Alpaca Bag — Phew! That was a close one
Life in Peru is just moving right along, in both positive… as well as some not so positive ways. I want to share the following story, not to scare the living daylights out of my family or deter anyone who wants to come visit (please still come!!), but to share what I learned from the experience. In Peru, I often joke with people about having a large sign written on my forehead saying, IM FROM GRINGOLANDIA (a term I learned from a friend here, referring to gringos who come from the US). I get stared at fairly often, because I obviously look different. I try to fit in, but I wear different clothes. I speak Spanish, but I have an accent. This comes at a small price, because there is an assumption that people who come from the US have a lot of dinero. As such Ive been very conscious of myself as well as my belongings. I don´t walk more than a few blocks outside of my apartment alone after it gets dark (it gets dark here around 6:30, and a girl´s gotta have her salchipapas for dinner which is right across the street). I know not to take a lot of cash out at the bank, I never carry more money than I need, and I never carry more than 1 bank card with me. Now I don’t want you to think that I´m living in a city where people are constantly looking to steal my things or harm me, but I do know that it is important to take the proper precautions, especially as a foreigner.
The area that I work in during the day is an impoverished area of the city (no worries-I don´t live anywhere near this area, I actually live in a very nice part of the city). It is fairly dangerous, so Mary, Mercy, and Naida (the other therapists) never let me be alone in that part of town. Every day after therapy, we walk down the dirt path to catch the bus. On our walk down the other day, Mary, Naida and I were walking, and we happened to pass a car that I had not noticed. I normally never take my phone out in this part of the city, because well, you know. However, this particular day, I took my phone out to save an important number. While saving the number in my phone, a man in the back seat of the car launched himself out of the window and swiftly wrapped his hands around my phone in an attempt to steal it. A man in the front seat of the car started the engine and just sat there and watched. I automatically tightened my grip and did not let go of the phone. Mary and Naida reacted instantaneously, grabbing the phone and digging their nails into his arms and hands. The man threw his body backwards in an attempt to loosen my grip. However after a few seconds, he was no longer able to tolerate 3 feisty women and 6 hands, full with long nails digging into his skin. He finally let go of the phone and we ran away. Again, I don´t tell you this to make you worry about me, or to make you think I´m living in a very dangerous city, because it´s not every day that these things happen. Rather, I tell you this to explain just how protective these women are of me and how well looked after I am here with the people that I am with. At least once a day, one of them yells at me for not looking both ways before crossing the street (even though I always do, I think…), or taking my phone out when I shouldn´t. I have a little family here who has gone through great lengths to support me and take care of me, and for that, I am incredibly grateful.
Regardless of that incident, I’m enjoying experiencing the culture here in Trujillo. Last weekend, I hiked to the top of a mountain called Apu Campana, with an ascent of approx 3000 feet. 3000 painful feet. It was a challenging hike, because it mostly consisted of sand and rocks. Hiking on the sand felt like being on one those moving sidewalks in the airport that goes in the opposite direction. And the rocks were a whole new ballgame. It took us about 4–5 hours to get to the top, after which we set up our tents, and enjoyed the view of Trujillo from afar under the starry sky.
Living here has forced me to get out of my comfort zone, which is why I like it so much. This type of experience, pushes me to do things I wouldn’t ordinarily do, and meet people I would never have met otherwise. People from all walks of life, and from all over the world. People who I hardly know, but have somewhat of a deeper connection with, because they too, are living out of their comfort zone. People who sit with you on the top of a mountain in the pitch dark, and fight about whether or not that light in the sky is a star, airplane, or UFO (it was definitely a plane). People who you can have a deep conversation with after only knowing them a few days. People who do not have a problem making fun of you for not understanding the difference between a lima and limón (in Spanish the word for lime is limón and the word for lemon is lima-AND the lemons here are almost green-you can see how one would get confused…right?).
Now, I don’t want you to think my life is like this every single day. I get to do fun and adventurous stuff on the weekends, but life here is not just climbing up a mountain while hoping I don’t fall off the edge. It`s also about going out of my comfort zone through my work here too.
Therapy is in full swing here! I see 20 kids in the Rehabilitation program per week, spanning a large range of diagnosis including Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Developmental Disorders, Down Syndrome, and various genetic syndromes. They range in severity from children who need some help with pronunciation, to children who are 100% dependent on their caregivers for all activities of daily living. The mothers in the program are a huge part of therapy here. The idea is that us as therapists, teach the parents a skill, and the parent demonstrates that skill, practices it at home, and comes back to learn a new skill in order to see continued progress. It’s amazing to see that some mothers take what I teach them and run with it. So many of them are motivated to help their children improve.
I´m specifically working with children in 2 main areas of speech therapy: feeding/swallowing, and alternative communication. I work with many non-verbal children who cannot communicate orally and therefore need another way to communicate, usually pictures.
Below is John who is 3 and is not yet speaking. He has really caught on to the method and will definitely make large gains in the area of expressive communication. It’s amazing to see his mother work with him, which is largely the reason he is improving.
As usual, however, there is a definite need to be creative with the materials used here. In the US, it was very easy to create communication books for these kiddos, but here, it takes a large effort on my part, as well as the mother’s to create these materials.
With feeding, I’m helping children learn to chew, as many of them are only able to consume soft foods due to their inability to chew. I also work with more impaired patients who are have difficulty swallowing and are at risk for aspiration (food or liquid going towards the lungs instead of the stomach, putting them at risk for pneumonia).
One of these children’s name is Jesus Adrian. Below is a picture of Jesus Adrian and his mother.
This woman is a rock star. Jesus Adrian has cerebral palsy and a genetic disorder. He does not have any adaptive equipment, such as a wheelchair or an activity chair. His mother carries him anywhere he needs to go over her shoulder as well as anything else she needs to carry. Imagine getting on a bus or walking up a mountain by carrying a 7 year old child who is completely dependent on you. His mother manages him like a pro though. She has worked with the therapists here to help make him more responsive to external stimuli and to practice relaxation techniques. I am working with him to decrease his risk for aspiration. In the United States, keeping him from aspirating would be much easier than it is here (relatively speaking- keeping s child from aspirating is a heavy task, regardless). In the US, we have tools and techniques to help children like this. But the most essential thing I need to keep him from aspirating is a product called Thick-it. In the US it is sold in almost every pharmacy, but in Peru it’s only sold in Lima, an 8 hour drive away from Trujillo. And this child, among many others who I am seeing, will need this product for the rest of their lives to keep them from getting life-threatening pneumonia. This is just one story of many about children who do not have access to the materials they need. In the meantime, until we get the product, we need to be creative.
Until next time,
Megs