I don't know what happened to my camera, but the effect is kinda cool.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas in Carmen Pampa
The Midnight Mass in Carmen Pampa is a sight to behold. Every year, women from the community teach the children a dance -- and this year it was a dance of angels.
I don't know what happened to my camera, but the effect is kinda cool.
I don't know what happened to my camera, but the effect is kinda cool.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Felicidades, Fico
Federico Carrizales has been in Carmen Pampa for much of his life. After being orphaned, he and his sisters were taken in by Sister Damon to finish high school in Carmen Pampa. Federico's sister Cecilia, and later his other sister Claudia, came to the College and graduated; with a final push from Sister Chris, Federico's graduation marks the fulfiling of a promise made to Sister Damon: graduate and contribute.
And contribue he does: Federico runs the College's hog farm. Doctor Federico is leading the transition from production of hogs for the meat processing plant to production of piglets and sows for farmer groups that will produce hogs for the plant.
Federico graduated mid-December. We expect his wife Dani (center) to graduate in February.
And contribue he does: Federico runs the College's hog farm. Doctor Federico is leading the transition from production of hogs for the meat processing plant to production of piglets and sows for farmer groups that will produce hogs for the plant.
Federico graduated mid-December. We expect his wife Dani (center) to graduate in February.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Advent
Today we had an Advent service with all of the departments at the College. Our Director Father Freddy gave a short presentation about the liturgical focus of each of the four weeks, and Sister Marleny lead us in a reflection interspersed with singing.
The reflection focused on preparing your heart for Christmas. How can better put into practice our love for our brothers and sisters in the world? How can we better serve our students who have entrusted in us their future, their hopes?
At the end, we each lit a candle and each asked for a gift from the Holy Spirit during this time of preparation: patience, understanding, peace, forgiveness.
The reflection focused on preparing your heart for Christmas. How can better put into practice our love for our brothers and sisters in the world? How can we better serve our students who have entrusted in us their future, their hopes?
At the end, we each lit a candle and each asked for a gift from the Holy Spirit during this time of preparation: patience, understanding, peace, forgiveness.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
November grads
November 20th brought two new professionals into the family of graduates at the College. In the morning, Juan Carlos Ballivian defended his research project analyzing a survey of families in the municipality where the College is located (Municipalidad de Coroico). His results showed that most families have from 4 to 6 members (though some had as many as 12!), and that families on our side of the mountain make on average 29 bolivianos per day (about $4/day). 63% of heads of households have not finished elementary school.
His results also showed that farmers with less land looked for more opportunities for courses about better farming techniques. Juan Carlos explained that farmers with less land need to be more efficient to support their families, and so they seek out information.
This research gives us information that helps us develop more effective extension strategies. Gracias, Juan Carlos!
Photo: Director of the College Father Freddy poses with the morning graduate Juan Carlos Ballivian.
In the afternoon, Carmen Pampa native Lucila Cama presented the results from her project looking at the production of stevia, a plant that serves as a natural sweetener. She showed that using an organic foliar fertilizar called biol lead to increased production, and more profitability. Bienvenida a la familia de titulados, Lucila!
Photo: (L to R) Research advisor Manuel Chino, René Villca, College Director Father Freddy,new grad Lucila Cama, Desiderio Flores and Agronomy Director José Luis Beltrán (photo from Sarah Mechtenberg).
His results also showed that farmers with less land looked for more opportunities for courses about better farming techniques. Juan Carlos explained that farmers with less land need to be more efficient to support their families, and so they seek out information.
This research gives us information that helps us develop more effective extension strategies. Gracias, Juan Carlos!
Photo: Director of the College Father Freddy poses with the morning graduate Juan Carlos Ballivian.
In the afternoon, Carmen Pampa native Lucila Cama presented the results from her project looking at the production of stevia, a plant that serves as a natural sweetener. She showed that using an organic foliar fertilizar called biol lead to increased production, and more profitability. Bienvenida a la familia de titulados, Lucila!
Photo: (L to R) Research advisor Manuel Chino, René Villca, College Director Father Freddy,new grad Lucila Cama, Desiderio Flores and Agronomy Director José Luis Beltrán (photo from Sarah Mechtenberg).
Thanksgiving
We have so much to be thankful for here in Carmen Pampa, but the thing that I appreciate the most is the opportunity to do something meaningful with my life that I also love to do. And surrounded by wonderful people!
We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year, on last Sunday, and invited the Franciscan Sisters, the priests from Coroico, and some friends from along the way. We were going to have one of the free-range turkeys that our neighbor was raising, but it was too skinny (lucky him!), but we did get a picture out of it (Thanks, Lee). Here is our T-day crew (photo from Sarah Purcell).
