An excerpt my journal...Today has felt very surreal - it feels like watching a documentary but I'm actually in it. I am truly in the midst of the developing world. It is a strange, strange experience - wondrous really.
It gets so humid - I am incredibly sweaty and stinky and this is only day one!!
There is a wonderful group of people working with us, local Peruvians: Levi and Laura, Gema, Tito, Geyner - all fantastic people.
Truly these are remarkable people living in these jungle villages. Today in Fortaleza the men came and carried the bags - we walked across logs over muddy waters and of course the clay bridge (amazing!). I had stopped to take a picture of this young boy in a small canoe and when I got up, I realized that the men were behind me with the med bags (at least 50 lbs. each) and they were just patiently waiting. The man directly behind me smiled at me and I was horrified that I had held them up! What incredibly gracious and beautiful people they all are.
Oh yes! This house we did the clinic in - amazing! and then I think we found the hole in the floor for the bathroom as we watched this little one pee there. The babies have no diapers at all - which makes sense in the jungle - less waste.
More!...the steps carved out of the river banks; the logs made into ladders - just sensational. Life is so simple here.
Our first day arriving in the jungle, we crossed river by boat about a 1/2 hour up to Barrio Fortaleza. Awaiting us on the riverbank were large groups of children and adults, welcoming us to their village. Walking in from further down river we came across gigantic termite nests (see left). Here, they call them "wood ants".
We were originally supposed to set up clinic in the community church but once we arrived we realized it was just too dark, with no windows for sunlight. So, Pastor Marcos came up with an alternate solution and we hiked to the other side of the community, across this clay bridge area that is just too beautiful to try to describe, up the hill and to someone's home. The men from the village literally carried the benches from the church, the med bags, everything to make the clinic work. Incredible. We worked a long hard afternoon and made our way back to the boat just before dark. It's best not to have to travel the river at night, but oh well...we had to. It helps to have a phenomenal boat driver who knows the river.
Sam made a house call to a hut with Marcos' mother who had been bed ridden for some time. She ended up coming across river to Centro America that night, carried on a make-shift stretcher, and we gave her some IV fluids and antibiotics. The next day she was taken out by boat to the hospital in Yurimaguas. Watching the care of her son and family over her was very moving.
Susan, our host missionary, climbing the hill in Fortaleza. I love this shot of Susan because it captures her love of these children...the expression of joy on her face. Susan has given her life to love the people of Amazonia and to serve them and be used to bring health and development to their communities. She gives of herself on a day to day basis...beyond what many of us are used to. She lives the love of Jesus with these people...it's because of her love for Christ that she pours out into the lives of these children and the families and the children at the Hogar. When I see this picture I feel just as inspired now as I did by her then.
The log steps.
Pastor Marcos said, "This is my son, he likes to play." He was having a wonderful time in his mini canoa.
Crossing the bridge toward the clinic location. Near the front of the line is a mother holding a baby with an umbrella. I spotted this baby long before this point, just laying there in his mother's arms. He looked remarkably lethargic and once I got closer to him I could see his breathing was laboured. Once I got an stethoscope on him I found his heart rate to be much too high for his age. Sam took a look at him and the plan is he'll be followed by an outpost nurse when she comes to the village next. I confess I think about this baby a lot and wonder how he is. He did respond to Sam's examination which was good...there are times when a baby's cry is a beautiful thing to hear, but I just wonder what has become of him. I pray he won't become sicker and slip through the cracks somehow.
Tito doing the anti-parasite teaching. Tito is considered an Obstetrician in Peru...equivalent here to a Nurse Practioner or Midwife. Due to the strike, he was free to come with us to the jungle and I can't imagine what we would have done without him. His health teaching was essential. He was my partner at registration and tackling the "worm campaign" (parasites). He spoke no english and I spoke very little spanish but somehow we managed and we had a lot of laughs along the way. He got very used to me saying, "okay" and "ay, ay, ay." Tito is Flor's husband..the administrative assistant from the Hogar.
"Clinic"
The line up for the pharmacy ("pharmacia"). You can see how the sun was beating down on them. You have to remember that we were approximately 5 degrees south of the equator. Toronto is 43 degrees north of the equator. The sun is HOT. It is crazy humid but when the sun is out, the heat from it is frightening. It was incredible because Pastor Marcos recognized how the sun was beating down on our people and so before you knew it, he and some other men had found some blue tarps and were stringing them up to try and block the sun. Seriously...they are always taking care of you.
A image I will never forget...the clay bridge. Literally, I felt in a completely different world here.
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