The Rest of the Week

On Wednesday, the group (minus Sam) spent the day at Kuschinik (the daycare center) and helped special needs children.  We saw a wide range of patients, whom we got to experience very different techniques of therapy with. The cases that stuck with us the most were the two children who had club foot, which is something easily corrected in The States, a child with a case of extreme toe walking that walked in a crouch position with walking sticks, and a child with a spinal cord injury that had really bad scoliosis. For each case we followed the lead of Erin and Jodee and helped fit them with orthotics, serial casting, and a molded wheel chair back respectively. Getting to use/make all these things in the clinic was a great expereince because of the wide vareity. Each patient we saw had an extended amount of time with the therapists (and us).  It was really awesome that we got alot of patient/therapist contact. The last patient of the day had a spinal cord injury and was in his late teens.  He was the one who we ended up giving the donated Quickie wheelchair that we transported from Bolivar. The ability to make an impact in these people's lives by being here to help is going to stay with us the rest of our own lives and is a tremendous feeling to make that kind of difference.

On Thursday our group (minus Sam) spent the day at an orphange working with 8 children who had special needs. We spent most of the time working on wheelchairs, fitting them specifically for the patients. After seeing the 8 patients, we had the afternoon off to arrange our travel on Saturday and to explore Ayacucho. So we went to the super mercado, or super market as you might know it, shopped for souveniers and stopped to have cheesecake at one of the local restaurants, which was possibly the best we've ever had. Afterwards we spent awhile in the square and rested in the park trying to think of a talent for the talent show that was sprung upon us. On our way back to the hotel we ran into Sam and Ashley and went back to the market and looked for more souveniers. Once we returned to the hotel, we had dinner with several people that helped while we were in the clinic and others who were going to particpate in the talent show. There were quite a few acts that were pretty good from the Crazy Canucks who bashed Americans the whole time to Jodee's line dance. Our group "America's Got No Talent" had the final skit where we played a game that was like charades mixed with telephone, in front of the audience. Everyone enjoyed our embarrising charades of Titanic, The Lion King, and Snow White, and we all had a good time.

On our final day in the clinic before the excursion, our whole PT team was together at the high school near our hotel. There was long line of people waiting before we even got there. Compared to the previous day it seemed that our services spread by word of mouth.   So as soon as we got off the bus we were off to set up and get the line moving. PT's therapy room was packed with patients with two mat tables being used and a floor mat.   Being the last day of the mission, it felt like Erin and Jodee gave us students freedom in treating the patients under their supervision, which was an awesome experience.  During this past week alone we each learned alot.  After work we had the farewell dinner at our favorite dessert place, and got to eat one last time as a newly formed family. The table we sat at overlooked the church.  A parade, that our group was not expecting, came by celebrating the beginning of holy week. Holy week in Peru is a big party and it was interesting to see how they celebrate. Once we got back to the hotel we expressed our thanks to Erin and Jodee, the PT's who serve full-time here in Peru that we worked wth this week, as well as Taylor who saved us in the airport with postcards that we all signed. We finished the night with different cardgames and packing. Now on to the planes, train, and bus to Macchu Pichu!   

 

Thank you for your support and your prayers this week!

News from the field

Hey guys!
Sorry we have not keep you posted up to this point. It has been a crazy, fun, busy adventure.

Jen is being studious while she waits

When we arrived to Lima, our flight to Ayucucho was delayed a hour, then another hour,then another hour, then it was finally cancelled. So we were in Lima, no Spanish, and not quite sure where to go from here.

Then the good Lord sent us a saving grace with a 68 year old cowboy. He set us up with a bus ride to Ayacucho for 9pm and a tour of Lima for the day. He set us up with an amazing tour guide, Willie who took us to the best sites in the city and informed us of all the foods to try for the remainder of the trip. The day was fun filled ranging from Jen falling in the Pacific ocean to a trip to the el parque de amor. By 8:30pm we were boarding the bus to Ayachucho and all ready to pass out since we were running on  a couple hours of sleep. The group was all troopers, so the slight adversity turned out to be another one of God's blessings:).



 Nothing like airport sleeping

We arrived safely to Ayacucho, thank you Jesus. We slept a majority of the  ride. Then we arrived an our hotel, changed quickly, and head off to the clinic. For the first day we went to a grade school about an hour from our hotel. It was set up where the patients began with an initial evaluation: history, blood presure, etc then they were referred to the proper discipline. We all worked in the physical therapy section. We saw a wide variety of patient from low back pain to cerebral palsy. It was amazing to see how much the patients appreciated their treatments. We came home to an amazing dinner, can't remember the name of the food though:(
Then we walked around town, and had the best icecream and brownies in town.

The next day we returned to the same clinic in the morning; it was a very busy morning. In the afternoon we headed to a daycare for children with disabilities. Here, we were able to see Jodee fit and give three children wheelchairs. It was amazing!! One of the mothers traveled 6 hours to get her daughter a wheelchair, two hours carrying her daughter to the bus stop. All the patients were extremely thankful. We also got to see Erin, another physical therapist on the team, examine two young girls. They both received AFO's and hand splints.

                                          Meghan with one of the patients

 God is definitely at work here and it is incredible to witness.

Busy, busy, busy!

Although we have not gotten a full blog report from the team, we do know that they arrived safely in Ayacucho early Monday morning after their overnight bus ride from Lima.  They hit the ground running and have been very busy since they got there.  With a busy schedule and unreliable internet in Peru, we don't know how many blog updates they will be able to provide.

Regardless, please keep praying for them this week, that God will use them uniquely to meet as many needs as possible, according to His grand plan.

First lesson in missions: Be Flexible

We got word that all 4 members of the SBU PT team arrived as scheduled in Lima last night.  As of this moment, they are supposed to be on a bus leaving out of Lima to go through the mountains overnight to Ayacucho.  They are getting this wonderful change in their schedule due to heavy rains causing their morning flight out of Lima to be cancelled this morning.  So, they were to board a bus at 9pm for an overnight ride to Ayacucho.  They are to arrive there at 6am, almost 48 hours into their journey...two days and nights with no shower and no bed to sleep in all of that time.

So, please pray for their safety, health, and spirits as they try to reach the destination where their hearts long to serve the people.

2013 Spring Break Team Ready to GO!

Meghan is all packed and ready to go

The 2013 SBU DPT Mission team is gearing up for their adventure to Ayacucho, Peru over Spring Break.  Meghan and Nick had their packing party this week in Bolivar to stuff the many donated PT supplies into their luggage and bundle up sets of wheelchairs and walking devices for transport.  Jennifer and Sam will meet up with them along the journey (transporting their share of PT supplies), as they all converge on Peru over the weekend.  They all have about 24 hours of planned travel time ahead of them before they reach their final destination.  In Ayacucho, they will hit the ground running with the rest of the MMI volunteers on the medical team.

Pray that their travel plans go smoothly and that customs is a breeze in Lima.  And stay tuned to this blog for updates on the team throughout the week!