On Wednesday SVH piled into a car bright and early to complete Phase I of our pilot study in Yanamayo. We split into two groups to divide and conquer the task of visiting every house to collect their afiches, posters that the families used to self -report incidences of diarrhea and cough for the past eight weeks.
Seeking out afiches in Yanamayo
Yanamayo can be a difficult community to reach during the rainy season with roads becoming impassible and snow covering the ground. Luckily, our rain gear, hats, and gloves proved to be unnecessary because the sun came out halfway through our hike.
Data collecting is much more fun in the sun – especially at 12,000 feet.
In Patacancha (a community a third of the way up on the road to Yanamayo) we stopped to give a ride to the local nurses. They were headed to Yanamayo to vaccinate children that hadn’t made it to the clinic in Patacancha. Fortunately for us, this meant having two amazing nurses who spoke Spanish and Quechua to help one of the groups translate from house to house. It was unbelievably helpful and they were able to suggest remedies for cough and diarrhea for those who complained of these symptoms.
The other group tackled the harder-to-reach houses further up the valley. This SVH group consisted of three nurses (two American and one Peruvian) who were able to get a comprehensive look into the health and well-being of these families who live in very remote conditions.
The SVH team after a long day of data collection
Overall it was a successful trip… even if our car happened to get a little stuck in the mud on the way out of town (not that this hasn’t happened before)!
Written by New SVH Community Coordinator Jenny Nepom
Great work!