Overnight Visits in Marcuray and Rayan

As the rainy season begins, Sacred Valley Health/ Ayni Wasi staff members are making overnight stays in some the remote communities that we serve.  The overnights make a lot of sense logistically since wet, muddy roads make transportation a time-consuming challenge. The overnights also present an incredible opportunity to deepen our understanding of the communities…

Reproductive Health Training for Promotoras

Last week, our first group of community health workers – the ones who started training with us in September 2012 – built their knowledge of reproductive anatomy and health. As you may have read in our previous posts, this topic is not covered at all in the Peruvian public education system, and as a result…

CASA MOSQOY: Report from the First Presentation

Last Wednesday evening, Volunteer Coordinator Lucy and I (Community Coordinator Brooke) had a great opportunity to provide reproductive health education to at-risk youth. Reproductive health is a sensitive topic that often goes unaddressed in this very conservative society. We traveled from Ollantaytambo to Casa Mosqoy in Cusco, which houses at-risk youth aged 18-24 from in…

Promotoras learn to identify signs of alarm in patients

Last Friday marked the fifth training session for our “P2” promotoras, the community health workers who started their training with us in September 2013. (Our first group – P1’s – started in September 2012.) Friday’s topic was signs of alarm – conditions that should prompt a promotora to accompany her patient to the nearest posta…

Staff Retreat at Lares (This Is Why We Love Our Job!)

This past weekend, Sacred Valley Health’s Peru-based staff enjoyed our first official staff retreat! In the last month, we welcomed several new volunteers and agreed on the importance taking a trip together that would be not only fun, but that would also promote group bonding. With many beautiful destinations within a few hours of Ollantaytambo,…