Dental Project Peru – Trip Report

15-28 October 2008

Written by Marie Johnson

day 1:  my flight was delayed 3 hours, but daniel was great in waiting up for me to get to lima.  he dropped me off at my hotel where i caught a couple hours of sleep.

day 2:  I met angus in the hotel lobby while we waited for daniel to pick us up on the way to the airport.  the flight to cusco was pretty quick and we arrived to a beautiful sunny day.  I could feel the altitude a bit, but too bad, nothing a little coca tea couldn't fix.  We relaxed for most of the afternoon and had a couple good meals, including a pollo brasada, aka pollo rico!, and a pisco sour.  the peruvians aren't lying when they tell you their pisco sour is better than chile's.
 
day 3: daniel took angus and i to a couple different types of markets.  one was a traditional food and stuff market, we saw a million potatoes aisles of fruits and vegetables flowers, cheeses, meats.  we also went to a clothes and electronics market where most stuff is cheaper because there isn't any tax.  the highlight was another market where people were selling old poncho's and blankets and everything else under the sun! 

day 4: we went to the sacred valley visiting on the way centro de textiles traditionals de cusco where women get together and keep traditional methods of weaving alive.  we the visited moray which look like a huge incan amphitheater, but are actually different micro climates that incas used to practice growing different stuff.  Afterwards we went to the salinas, tons of salt pans that have been constructed out of a pretty small salty spring.  people have been harvesting salt here since the incas.  it was pretty amazing. 

day 5:  leo and yessie come over early in the morning and we pack up the truck, old juliana.  We were going to spend the night in Huancasca, a ride that could take up to ten hours.  There has been an increase of mining in the area and the mining companies  have improved the roads for themselves, but we benefited as well.  We got there in about 6 hours, a beautiful ride over the apurimac gorge and higher into the andes.  I think that first night may have been at about 3500 meters.  The place we were staying at was built by some jesuits, but now is run by a couple that rents the dorm rooms out to teachers and other groups on retreat.  The rooms were clean, beds a little rickety, no hot water, but a good bathroom.  Leo and I walked through the town that afternoon and visited the old gaol which consist of caves in huge rock.  It was pretty cool, but I was more impressed to figure out what Leo was saying, as my spanish isn't that great.  You can walk to the top of the rock and it overlooks a colonial age church.  Yessie cooked us some yummy food and we slept very well.
 
day 6:  We got an early start this this first day of treating people.  We had about an hour drive to the town of Ccocha.  We used one of the medical center's examination rooms to set up the 3 portable chairs and equipment.  They did not have electricity due to a blown transformer, but they ran a generator occasionally to keep the insulin and vaccines cool.  We started the morning by going to the elementary school and then middle and high school.  Yessie and Leo went over nutrition and oral hygiene with all the kids.  Yessie then screened the littler ones to see if they needed treatment.  The older ones were just told to see us if they were in pain or wanted treatment.  The three of us saw probably about 50 patients that day.  Lunch was made by a local family and Yessie made us dinner that night.  We spent the night there in one of the other examination rooms, I was pretty comfy, I had a bed.  Leo and Angus got the floor, on a mattress though. 
 
Day 7:  Our second day at Ccocha started earlier and ended pretty late.  This was the hardest day for me.  We had some slower times during, but we had a rush in the late afternoon that took some time to get through.  We were also able to do some restorations because they ran the generator more regularly.  We had a 7 year old that walked 2 hours by himself to have a baby tooth extracted.  I'm not sure what made this day tougher, perhaps the altitude or just the work, but I was exhausted by the time we left and we had an hour drive back to Haquira  in the dark.  I'm not sure how Leo got us there.              

Day 8:  From Haquira we drove to Patan, again about an hour.  This medical center is fairly new and bright and clean.  It was a pleasure to work here.  They also had warm water, so I got my first shower since leaving Cusco.  Again we started at the day visiting the schools and Yessie screening the kids.  After treating all the children, we started working on adults.  We left in the late afternoon to stay back in Haquira. 
 
Day 9:  We has about an hours drive to Tambulla  This town was the highest elevation (i think) and the most remote.  We drove crisscrossing a river bed not on an established road for a good bit before we got to Tambulla.  When we arrived we realized that not only did they not have power, but also no running water at the time (which means no flushable toilets!).  Without the electricity, we were not able to do any restorations, just extractions.  We started with the kids and worked our way up to the adults as usual.  This was the quietest day, possible because of rain.  Daniel mentioned that Dental Project Peru has been going here for many years so there is less need in this town as there has been in the past.  We spent this night in Tambobamba in a couple rooms in an old colonial house that a family lets out (usually to engineers working in the mines).  This was the largest town we have stayed in yet and ate some pollo a la brasa a cute little restaurant.  I raced Leo up a hill on the way to dinner and nearly broke my lungs!  I don't recommend running in the Andes. 
 
Day 10:  We drove to Huacasca again about an hour from Tambobamba  We would be here 2 days so we can leave all the equipment that we had set up.  This was also a fairly new and bright medical center with hot water (i get my second shower of the week tomorrow).  We started with the kids again and then after seeing them, we began seeing older kids and adults.   The doctor and nurse here were particularly helpful and friendly.  Because of how isolated they are here, she asked us to pick up some things that she can't get from town. 
 
Day 11:  Our last day treating patients.  this was a pretty busy day seeing both adults and older kids.  I did get my shower and it was glorious.  We packed up and headed back to Haquira for our last night exhausted, but feeling satisfied with the treatment we provided. 
 
Day 12:  We drove back to Cusco pretty early getting home early afternoon.  Everything came out of the truck and got cleaned and put away.  We rested and showered and went out for a nice end of trip dinner. 
 
I stayed in Cusco for another couple days before going to Machu Piccu and lake Titicaca.  I got to spend a little more time with Daniel, Yessie and Leo before leaving Peru.  It was great experience, well organized and I highly recommend it to any interested in a dental mission.