We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year, on last Sunday, and invited the Franciscan Sisters, the priests from Coroico, and some friends from along the way. We were going to have one of the free-range turkeys that our neighbor was raising, but it was too skinny (lucky him!), but we did get a picture out of it (Thanks, Lee). Here is our T-day crew (photo from Sarah Purcell).
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A place for professors
Our professors who teach on Campus Manning (vet, tourism and nursing professors) were living in an old building from way back, when the Franciscan Sisters and Xaverian Brothers ran the high school. This year, we are adding a second floor and remodeling the whole thing. This is how it looks so far:
One of our "indispensables" is Donato Monrroy, our Campus Manning maintenance man and keeper of Carmen Pampa history: he was invited by Sister Damon to help at the high school in Carmen Pampa long ago, and has supported the College since its conception. Three cheers for this incredible man.
One of our "indispensables" is Donato Monrroy, our Campus Manning maintenance man and keeper of Carmen Pampa history: he was invited by Sister Damon to help at the high school in Carmen Pampa long ago, and has supported the College since its conception. Three cheers for this incredible man.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
More Todos Santos
The second day of Todos Santos, November 2nd, people go from house to house, visiting and praying for the souls visiting from the Other Side. Tara Nolan and I did some visiting Monday in San Pedro, a nearby community where some students at the College come from.
We prayed for the souls of the Mamani family, then watched as kids came in to pray. Around noon, the souls leave the house for the cemetery where they hang out.
The next day we went to the cemetery in Carmen Pampa where community members were saying their goodbyes to the souls departing for their world until next year. Here some community women rest after the souls had gone.
Later Tara and I went up to the little cemetery at the Puerto del Viento where the community members of Choro were dispatching the souls of their family members. Here a family stands with the t'antawawas (bread people) and phasancalla (puffed corn) that is given to people who pray for the family souls. (Tara and I went home with two bags full of bread people!)
Thank you, Tara, for your photos!
We prayed for the souls of the Mamani family, then watched as kids came in to pray. Around noon, the souls leave the house for the cemetery where they hang out.
The next day we went to the cemetery in Carmen Pampa where community members were saying their goodbyes to the souls departing for their world until next year. Here some community women rest after the souls had gone.
Later Tara and I went up to the little cemetery at the Puerto del Viento where the community members of Choro were dispatching the souls of their family members. Here a family stands with the t'antawawas (bread people) and phasancalla (puffed corn) that is given to people who pray for the family souls. (Tara and I went home with two bags full of bread people!)
Thank you, Tara, for your photos!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Todos Santos, Part 1
Todos Santos, All Saints Day, is a special time for the families around Carmen Pampa. The souls of departed family members return to the community once per year, and visit their living relatives. Last night I went up to the neighboring community Chovacollo to see friends and pray for the souls that were at their houses, visiting.
At one compadre's house, the family was up baking bread for the family altar they were preparing for the parents and other relatives who no longer lived on Earth.
At another house, the mother had made an altar for her daughter who died this year ("She just wasted away," the mother explained). I sat for a few hours talking to the farmers that had congregated there.
It is a nice time to slow down, reconnect with old friends, hear stories about the past, and contemplate our lives and the time we have left to make a difference for our brothers and sisters, wherever they are, however we can.
At one compadre's house, the family was up baking bread for the family altar they were preparing for the parents and other relatives who no longer lived on Earth.
At another house, the mother had made an altar for her daughter who died this year ("She just wasted away," the mother explained). I sat for a few hours talking to the farmers that had congregated there.
It is a nice time to slow down, reconnect with old friends, hear stories about the past, and contemplate our lives and the time we have left to make a difference for our brothers and sisters, wherever they are, however we can.
Javier Alvarez
Sister Damon Nolan's niece Tara Nolan and I went to see Javier Álvarez this weekend to chat about the College's coffee project. Javier used to organize the coffee purchases from communities around the College. When Tara asked about what he is doing now, he told us part of his life story.
Javier and his wife studied at another campus of Catholic University on the Bolivian Altiplano, and Javier graduated with an associate degree in Agribusiness. Then he went to work for an organization that helped farmers near Carmen Pampa. Sister Damon encouraged him to get a licenciatura degree to have more skills and credentials, and make a bigger impact. helping farmers be more profitable and improve their quality of life. She offered him a job at the College while he studied.
He took her advice and worked on an agronomy degree. However, half way through his studies, he got in a motorcycle accident and was in the hospital for a year and a half. Even this could not discourage him from his dream: though a limp reduces his movement, he continued working toward his degree and finished in 2007, researching how the coffee plant water treatment works.
