Glasses Delivery in Tarapoto, Medical Training Prep, Central Lima, and Soccer

19 November 2017

Glasses for Children in the Jungle

The final part of the Tarapoto vision project took place with the delivery of glasses for 791 children and adolescents in this high-jungle region. Deliveries took place all over the region in each of the schools for children that had been measured by our team of optometrists a few weeks ago.

Glasses lined up in front of students and parents waiting at one of the deliveries in the Tarapoto/Moyobamba area.

Mayors, government health leaders, and church leaders showed up for the deliveries in centers throughout the region. Carmen Tipian (shown here), our key health department contact and coordinator, addressed the parents and children at one of these deliveries.

The delivery ceremonies were key opportunities to pass out the glasses and stress proper care of the glasses to the parents and children (even though we had purposely bought scratch-resistant lenses, given how rough kids can be on their glasses).

Children were brought up one by one to get their glasses. Since we had already gone to the jungle on three previous trips, we asked our local church leader, Jimmy Guevara (right) to represent us at the ceremonies in both Tarapoto and Moyobamba.

The donation of glasses is a big deal in poor communities where just getting enough food onto the table at home is a challenge. Many of these children had prescriptions greater that 6 diopters (meaning they were functionally blind without the glasses). Being able to see for these children is a life-changing event.

These children will now be able to see the blackboard!

Poor vision is a leading cause for school dropout. When kids can't see in class, they fall behind, become discouraged, and look for excuses to dropout.

A child's first set of glasses - an exciting event.

The children had previously picked out their own frames from the selection we had our supplier bring. When kids pick out their own frames, they are more likely to actually wear their glasses.

Bringing all the optometrists into this jungle region from Lima to do the exams and then providing the glasses was a significant investment in the future for these children (although given the number of recipients that we had, we were able to negotiate really good prices - $25 USD total for an exam, frame, and lenses).

The glasses donations made it into the local  TV news programs and newspapers. This newspaper article put the donation on the front page, right next to the Peruvian national soccer team and the story of the body of the drug dealer found in the field of coca leaves. Our donation was big-time news in these communities.

This vision project in Tarapoto (the donation of glasses, the donation of medical equipment to the new hospital, and the cataract surgeries by the U.S. doctor) helped many people. It was one of the best projects we have worked on during our mission.

Farewell to the high-jungle of Tarapoto - the beauty of this region only added to the charm of this vision project.

Course Prep - Helping Babies Breath, Helping Mothers Survive

We serve as the in-country contacts coordinating the "Helping Babies Breath, Helping Mothers Survive" courses that will be taught in a week.  We make all the in-country travel arrangements for the four American doctors and four Peruvian doctors teaching the courses, and we travel with them.  Part of this job involved shipping the course materials and mannequins to the two training sites up north (Huacho and Cajamarca).

Shown here are the 124 packages of materials we received (after waiting 2 month to get them cleared through Peruvian customs). This week we had to divide all the boxes, label them, and then ship them out to the two course sites. This was a huge job.

Receiving, sorting, and labeling course materials in the basement of our Area Office. We had to ship these out before the courses start in a week.

Each course will be presented to 50 doctors in each site. These courses are presented in different locations in Peru each year to reduce infant and maternal mortality in regions where they have experienced many deaths due to inadequate training and equipment.

We travel with the training team to these two sites to ensure everything goes smoothly, so we pack our bags for more travel. It sometimes feels like we spend as much time away from Lima as we do living here.

Course materials for the 'Helping Babies Breath' training. We also provide the ventilators shown here for each participant, along with training mannequins.

We will share more on this project as the courses unfold in the coming weeks.

Historic Central Lima

On our day off (Saturday) we returned to take in the sights around central Lima. 'Centro de Lima' is a UNESCO World Heritage site, given the many historical buildings built by the Spaniards during colonial times. It was a fun place to visit with friends from our Area Office.

Michael Trejo (who works with us in our Area Office) and his wife Nadia joined us in Central Lima. Shown here is Plaza Mayor with the central fountain and cathedral in the background.

Beautiful facade of one of the many colonial cathedrals in central Lima. 

In many respects, central Lima feels more Spanish than many places we have visited in Spain due to the carefully preserved architecture.

Spanish balconies and arched entryways show that this city was the Spanish capital of the New World.

Throughout central Lima are hundreds of beautiful buildings built by the rich of a by-gone era.

Sandy and Nadia Trejo in front of the Presidential Palace, the focal point of the Plaza Mayor.

The many colonial buildings remind us of being in Spain again - a beautiful, sunny spring day here in the Southern Hemisphere. By January this place will be too hot to enjoy..

Jiron de la Union, the main pedestrian street in central Lima - filled with crowds on the weekend.

Peruvian Soccer and the World Cup

Peru is a soccer-crazed country. They play soccer in every city park. Soccer games play continually on the television in every restaurant we have visited throughout the country. Soccer is like a second religion to most Peruvians.

The past months have been filled with soccer games as Peru competed to qualify for the World Cup of Soccer next year in Russia. The Peruvian team won their final game this week against New Zealand, and so, for the first time in 36 years, they are going to the World Cup. 

Lima exploded with celebrations all night long on Thursday after the win. Horns honked, sirens blared, and revelers took to the streets until sunrise. It was crazy!

Peruvian National Soccer Team - Moving on the World Cup in Russia next year.

On game days, millions of people throughout Lima (men, women, and children) dress in the uniform shirt - it is a sea of white and red everywhere. Even in our Area Office, with the hundred employees, perhaps half show up on game day in red and white.

I had to take this shot of our boss, Alex Principe, wearing his red-and-white headband on game days to show his patriotic support. We all thought it was pretty strange. I told Alex I was going to share this shot to show our families and friends the 'savages' with whom we work.

Alex - one of the soccer 'savages' with whom we work.

While I may not be the greatest soccer fan in the world, I have to admit that I started watching the qualifying matches on TV and getting into the excitement of it. If nothing else, it is endearing to see how seriously everyone takes the sport here. I felt 'half-Peruvian' by my involvement.

And so we begin another week of crazy activity leading up to our medical training trip in a week. 'Busy' seems to be the middle name of this humanitarian mission.