We´re supposed to fit in that thing?

On Tuesday, the rest of the team (Mary, Ruben, Chris, Kelli, and the two med students Brandon and Colleen) arrived in Cuzco. Meanwhile, Adam, Carolyn, and Mike were preparing as best they could for the transportation strike that was planned for Wednesday and Thursday by buying all of the food, water testing supplies, etc for our trip to Sanka and Araypallpa. During the strike, all markets would be closed, all taxis would be out of service, all buses would be stopped, all schools closed, and if a tourist bus tried to leave the city, there was a chance you would have rocks thrown at you! Adam, Mike, and Carolyn were able to meet with MINSA (the Ministry of Healh in Peru) to discuss our water projects in Araypallpa and line up some free testing as well as talk with the Director of Health about constructing a health clinic in the community of Sanka. MINSA also expressed interest in coming to Araypallpa wih us to integrate our education program with theirs, which is huge to get them involved in this way! On July 16, Carolyn and Kelli will be meeting with MINSA to coordinate education workshop plans.

Our team was finally all together on Tuesday night. We had a meeting at 7pm with the residents of Sanka that live in Cuzco (Asociacion de los Residentes de la Comunidad de Sanka) in the back room of a resturant called Kiswa in downtown Cuzco. The meeting went well overall. The association expressed their thanks for our work with Sanka and our team expressed our enthuiasm for the project in Sanka. The number one pririty of Sankans is the construction of a health post in the community. Our group specializes in providing technical guidance for projects such a building a health post and it was important to be clear about our potential role if this health post project goes through. We expressed several times that the community must work with MINSA or another NGO to find a solution to long-term staffing of the health post in order for our group to move forward with construction. The community representatives explained their need for a healh post (high infant mortality rate, 1.5 hr hike to closest nurse, inconsistent/insufficient health service at Colcha health post, many women dying during child birth or tansportation to health post, and the need to cross a major river to get to the health post). They also shared their 3 needs pertained to funding and technical guidance for (1) Construction of the health post (2) equipment for the health post (3) personnel for the health post (1 nurse). The meeting was lead by Erbert Farfan of the comuneros (Sankans living in Cuzco). Due to the large meeting size and number of voices at the meeting, we set up another, smaller meeting with Erbert at his house for Wednesday at 5pm. After the meeting, the group wound down over a cheap meal of Aji de Gallina and Sopa de Verduras.

On Wednesday, the strike kept us from travelling too far from Cuzco. All markets were closed and none of the government offices were open. The group focused on organizing our project supplies and preparing for our work in Sanka. Unfortunately, we wouldnt be ble to leave until Friday now, taking two days off our visit to Sanka. At 5pm, Mary, Carolyn, Ruben, and Adam met with Williar and Wilbert Cardenaz Vargaz (Erbert was unable to make the meeting) to discuss the Assocition´s plans for making this healh post happen and also listen to their needs for creating a health post. They were clear that they (WARA and Sankans) would take the lead on the application process with MINSA and they were looking to us for technical advice and guidance throughout the construction proces. They have access to annual funds from the District of Rondocan and they are hoping this will help with expenses associated with the health post.

On Thursday, the strike was less aparent and we were able to trave more freely around Cuzco. However, we still couldnt travel to Sanka because the local told us it would be too dangerous. So, our team hit up the crazy markets (El Molino, San Pedro, etc) to stock up on more food supplies for our time up in Sanka and Araypallpa. These are the kind of markets where cow tongues, frog legs, fish heads, goat heads, and guinea pigs are stocked all over the place. Quite an experience. By the end of the day Thursday, we were going a bit crazy in Cuzco and were ready to get up to nka and start working with the rural village people. Thats what this trip is all about! Although, some of us are hesitant about the bathroom situation (there isnt one) and the sleeping quarters (bed bugs are not fun!). We´ll be alright though, its good to get out of our safe little worlds every now and then, right?

Now, its Friday morning and we have our group of 10, including 6 UCSB students, one staff advisor, one mentor, & one translator, and we´re waiting for our Combi to arrive (the first one was way too small and we all said "Uh, are we supposed to fit in THAT thing?"). It hould be a 5 hour ride up to Sanka and hopefully the community is ready for us! We will return to Cuzco on the 15th or 16th and tavel to Araypallpa the next day. The team is doing great. Ruben has been our crutch for translating between the gringos and the locals, although Kelli, Adam, Mary, and Colleen can (kind of) hold their own. Mike and Chris have been dubbed the teams official "eye candy" since they usually sit quietly through meetings and "look pretty" :) . We´re also very excited to have Brandon and Colleen (med students from Baylor) join us to provide continued health asessment of both Sanka and Araypallpa. Kelli is our eternal energy source and Carolyn is always good for a laugh or in-depth conversation about ´the detrimental affects of our beef industry on global climate change.

We will update the blog when we return to Cuzco in 5 days. Thank you for listening! We are doing our best to approach this project and the people of Sanka and Araypallpa with a sense of humility and kindness. The most exciting thing about the next two weeks is just spending time with the locals and building relationships.

Hasta Luego,

Adam