Condors and Choquequirao

Two friends recently visited me in Peru. We saw the typical sights on the "Gringo Trail" like Cusco and Machu Picchu, but we also did done some different activities. We went to Accha Pampa, a small village in the highlands, where we saw a group of men and women weaving typical blankets and clothing and saw two domesticated condors. The picture is of the male condor, Inca. They took him out of his cage for about 15 minutes and we got to see him spread his wings and walk around a bit. It was too windy to let him fly, but it was really impressive to see a national symbol of Peru up close. Later in the week we went to an isoltated Inca site called Choquequirao. It was a 4 day/3 night trek that was 70km round trip. The hike was really challenging. We hiked into and then out of the 2000m Apurímac River canon to reach the ruins. A guide, a cook, a porter, and three mules accompanied us on the adventure. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were always waiting for us when we reached the campsites. They even set up and took down our tents everyday. It was an amazing adventure with incredible scenery!

¿Imaynalla Kashanki (How are you, in Quechua)? An a American pediatric dentist was volunteering at the clinic last week. Most of the kids were really scared of him because they had either not been to the dentist before or had had unpleasant previous dental experiences. The kids (and adults) have terrible dental care here. They rarely brush their teeth and only go to the dentist when something really hurts. Hence, by the time they arrive at the dentist they have bad cavities, infections in their mouth, and lots of teeth need to be pulled. This picture is of a group of girls from a local orphanage who came for dental treatment. All had the same haircut with pig tails; they were cute, but had bad teeth.

The bottom picture is a town meeting at a highland community called Ccamahuara. My dad was here last week and I wanted to show him a community because the people, language, and culture are completely unique. Unknowly, the community had a large meeting this day and the community president mistakenly thought I had come to inform the people of the Kausay Wasi Clinic (where I volunteer). They invited me to tell the people about the clinic and then we had lunch with the president and other important community members. It was a fun experience and I think my dad enjoyed visiting the community.

Orphans in Siusa

At about 4000m above the Vilacanota River (or Sacred Valley) in a village named Siusa we encountered five recently orphaned children. Two years ago the father died in a work related construction accident and two months ago their mother slipped on a rock in a small river and died from head trauma. The mother fell in the evening while carrying her 10 month old baby and it wasn’t until the next morning when they found the abandoned baby. The five orphans are now living with an aunt (center) because their grandmother (left) is deaf and unfit to care for the children. The aunt already has four kids of her own and is struggling to support the new addition to her family. The rural nurse at the clinic, who I work with, is going well beyond his normal duties by arranging an orphanage to care for the children. At the orphanage they will receive more individual attention, be well fed, and have more educational opportunities. It’s not easy to facilitate this help because the people in the community are reluctant to send their children away where they are unsure how they will be treated. Therefore, it is Amilcar’s (the rural nurse) job to convince the orphanage to care for the children and to convince the community that they will be well cared for. It is a terrible situation, but I’m happy the clinic and the community are working together to find a solution.