Hello from Lima Peru

We continue to be busy in Peru and the surrounding countries.  We are asked to assist with a plethora of problems ranging from the mundane URIs, acne and various aches and sprains to more serious problems such as fractures, mental health problems, dysentery, epilepsy, high-altitude illnesses, dengue fever, scorpion stings to the face, dog bites, etc.  Clair has even had a few cardiology cases.  Careful records of all interactions are maintained to track trends and needed teaching.  We spend a lot of time teaching about how to prevent injuries and illness.

Clair recently began visiting a center for adolescent boys who have been abandoned by their families or whose families are unable to care for them.  We are developing plans to provide much needed periodic health care for boys in that facility.  

We plan our weeks, but often emergencies interrupt those plans.  Everyday is an unknown entity.  Here in Lima, we have met many wonderful neighbors and friends.  

Currently, we are in the coldest part of the year in Peru.  The weather in Lima during the winter is dreary.  Every day is overcast and on most days there is considerable mist making the sidewalks and streets wet and slippery.  Because of the high humidity, constantly overcast skies and the mist, it often feels cold.  It very rarely rains in Lima; we have been here for five months and there has been no measurable rain.  

Next week, we will travel to Bogota, Colombia to teach a number of people about how to prevent illnesses from unclean water and food and from insect- and arthropod-borne illnesses.

We continue to study and slowly learn Spanish, but some days are too busy to study.  If there is not time to study, Clair will spend a few minutes with the app Duolingo, which is quite helpful.  Connie spends lunchtime talking in Spanish with Peruvian women friends in the office.  Sometimes on Saturdays, we are free enough to go to a museum, do our weekly grocery shopping or even go out to dinner.  Lima does have many excellent and inexpensive restaurants.  

Peru has a number of beautiful handicrafts.  It probably best known for its colorful fabrics.

Here are a few photos of handicraft items that we have purchased in Peru.

In the area around Huancayo Peru, artisans make "carved gourds."  This has been an art form in that area of Peru for thousands of years.  Some are carved with abstract designs; this one has a bird motif.

This is a weaving that we purchased in a village near Cusco.  It is a common theme called Pacha Mama.

This is an oil painting that we purchased for our apartment.  It portrays an Incan village in the Cordillera Blanca, the range of mountains to the northwest of Lima that rise to more than 22,000 feet elevation.

This is a wood carving from Woodflair, a Lima-based artisan shop that was founded by a man from England.