Alpaca Bag — Almost 2 weeks in Peru!
Work has officially started! Well, sort of. To be able to understand my volunteering role in Peru, it’s important to understand the projects that are implemented by CMMB. One of the two projects is called CHAMPS which is aimed at strengthening community based health programs and improving maternal and child health. This is implemented through local community healthcare workers called, “agencias de salud comunitaria,” which translates to “agents of community health.” This consists of a group of approximately 35 women who are members of the community and participate in training parents living in impoverished in areas of maternal and child health.
The other project that is run in Trujillo through CMMB is called Rehabilitacion con Esperanza-Rehabilitation with Hope (aptly named as Esperanza is the part of Trujillo where the Rehabilitation center is located). This project consists of a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and project manager. During my time in Trujillo, I will be working with both the Rehabilitation and CHAMPS programs.
Last week, the therapists from the Rehabilitation center were on vacation, so I worked with the CMMB staff members on the CHAMPS project. I attended a session where the community health agents trained mothers in the in the area of nutrition to specifically enforce healthy meal choices for their children. This education is so important for mothers in this community, as things like the dietary recommendations and healthy meal planning are often new to them. Things like the “Healthy Eating Plate” (formerly the food pyramid) that we may consider “common knowledge,” are important to explicitly teach in order to help combat things like malnutrition and anemia. This project doesn’t only educate mothers of the community, but it also empowers women in the community (both mothers being educated and community health agents).
My role with the CHAMPS project last week was to provide a presentation to the community health agents on Speech, Language, and Feeding therapy. As one of the CMMB staff members, Nancy, told me, a lot of these women have not been exposed to this topic before. My job was to teach them what to look for in children in the community in order to appropriately refer them for therapy. During the presentations, the community health agents were telling me about their own children who they had noticed may have had a speech or swallowing problem, but were never able to receive the services. Next week, I will start working with some of the children they will be recommending to me.
This week, when the therapists from the Rehabilitation project returned from vacation, we began planning evaluations for the children who will participate in the program. Therapy is provided for children with diagnoses such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism, Microcephaly and genetic syndromes. I will be working closely with the speech therapist and I will specifically provide therapy for children who have augmentative communication needs, feeding difficulties, and behavior difficulties.
Therapy typically takes place in the morning, but in the afternoon, there are sessions such as parent-child music classes or Psychology services for parents. On Monday of this week, I observed 2 music classes. During the classes, Ericka, the project manager of the Rehabilitation program explained to me that when the Rehabilitation program started, there was a large stigma paced around children with disabilities and their families, resulting in many of the parents being secluded from their own communities. The families didn’t take their children out of the house out of fear, and therefore, many of these children have not had opportunities to grow and learn. She noted that when the parents and their children entered the program, the parents were unsure of how to show affection and love towards their children because of the child’s disability. As a result of the program, however, the mothers have not only seen improvement in developmental abilities in their children, but they also have improved their own relationships with their children, as they are able to show them affection and love. During the music class I observed, the love the caregivers had for their children was apparent, even without any words spoken. I’ve come to learn that these mothers have also become friends as a result of being in this program. They have grown to support one another, and are also incredibly welcoming to new mothers who have children with disabilities.
On a personal note, I am very content here in Peru. The best thing I’ve eaten was AMAZING!! It was from from a fast food Salchipaperia joint right across from me (very dangerous).
We went to lunch at restaurant that one of the mom’s in the program owns (it’s very common that someone you know here would own a restaurant or a little stand).One of the girls I work with told me that they offered all things chicken (also, menus aren’t very common at smaller restaurants). So I ordered what everyone else was having and specified that I wanted potatoes on the side. When the food came, it didn’t look like chicken but I ate it any way. It tasted like steak, but not like anything I’ve ever had before. When I asked one of the chicas what it was called she said, “higado,” which I had heard before, but couldn’t remember what it translated to. It wasn’t until after I ate the entire meal that I had a chance to look up the word. Turns out, I ate liver. I will never forget that word in Spanish again.
In general, I’m enjoying getting to know more about the culture here. The CMMB staff here has been very helpful with that. The other day at lunch, Milagros, a CMMB staff member with CHAMPS said, “Hay que Peruanarse!” Literally meaning, “She has to become Peruvian,” which could not be more appropriate. Although I definitely stick out like a sore thumb with my little gringa face, I hope that the longer I’m here, the more I’ll be able to assimilate to the culture.
A friend of mine recently asked me how I was feeling. I told her that it is most certainly an adjustment moving to a foreign country by myself, but I also feel like this is exactly where I’m supposed to be right now. More to come!
xoxo
Megan
PS. If you haven’t already, please check out my fundraising page for CMMB. The money you donate will go straight to projects like CHAMPS and Rehabilitation con Esperanza in order to further support these families and their children.
https://www.crowdrise.com/support-our-volunteers-2017/fundraiser/meganramirez1