"Sister Damon was like a mother to me, and never let me get discouraged," he told us as we sat with his wife and daughter in the shade of a tree near his house. "Her vision carries us far, and will carry us into a future of dignity and understanding."
Sarah writes about what Javier is doing now on her blog Uchumachi.
Javier and his wife studied at another campus of Catholic University on the Bolivian Altiplano, and Javier graduated with an associate degree in Agribusiness. Then he went to work for an organization that helped farmers near Carmen Pampa. Sister Damon encouraged him to get a licenciatura degree to have more skills and credentials, and make a bigger impact. helping farmers be more profitable and improve their quality of life. She offered him a job at the College while he studied.
He took her advice and worked on an agronomy degree. However, half way through his studies, he got in a motorcycle accident and was in the hospital for a year and a half. Even this could not discourage him from his dream: though a limp reduces his movement, he continued working toward his degree and finished in 2007, researching how the coffee plant water treatment works.
"Sister Damon was like a mother to me, and never let me get discouraged," he told us as we sat with his wife and daughter in the shade of a tree near his house. "Her vision carries us far, and will carry us into a future of dignity and understanding."
Sarah writes about what Javier is doing now on her blog Uchumachi.
More grads
Last week the College had two more graduates, both in the agronomy department.
First was Rosemary Gutiérrez who compared 5 different varieties of beans here in Carmen Pampa, and discovered that two of the five were good producers, especially when inoculated with a bacteria that helps the plants get the element nitrogen from the atmosphere. Beans are important because they can improve protein intake, especially important for growing children.
Photo: Rosemary stands with Father Freddy after her successful defense.
The next day, Wednesday, student Daniel Choquetarqui defended his work with Beauveria bassiana, a beneficial fungus that kills coffee borer, a coffee pest. We grow it in the laboratory to bring to the field and apply in coffee fields. His laboratory trial of production of fungal strains from different communities at different temperatures showed that the strain from the community La Asunta produced the most spores, and that 24ºC is the best temperature for growing the fungus in the lab.
Photo: Daniel poses with his parents.
First was Rosemary Gutiérrez who compared 5 different varieties of beans here in Carmen Pampa, and discovered that two of the five were good producers, especially when inoculated with a bacteria that helps the plants get the element nitrogen from the atmosphere. Beans are important because they can improve protein intake, especially important for growing children.
Photo: Rosemary stands with Father Freddy after her successful defense.
The next day, Wednesday, student Daniel Choquetarqui defended his work with Beauveria bassiana, a beneficial fungus that kills coffee borer, a coffee pest. We grow it in the laboratory to bring to the field and apply in coffee fields. His laboratory trial of production of fungal strains from different communities at different temperatures showed that the strain from the community La Asunta produced the most spores, and that 24ºC is the best temperature for growing the fungus in the lab.
Photo: Daniel poses with his parents.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Catherine at the College
Last summer, Smith student Catherine Moriarty came to the College for an internship with Mary Murphy, Smith professor and long-time friend. Since then, she has graduated from Smith with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and a minor in Spanish, and returned to the Carmen Pampa as a visiting professional (volunteer). She has quickly become a key piece of the English program in our Ecotourism major, working with students in all semesters to practice what they learn in class -- and she makes it divertido. She is also skilled in sports, spending time with students as a coach and as a salon soccer and basketball player. Also, one thing our students need is someone just to listen to them, and Catherine is a great listener, giving generously of her time. We are very fortunate to have her.
Carmen Pampa Fund meetings
We met new Executive Director John Estrem this week at the meeting of the Joint Planning and Advisory Committee meeting on campus. We shared our vision for the next three years, and developed plans with the Fund for working together to keep the College going strong, educating these amazing young people so that their dreams for a future free of poverty will some day be our reality here. Welcome, John, and thank you, Sue Wheeler, for your dedication and love for us and the school.
Photo: The Committee! (front, L to R) Academic Secretary Manuela Urbina, Religious Ed Coordinator Sister Jean Morrissey, Coroico Bishop Juan Vargas, Franciscan Sister Maureen Coyle, (back) Advisor and former Bolivian Embassador to the U.S. Jorge Crespo, College Director Father Freddy del Villar, Carmen Pampa Fund Director John Estrem, College Vice Director of the College Hugh Smeltekop, Carmen Pampa Fund Liaison Sarah Mechtenberg, former Carmen Pampa Fund Director Sue Wheeler, College Education Department Director Andrés Pardo and co-founder of the College Ann Leahy.
