Introducing SVH’s new volunteers!

As fall turns into winter in Peru’s Sacred Valley, the team in the Ayni Wasi office (Peru’s SVH base) is also changing. We are excited to have such dynamic and enthusiastic people working with us and would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to them, and to describe what they will be doing during their time in Ollantaytambo. 

Erin Ryan…

Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan is SVH’s new monitoring and evaluation coordinator. She graduated from Boston College in 2012 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a double minor in Chemistry and Hispanic Studies. She is currently pursuing a master’s in public health at Boston University, where she has studied the areas of International Health, Epidemiology, Monitoring and Evaluation and Pharmaceuticals. Erin sought out SVH as an opportunity to satisfy the practicum requirement for her MPH, and because she is  interested in how small, young international NGOs are organized and developed in their first few years of existence. She also strongly believes in empowering individuals (particularly women) from rural communities through education. Erin has been with us since May and will return to Boston in the fall to complete the last semester of her MPH degree. After completing her degree she intends to get a job with one of the many NGOs requiring program monitoring and evaluation.

Elly Hall…

Elly Hall

During her high school and college years, Elly got her start in the health field as a certified nursing assistant at nursing homes, hospitals, and clinics. From this experience in direct care, Elly realized her passion for working in prevention and public health. After completing a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Spanish, she spent a year and a half in Oregon working at the health promotion/chronic disease prevention division of a local public health authority. Ready to utilize her Spanish language skills further and gain experience on an international level, Elly discovered Sacred Valley Health/Ayni Wasi  and became enthusiastic about the community health worker (promotora) program. At Ayni Wasi, Elly is working as a Community Coordinator for the promotora program, as well as on various monitoring and evaluation initiatives. In the future, she plans to return to school for a master’s in public health and to continue working in regions with health disparities.

Erica Gadzik…

Erica Gadzik

Erica was born and raised just outside of Seattle, Washington. After becoming involved with reproductive health education and HIV prevention efforts in Seattle, she developed a passion for international health.  Global health pursuits have brought her to rural health clinics in Mexico and Guatemala, primary schools in Namibia, and sexual health and AIDS education programs in South Africa and Botswana. During her time with SVH/Ayni Wasi, she will conduct research on current community health challenges and assist with the monitoring and evaluation of the promotora training program. 

In her free time, Erica enjoys exploring, hiking, backpacking, travelling, and anything involving being outdoors.  In the future, she hopes to use her training to reduce healthcare disparities among marginalized populations, both in her own community and internationally.

A big thank you to all of our current and former volunteers. Your hard work and dedication are much appreciated!

Check out SVH-ers Keri Baker and Julia Curry as they bike across the USA to raise awareness and support for SVH and community health in rural Peru! You can track their progress – and make plans to join them at SVH-related events – through their Spokes and Paddle trip blog.

General Assemblies and Health Campaigns with University of Rochester

Last week, Sacred Valley Health hosted three amazing nursing students from the University of Rochester. Although they were only with us for five days, the U of R nurses attended three general assemblies and participated in two health campaigns. They dove in head first by visiting a general assembly on Monday and followed it with their first health campaign in Soccma on Tuesday (see Stewart’s post for more details!).

Soccma

On Wednesday the nurses accompanied SVH to the communities of Huilloc and Patacancha, where our promotores gave successful demonstrations at the general assemblies in their respective communities. In Huilloc, promotoras Santusa and Teresa introduced themselves as members of Ayni Wasi (our organization’s name in Quechua, the local language) and spoke about what they had been learning, using back pain prevention as an example. Up in Patacancha, promotoras Gabriel and Victoria acted out a scenario for treating fractures. With the dramatic performance of community coordinator Stewart as patient, Gabriel and Victoria put their skills on display for their community by splinting Stewart’s fractured arm and referring him to the nearest Posta (government outpost clinic).

Patacancha’s General Assembly

On Thursday the group headed back up to Huilloc for a health campaign with the pre-kindergarten classes. The nurses taught lessons on hand washing and tooth brushing. They also recorded the height, weight and cavity count of every child, which will be used to measure impact as SVH continues its work in the community of Huilloc.

Huilloc

A big thank you to the U of R nurses, who helped us accomplish a great deal in their five days here and still managed to get in some serious playtime!

- Written by Erin Ryan

Health campaign in Soccma with U of Rochester nurses

We had heard rumours that the road to Soccma was closed due to landslides, but we decided to chance it anyway. A week ago we were deterred by similar rumors that turned out to be grossly exaggerated. Most importantly, we knew that the children of Soccma would be expecting us.

Soccma’s school

We usually rely on our local promotoras (community health workers) to teach. Since Soccma does not yet have promotoras, we instead relied on the newly graduated nurses visiting from the University of Rochester. Soccma is a small town, and its school boasts only 14 students, so we were able to bring them as a group through all of our stations. We began by recording students’ heights and weights, and counting their cavities – this is baseline data which will indicate current rates of malnutrition and eventually enable us to measure the impact of our promotora program.

A U of R nurse recording important information at the makeshift height and weight station.

