About Us
We are a team that is composed of two first year medical students, two bachelor of science students, two undergraduates, and one nursing student. In January we began to prepare ourselves for the medical mission by working closely to together on our five projects. Our four projects are: clothing, dental hygiene, hygiene, school supplies, and pamphlets. We are implementing our projects not just at the orphanage, but at the hospital as well. By working together it has brought us closer as a team, which we know will make this experience all the more rewarding.
To view our Biography:
2011 Student Volunteer Biography
To view our Biography:
2011 Student Volunteer Biography
Participation & Overview by Judith Gratta
Peru & USAThis year we have the participation of two medical students Scientific University of the South (UCSUR), who by their professionalism and multilingual abilities contributed to the attentions that are necessary to understand the Quechua-speaking patients, along with nursing students and local technicalare bilingual Quechua-Spanish, working with doctors who only speak English.
Also, it was remarkable the participation of students from the University of Irvine California (UCI), California State University of Fullerton (CSUF), and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. This group of students surprised us with an excellent presentation of: the history, culture, political, economic, social, cuisine and healthcare system that pertains to either to the province of Huancavelica or to Peru. They also presented their projects that are related to public health and education (a process that took them over six months to prepare). |
OverviewIn addition to their projects they also either helped assist clinicians in consultations and surgeries, prepared entertainment programs for children waiting for consultations or accompanying theirparents designed workshops for 40 children and adolescents in the San Francisco Children's Village of Assisi and its surrogates along with daily visits at the end of the attentions in the hospital.
Donations at the Orphanage: The students brought gifts, stationery, clothes and bought new shoes for each orphan and Documented brochures & Workshops the following topics (for children and adults):
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Projects
Listed below are a few of the workshops that the student volunteers have implemented.
Dental Hygiene Project
A bright, clean smile not only creates a happy individual; but strong, healthy teeth can also help an individual chew the right foods for a healthier lifestyle. In the United States, we sometimes may take for granted the availability of resources we have for proper dental hygiene. Unfortunately, in Huancavelica, Peru, they do not have the dental hygiene resources that we have. To improve the quality of dental health care we implementing proper dental hygiene through interactive workshops. We plan to inspire residents to adapt a regular routine of dental cleaning. Our project will include donating toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss.
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Hygiene Project
Being able to wash your hands more than once a day in developed countries is a privilege we take for granted. Contrary to this, people in developing countries do not have the luxury of clean water supplies, which discourages hand washing, and are therefore faced with a plethora of disease that are easily preventable if practicing good hygiene. The Huancavelica Hygiene Project’s mission is to not only provide alternatives for hand washing using hand sanitizers for the locals of Huancavelica, but also to educate them about the importance of disease prevention by practicing good hygiene. Due to the scarcity of clean water, we will provide hand sanitizers through donations. We will also conduct workshops to teach the reasons for good hygiene and the consequences if this is not practiced. Practicing good hygiene is the best method to prevent our bodies from falling to bacteria, viral and parasitic disease.
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Clothing Project
Climate change in the summer can be devastating to residents of Huancavelica, Peru; while we soak up the sun in the U.S. during the summer, Peru citizens face their winter season, with freezing temperatures reaching subzero degrees. This year, a clothing project is being implemented for the children in an orphanage in Huancavelica, known as the Children’s Village “San Francisco de Asis”. With this clothing project, we plan to specifically give jackets and shoes to every child at the orphanage to provide them with warmth against Peru’s unforgiving winters. We also plan to provide hats for each child to protect them from the sun’s UV radiation, which emanates in closer range to this population due to Huancavelica’s high altitude. Too often and too easily can the clothing needs of the children be overlooked, leading to sunburns and a number of illnesses. With the prevalence of Huancavelica’s cold air and warm sun rays, it is important to supply enough clothing for all of the children. Our current goal is to provide jackets, hats, and shoes for all of the orphanage children. There are currently about 50 children, ranging from ages 1 to 17. Thus, with this project, we can address the children’s immediate health needs while simultaneously promoting overall well-being.
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School Supplies Project
Poverty is a vicious cycle that can be broken through education and good health. In addition to providing free health care on this medical mission, our group will have a side project to encourage children at the orphanage, Children's Village "San Francisco de Asis" of Huancavelica, to pursue education. We seek to obtain donations for school supply and educational materials for these children (i.e. Notebooks, pencils, crayons, chalk, chalkboard, books, etc). In addition, we plan to conduct interactive learning workshops and activities using these donations to promote learning while having fun (i.e. Math/English tutoring session, story time, arts & crafts, game show/pictionary, etc).
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