Photo: The Committee! (front, L to R) Academic Secretary Manuela Urbina, Religious Ed Coordinator Sister Jean Morrissey, Coroico Bishop Juan Vargas, Franciscan Sister Maureen Coyle, (back) Advisor and former Bolivian Embassador to the U.S. Jorge Crespo, College Director Father Freddy del Villar, Carmen Pampa Fund Director John Estrem, College Vice Director of the College Hugh Smeltekop, Carmen Pampa Fund Liaison Sarah Mechtenberg, former Carmen Pampa Fund Director Sue Wheeler, College Education Department Director Andrés Pardo and co-founder of the College Ann Leahy.
Month of Saint Francis
Father Freddy declared October the Month of Saint Francis at the College. The students from the Pre-University program did a theater piece about the life of Saint Francis in church last night. It culminated with the death of Francis of Assisi as the students acted out the Canticle of the Sun:
A visitor from Minnesota, David Flannery, is with us for a few weeks, too, sharing his experience with education -- welcome, David!
Photo: Visitor David Flannery, new Exec. Director of the Carmen Pampa Fund John Estrem, and Franciscan Sister Maureen Coyle from Peru enjoyed the Life of Saint Francis play at the College.
...Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and beautiful.
...
Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing your most holy will.
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks,
and serve him with great humility.
A visitor from Minnesota, David Flannery, is with us for a few weeks, too, sharing his experience with education -- welcome, David!
Photo: Visitor David Flannery, new Exec. Director of the Carmen Pampa Fund John Estrem, and Franciscan Sister Maureen Coyle from Peru enjoyed the Life of Saint Francis play at the College.
More fiesta
The Fiesta Universitaria was four days of sports and cultural events, punctuated with food prepared by professors and administrators, and very little sleep. Here are some of my favorite photos of students waiting in line for food.
Fiesta!
Last week was the Fiesta Universitaria for the 16th anniversary of the founding of the College. On the last day, Sunday, there was a procession, with each department dancing a traditional dance, in procession behind Saint Francis. Here are some of my favorite photos.
Here two student body officers, Jesús and Natalí, start the procession with our statue of Saint Francis.
Sarah Mechtenberg, my mom, Ann Leahy and Sister Jean Morrissey danced the pujllay, the horse dance from Sucre, with the group of College adminstrators.
The Nursing students presented a traditional harvest dance from the Altiplano called the salaque. The women dance with hats, and the men with hoes and rakes.
These are two of my favorite photos from the Education students' dance, the tobas, based on the traditions of the Amazon basin cultures. The feathers in the head-dresses were incorporated when Bolivians saw the ceremonial dress of North American Indians.
The Agronomy students danced the chacarera, a vaquero ("cowboy") dance from southern Bolivia, near Argentina.
The Veterinary students danced the quichiri, the coca harvest dance (kichiña means "to harvest coca" in Aymará). Here is (left to right) a military coca eradicator with his rifle, a cholita woman with her coca harvesting apron, a coca farmer with a paddle used to shape the coca terraces, butterflies whose caterpillars eat coca leaves, a line of red leaf-cutter ants with coca in their pincers, and a beekeeper with a bee. This was the most creative dance: the students made all of their own costumes.
Here two student body officers, Jesús and Natalí, start the procession with our statue of Saint Francis.
Sarah Mechtenberg, my mom, Ann Leahy and Sister Jean Morrissey danced the pujllay, the horse dance from Sucre, with the group of College adminstrators.
The Nursing students presented a traditional harvest dance from the Altiplano called the salaque. The women dance with hats, and the men with hoes and rakes.
These are two of my favorite photos from the Education students' dance, the tobas, based on the traditions of the Amazon basin cultures. The feathers in the head-dresses were incorporated when Bolivians saw the ceremonial dress of North American Indians.
The Agronomy students danced the chacarera, a vaquero ("cowboy") dance from southern Bolivia, near Argentina.
The Veterinary students danced the quichiri, the coca harvest dance (kichiña means "to harvest coca" in Aymará). Here is (left to right) a military coca eradicator with his rifle, a cholita woman with her coca harvesting apron, a coca farmer with a paddle used to shape the coca terraces, butterflies whose caterpillars eat coca leaves, a line of red leaf-cutter ants with coca in their pincers, and a beekeeper with a bee. This was the most creative dance: the students made all of their own costumes.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Anniversary week at the UAC
One last post from mom before her return to Michigan last week.
__________
Weekly flag raising and re-dedication
This rainy morning the students of the lower campus, whose square is outside my kitchen window, gathered together for the weekly flag-raising ceremony. Nursing, Veterinary Science and Tourism students lined up together with their professors and sang the national anthem of Bolivia as the flag was raised, then listened to a class president inspire more effort for this week´s celebrations.
