The Project

Most of you know that I'm spending the next three months in Peru instead of going to school. Despite living in the exciting and captivating city of Williamsburg for the last two and a half years (including two summers), I decided that a leave of absence would be in my best interest. I imagine there's a wider world beyond our historic city, and South America seems like as good a choice as any to experience it.

I'll travel to Peru along with a service group from UMass Lowell. They are mechanical engineers with plans to build a bridge and install solar panels in various postas (small clinics) in rural mountain areas. For the two weeks that they are there, I'll tag along with Profe, the professor in charge who has been to Peru frequently over the past fifteen years, and he'll introduce me to the various health care workers in the postas. After they leave I have to fend for myself, and hopefully I'll be cool enough by my association with Profe so that the doctors will let me observe with them and allow me to perform simple procedures.

At this point my three months in Peru are pretty open-ended. I don't know if I'll be able to find a doctor who's really willing to show me the ropes or if I'll be standing and observing off in the corner during doctor's visits. I hope to conduct patient interviews on my own, asking locals about their native health beliefs and how they view their health care, but I'm not sure if my rudimentary Spanish will be enough to have an adequate conversation. The particulars aren't really of concern; I'll figure it out as I go along.