Be Flexible!

It does not seem to matter how much I travel to Peru – I have a hard time remembering that the best of any plans will often be changed.

Our team has just arrived to a hotel in Miraflores after a 14-hour bus ride from Arequipa. We are a bit sleep deprived and in desperate need of showers – but all and all, we are in really good spirits and excited for our outreach project to Carabayllo tomorrow.

That is until we were slapped in the face with a big dose of reality.

The purpose of our outreach campaign to Carabayllo (in the Northern Cone district of Lima – a sprawling peri-urban slum of over 1.5 million) is not to deliver medical and dental care, but to support the development of a sustainable outreach project to the area through a collaboration with the Anglican church of Peru’s non-governmental health care outreach program. We planned to spend the better part of 5-hours surveying the needs of the community through an administered questionnaire and through observational evaluations obtained by a team of Peruvian physicians and dentists during a small clinic outreach.

When we arrived at the hotel this afternoon we were told that there is a “political power struggle” going on in the area – and that it may be too dangerous for us to go. It seems that elections are going to take place in three of the small communities that make up the area know as Valle Segrado in Carabayllo. The officials seeking leadership positions are angry that “and America team” is coming down to make the official of another community “look good.” Through telephone conversation the leaders have alerted one of our in-country staff to this “issue” and requested that we not conduct the clinic.

Daniel Bueno Rojas, HBI’s in-country lawyer and “go-to-guy”, is traveling up to Carabayllo (a four hour round trip) to try and sort out the issues and help to smooth the way for our clinic in less than 16-hours. He seems to think that he can convince the powers that be - that everyone can “win” from the clinic and the community assessment. He is, however, concerned about the potential for violence if we show up for the clinic and we have not fully discussed our intentions with all of the elected/nominated officials.

His parting words to me as he left the hotel for Carabayllo were – “we will need to wait to decide yes or no for the clinic until around 11 pm tonight.” Alas, we are in a state of pause awaiting our next steps. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this whole “waiting game” is that we need to get back on a bus for Arequipa tomorrow night for another 14-hours of transport.