March 26, 2010

Today was a very emotionally charged day. I spent the entire morning at La Caleta, a government-run hospital near the harbor. This place was nowhere near an inhabitable hospital setting. The rooms had anywhere from 6-8 people in them. No TVs, no bathrooms. The beds were old, decrepit, rusty things with orange plastic mattresses. No sheets. No pillows. Maybe a blanket if they brought one from home. I visited Carmen, a woman I saw yesterday at the medical post who was pregnant and leaking fluid. She gave birth around 2am. For these new moms, nothing special. Again, no sheets--no pillows.......

There was a 14 year old girl who had just delivered a baby. No support system, no family. She has to work the streets to make money to survive. Most of these young girls are now being diagnosed with HIV when they test positive for pregnancy.

I spent an hour with the doctor and nurse who oversee the SIDA, or AIDS program. It is just SO sad! I saw the registery of people who are registed as having AIDS. Most of them are ages 16-35. There's an equal amount of men and women by my estimation. I saw very young people coming in for their meds and other treatments. My heart was just sick. With meds, their life expectancy is only up to 5 years because of the poor conditions here. Without meds, only about 1 year from diagnosis to death. The government is supplying medications to those who have HIV/AIDS through a World Fund. This will only be for about the next 2 years, and the funds are projected to run out. There is nothing in place in Peru to continue the programs. Chimbote has a very large gay population, and a very large prostitution rate. Education is scant, and those who have the disease are considered "outcasts". They do not utilize the hospital for their care, as they are shunned by staff. So they are taken care of by outreach workers from our Hospice facility here at Fr. Jack's.

On my way out, there was another young teenager in labor in the hallway about to give birth. Nobody was helping her except for some family members rubbing her back. She was crying, and the desperation on her face was heartbreaking. We also visited a little girl from Wilder's neighborhood. She's 18 months old and fell onto a boiling pot of water in her estera home. Her hands are severely burned almost up to her elbows. They are hoping to save her hands, however the healthcare is SO poor there, I believe if she doesn't die of infection, she will be incapacitated for life.

Yesterday when I was working at the medical post, a young man came in for dressing changes. He had been attacked on Saturday with a knife by someone who stole his shoes.....Adidas, in fact. He has a 7 inch laceration to his lower leg, a 5 inch laceration to his right shoulder blade, and a 4 inch laceration/stab wound to his left side. Dr. Luis had stitched him up on Saturday, and we did the dressing changes for him. The medical care at Santa Ana is outstanding compared to that of the hospital.

Braeden is doing much better. He woke up yesterday with "life" in him and has been eating. I would say he's about normal now. They worked at Kelvin's this morning at the wood working shop.

Tomorrow we will meet at the church at 6am for the "Walk of Faith" procession. It's anticipated that 2-3000 people will make the trek up the mountain to the church on the hill. Brinley has chosen not to attend and will go to Nuevo Chimbote with Luis Carlos tomorrow. Luis is working on getting a teaching job there. She has enjoyed spending time with "Luigie"---he's helping her with some of her homework. She remembers him well from when he lived with us for 3 months, so I am comfortable with this friendship.

Monique Moser is scheduled to arrive around 2pm or so. The kids are very excited! They hope she had enough room to pack a football for them!

Well, enough for now. I need to pack the backpacks with water and snacks, find the sunscreen, and find our sneakers, as tomorrow morning will arrive very soon.

Love to all,
Collette