The children then hurtled off to a station that where they learned to wash their hands and to use a homemade device called a Tippy Tap, which conserves water and minimizes the spread of bacteria. We began by discussing the reasons behind hand washing (“so you don’t start pooping everywhere” was a popular answer), when we should wash our hands, and how to do so. The nurses taught the 7 steps of washing: “Get your hands wet, get some soap, wash your palms, your fingers and the back of your hands, scrub those thumbs, and don’t forget the fingernails!” Then the nurses asked the children to teach it back to them in order to demonstrate understanding. We dubbed the kids “professors of hand washing” and told them it was now their duty to teach their friends and family.

Students line up to wash their hands using a Tippy Tap homemade hand washing station.

The Tippy Tap, a wonder of public health innovation, is a portable hands-free washing station made of two plastic bottles, three pieces of string, one bit of soap, and a stick. It’s ideal for situations where there is no running water. We spent some time going over how to make a Tippy Tap and then the children proceeded to wash their hands.

We finished up our health campaign with tooth brushing – it is a special sight to see 14 children furiously brushing every corner of their mouths. At the end of the day, we met the district’s new director of social development, who was delivering computers, printers and DVD players to the school. It is exciting that the school is getting this equipment, and also incongruous given that the community has many basic needs – particularly around food security and sanitation – that are not being met. We planned a meeting with director to discuss ways that we can work together to promote health in the remote communities.

Given that this was Keri’s last day in Ollantaytambo and that her birthday was the following day,  we sang happy birthday and served a surprise birthday cake on a mountainside overlooking one of the many stunning valleys surrounding our home.

– Written by Stewart Decker

Teaching reproductive health and nutrition at the Huilloc Colegio

Prepared and excited following last week’s planning (see previous blog post), Sacred Valley Health and 24 nursing students from SUNY Brockport brought health campaigns to school children in remote communities this week. We started the week with a morning in Huilloc’s colegio (high school). Pupils from other high altitude villages as far away as Kelccanka and Yanamayo also attend the colegio. This means that information from this day will hopefully cascade out into the far reaches of the valley!

SUNY Brockport students hosted five stations, where they delivered interactive lessons for pupils whose ages ranged from 12-18. Boys and girls split up to learn about the basics of sexual health, anatomy, and reproduction, including an emphasis on gaining your partner’s permission before engaging in sexual activity. This was first time the topic of reproductive health had been broached in this colegio, and it was met with reservations and trepidation but also with obvious interest. Promotora Teresa was fantastic at engaging the students in the subject matter, and her teaching was well received by the curious teenagers.

Curious boys gather around to learn important lessons about sexual health.

Boys look at diagrams of the male reproductive system.

Another station addressed dental care. Run by promotora Santusa, it included teaching effective brushing technique, counting cavities (of which there were many), applying fluoride, and providing individual toothbrushes and toothpastes to all students. The majority reported not already owning a toothbrush, and they were excited to finally get their own.

Say cheese! Promotora Santusa performs cavity counts.

Rotating through stations every 10 minutes, students also received a head-to-toe physical health check by the student nurses, overseen by registered nurses. Heights and weights were collected for analysis in the SVH office, where the data will be compared to international recommendations. A copy of all health data will be provided to the colegio for its records – a first in this region!

A hive of activity: pupils receive basic health checks from SUNY Brockport nursing students.

In high altitude communities where people rely on potatoes as their chief source of energy, vitamin deficiencies can occur. SVH donated multivitamins to the colegio for distribution by the teachers. The pupils and SUNY students played an interactive game to help the children learn about different food groups and their importance for health. Holding up apples, SUNY students were met by shouts of ‘SALUDABLE!’ (healthy) from eager pupils who were obviously enjoying learning about diet and nutrition!

The Brockport team and SVH staff were excited to be able to deliver this health education, and pleased with how well it was received. The promotoras taught confidently and reported enjoying their roles as health educators. We are hopeful that the colegio students learned a lot and will share their new knowledge with their families. We look forward to returning to the colegio for followup activities and to providing similar training at other schools. Many thanks to the SUNY Brockport students and professors for their hard work and enthusiasm!

SUNY Brockport nursing students join forces with Sacred Valley Health

Last week, Sacred Valley Health welcomed twenty-two nursing students and teachers from the State University of New York (SUNY) Brockport for a multi-day medical campaign. Early on Thursday morning, our guests of honor gathered in the office for a briefing on SVH’s work and to prepare for the campaign. The SUNY team participated in exercises to identify and discuss aspects of Andean culture that we need to consider as we make health inquiries and deliver care in remote communities. The campaign focuses on schoolchildren and was planned in collaboration with school and community leaders.

At the SVH office in Ollantaytambo, SUNY Brockport students plan the health education stations they will run during the campaign.

On Friday, the SUNY Brockport nursing students broke into small teams and each team designed a station for teaching an important concept or skill. The concepts included nutrition essentials and the importance of personal hygiene. Skills included brushing teeth and washing hands. In addition to running these stations and leading related educational activities, the nursing students will perform basic health checks on participating schoolchildren and on community members who request treatment. The nursing professors will provide treatment to those in need.

This drawing will be used in the lesson on personal hygiene.

Please check SVH’s Facebook page for frequent updates! The week’s schedule includes school health days in Huilloc and Tanca, and school and community health days in Yanamayo and Soccma.