This is a daunting blog entry that’s been hanging over my head for over a week or so now….sooo much to catch you all up on my dear readers. :) Bev, Scott, and I headed off to Cusco a few days before the February mission team arrived from Boise in order to visit some of the local Methodist churches in the area and get prepared for the team to arrive. We had the opportunity to visit a number of communities that had been affected by the recent flooding in the Cusco area. The water supplies of many of these communities were severely contaminated, causing problems and illnesses from parasites, particularly among children. Scott had come prepared to encounter this and had brought along some tablets, allowing us to treat about 20 children in one of the communities for parasites.  

We also had the opportunity to visit some of the church’s economic development projects, including their Cuy Farming projects…aka Guinea Pig Farms. These projects have allowed many of the church women to not only begin to have a stable source of income, but has also allowed them to be able to start financially supporting their local churches as well. Was a fun day of visiting all the cute little guys…until at the end of the day the church women treated us to a delicacy……that’s right….you guessed it….guinea pig. I’d already tried it once, but it was SOOO much harder the second time after visiting and playing with them all day! For more pics from our visits with the Cusco churches and communities, click on the following link: http://whereintheworldiscammeo.shutterfly.com/835 

The February mission team arrived safe and sound all the way from Boise, Idaho, and two weeks of work, fun, and all sorts of craziness began! While in Cusco we had the opportunity to visit many of the Inca ruins and the Sacred Valley…truly incredible structures, set in picturesque mountainsides and valleys. For more pictures from my travel adventures with the group, click on the following link: http://whereintheworldiscammeo.shutterfly.com/740 

While still in Cusco the team worked on a small water purification project for one of the communities affected by the flooding. We made buckets with pictures and simple instructions for making potable water using a two buckets system and Clorox. We then trained Wilbur, a member of the community, how to administer the purification process and how to teach his community about the precautions that must be taken with the Clorox. It was a small project, but was certainly much needed and appreciated for this small community that had been devestated by the flooding.

We arrived in Puno and bright and early the next morning we hit the ground running with our very first “La Buena Salud” (Good Health) Health Clinic. Many of the women from the mission group came well prepared with bible stories, crafts, and games and hosted an excellent Vacation Bible School for the children who came to the clinic. With assistance from a local nutritionist, Wilma, and a local Biologist, Vilma, our clinic had educational presentations about nutrition, dental health, and germs/bacteria/disease prevention. Community members were also able to pay a VERY small fee (less than one dollar) to visit our ophthalmologist, Scott, and our local dentist, Paola, who is generously volunteering her time to help with our programs. Those who visited Scott received reading glasses if needed or sunglasses for protection, and almost every single person who visited Paola had several teeth that needed to be pulled…of which she could only pull 1 or 2 in a single day. (Dental health is a serious problem here….which is why a huge part of our clinics is TEACHING about how to brush your teeth and maintain good oral health.) For more pics from our Puno health clinic, click on the following link: http://whereintheworldiscammeo.shutterfly.com/880 

The Puno clinic was a great success and gave us the boost and encouragement we needed as we headed off to Bolivia for two more days of clinics and VBS. We had excellent turnouts at both clinics, and in Bolivia we no longer had the assistance of Wilma and Vilma for our educational presentations on nutrition, dental health, and germs/bacteria/disease prevention…so Bev and I stepped up to the plate. I switched from Paola’s dental assistant to Dental Health Educator…which I actually REALLY enjoyed! I taught in Spanish about the importance of taking care of your teeth from a very early age, the way in which cavities and poor dental health can lead to further illnesses/diseases, how sweets and other foods impact their teeth, and when/how to properly brush their teeth. For more pics from our Bolivia health clinics and travels, click on the following link: http://whereintheworldiscammeo.shutterfly.com/908 .

Overall it was an incredibly exciting and fun two weeks of work and play with the February mission team, and I was very sad to have to bid them all farewell so soon. From the clinics, to the travel, to just getting to know such fun and interesting people, my experience with the February mission team has me looking forward to the arrival of the next two mission teams with eager anticipation!

Last but not least…I’ve been diligently working on creating pamphlets, presentations, and blogs (in both English and Spanish) with information about our mission down here and our “La Buena Salud” project in order to be able to better inform people here and in the states about the work we are doing here. Sooo, if you are interested in checking out our mission’s spiffy new blog, you can read it in English at  http://laketiticacabordermission.wordpress.com/ or in Spanish at http://misionfronteras.wordpress.com/. It’s still a work in progress, so I would love to hear your feedback on whether or not there is info missing or questions that you still have after reading it, etc.

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