all responded, without hesitation, YES! Then we asked them why they liked it and they answered, “to learn how to be good children,” “to respect older people,” “to get a good education,” and “to become professionals.” We could not believe their answers, especially with no prompting from the teacher. The instructors teach the children important aspects of health, such as hand washing and brushing their teeth.  Visiting a school gave us the opportunity to observe one additional feature of the culture.

      Today we had one of the most enlightening experiences of the trip. Thanks to Father Alex’s kindness we had the unique opportunity to tour one of the local public hospitals. For a few of us this was the second trip we had made to the hospital, but this visit was more in depth and informative.  Because there are significant differences in the hospital in Arequipa and those we see in the United States the visit was one of the most culturally awakening of the trip. Having been built in the early 1900’s, this hospital is the oldest in Arequipa. To give a general picture, the hospital is centered around a courtyard with five separate buildings surrounding it. These buildings include the Emergency Room (Sala de Emergencia), the Oncology building (Oncologia), the Maternity ward (Gynecologia y Obstetricia), a building where any bills and purchases are paid (Caja), and a general building. The general building housed the women’s unit, the men’s unit and the ICU.   Due to the holiday weekend we were not permitted to tour most of the units. We did, however, spend a great deal of time in the Maternity ward.  A nurse showed us around, pointing out and explaining many rooms as we passed. We toured the post-partum room, the delivery room, a consultation room, and a procedure room. The procedure room presented the most interesting experience as we had the good fortune to see a patient receive invasive medical attention.  The differences in medical practices were obvious during this process. Another major difference in health practices in the hospital here and in America was that patients must pay as they go, even in the case of an emergency.  For example, the patient or a family member must go to the Caja and pay for every injection before it can be given. Overall, the day opened our eyes to new cultural practices that we will forever have in our memories.

      As we depart Arequipa we are taking home many stories and experiences that will last a lifetime. For each of us the trip meant something different. We have come to appreciate so much of what we have.  We also hope that we can continue to provide help to the people of Arequipa. Clinicals here taught us about local medicine and culture, and we are thankful that we had the opportunity to spend many days working in the clinic. The three weeks here have flown by and many of us are already planning return trips.  

Note:  Technical difficulty prevented the transmission of photos for this report.