Date: September 22- October 1, 2024
Partner: A Broader View Volunteers
Specialties Needed: OBGYN, Family Practice, Hospitalist, Physical Therapists, Nurses, NP/PA, Emergency Medicine

About the Mission: If you love to work with children, the elderly, or provide healthcare education, this is the trip for you! The team will work together to set up pop-up clinics in Cusco and travel to remote communities outside of the city to provide care to those who have little to no access to healthcare. The team may work at a women’s abuse shelter, girls orphanage, and an elderly care center. Expect to spend 50% of your time providing care and 50% of your time doing global health outreach, teaching about malnutrition, children’s health, oral and basic hygiene.

Most indigenous people of Peru are viewed as needing full assistance to solve their multiple health problems. Illness in these communities is made much worse from a lack of knowledge about how to manage their healthcare, resulting in needless deaths among this already diminishing population. The most common diagnosis ailments include parasites, headaches, osteoarthritis, gastritis, GERD, UTI, and physical therapy needs.

About Peru: Cusco Peru is known as the undisputed historic capital of the Inca empire. Cusco also serves as the gateway to Machu Picchu, one of the most famous sights on the South American continent. Situated at 3,400 m (11,150 ft), Cusco is a beautiful city of whitewashed walls, red-tiled roofs, and soaring churches nestled in a fertile mountain basin.

Although in recent years Peru has benefited from a rise in tourism that offers some economic relief, millions of Peruvians live below the poverty line. More than half of the country’s people struggle to survive. Close to one fourth of the population lives in extreme poverty. In recent decades there has been measures taken to reduce disparities between classes, but vast difference still exists. High infant mortality rates, poor sanitation, higher occurrences of communicable diseases are all issues facing the country of Peru.

Shamanism is still an important part of medical care in Peru, with curanderos, traditional healers, serving local communities. In Peru, and many other indigenous regions of Latin America, there is strong reliance on medicinal plants. Western medicine and traditional medicine are not viewed as mutually exclusive, and instead are used complementary.

Program Cost:$2,400
Estimated Economy Airfare: $1,500
Type of Accommodation: Homestay
Cultural Experience: 2-day trip to Machu Picchu

Sponsored Trip Details: If you are chosen as one of the providers to go on this medical mission, the Making a Difference Foundation will cover the program costs associated with this trip. The program costs include homestay accommodations, 3 meals per day, airport transfers on arrival/departure in Cusco Peru, and the cultural activity of going to Machu Picchu.

If you are interested in more information, or would like to apply for this trip, please submit a trip interest form below.