Students here have a requirement to give back to the community. For many it takes the form of laboring to maintain the grounds and buildings. This week is busy as students are preparing for the anniversary festival of the UAC. Gardens are springing up, litter is disappearing, decorations are being hung, and the flute music for traditional dances resounds.
Smoothing out the court
Taking litter to the recycle station
Of course, last evening, students took adavantage of the repaired court. They have lots of energy, even after working all day!
This week each Carrera, Agriculture, Education, Nursing, Eco-Tourism and Veterinary Science, are practising their chosen dances and spending many hours on on the fields in preparation for game competitions. Even the teacher and administrators find time to dance together.
Love and respect for Bolivia: people, culture and land, are fostered every day here at the UAC, during this week´s festival those values will be highlighted. It is a real privilege to be here, even as an observer.
__________
Weekly flag raising and re-dedication
This rainy morning the students of the lower campus, whose square is outside my kitchen window, gathered together for the weekly flag-raising ceremony. Nursing, Veterinary Science and Tourism students lined up together with their professors and sang the national anthem of Bolivia as the flag was raised, then listened to a class president inspire more effort for this week´s celebrations.
Students here have a requirement to give back to the community. For many it takes the form of laboring to maintain the grounds and buildings. This week is busy as students are preparing for the anniversary festival of the UAC. Gardens are springing up, litter is disappearing, decorations are being hung, and the flute music for traditional dances resounds.
Smoothing out the court
Taking litter to the recycle station
Of course, last evening, students took adavantage of the repaired court. They have lots of energy, even after working all day!
This week each Carrera, Agriculture, Education, Nursing, Eco-Tourism and Veterinary Science, are practising their chosen dances and spending many hours on on the fields in preparation for game competitions. Even the teacher and administrators find time to dance together.
Love and respect for Bolivia: people, culture and land, are fostered every day here at the UAC, during this week´s festival those values will be highlighted. It is a real privilege to be here, even as an observer.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Preparing for a flu pandemic
Another post from my mom.
______________
Dr Wendy Maidana and her public health colleagues in Coroico have started a series of "charlas" (talks) to classes of students and to groups of teachers in our area.
The topic is H1N1 and H5N1 influenza.
Using a computer presentation here on Campus and a poster presentation in the villages, they talked about who, what, where, when, why and how of prevention and treatment. Special emphasis on handwashing for the teachers included supplies of liquid soap and towels for demonstration to their students and use in the classroom.
Dr Wendy Maidana and Micaela Soliz, nursing student, presentation for San Pablo teachers
For the UAC students, they played a very dramatic movie featuring rapid transmission of a virulent virus from birds to surfers, airplane passengers, and a whole new nation. Gripping, graphic, and memorable, the stuff of nightmares, actually. And necessary in the dormitory environment and in a culture that shakes hands, hugs and kisses whenever they meet.
Here on campus every building has the influenza prevention poster, and I saw the same poster in Coroico. The public health effort is evident here, although no vaccine is available yet.
______________
Dr Wendy Maidana and her public health colleagues in Coroico have started a series of "charlas" (talks) to classes of students and to groups of teachers in our area.
The topic is H1N1 and H5N1 influenza.
Using a computer presentation here on Campus and a poster presentation in the villages, they talked about who, what, where, when, why and how of prevention and treatment. Special emphasis on handwashing for the teachers included supplies of liquid soap and towels for demonstration to their students and use in the classroom.
Dr Wendy Maidana and Micaela Soliz, nursing student, presentation for San Pablo teachers
For the UAC students, they played a very dramatic movie featuring rapid transmission of a virulent virus from birds to surfers, airplane passengers, and a whole new nation. Gripping, graphic, and memorable, the stuff of nightmares, actually. And necessary in the dormitory environment and in a culture that shakes hands, hugs and kisses whenever they meet.
Here on campus every building has the influenza prevention poster, and I saw the same poster in Coroico. The public health effort is evident here, although no vaccine is available yet.
New construction
Another guest post from my mom. Thanks, mom!
_______________
Campus Leahy is growing. A new dormitory is popping up on the hill next to the garden and an office building is solidly planted on the slope across from the workshop.
Both are in scaffolding, which looks different every day. Men and women work together on the sites, which I have not seen at home in Michigan. From the path to lower Campus Manning, the cholita costume shapes suggest bees moving over a hive.
Unlike my town, no huge cranes tower over the sites...wheel barrows are pushed up and down planks, and workers hoist beams to one another, many hands together. (And many observers, too, with many comments and suggestions from on-lookers waiting for transport or just 'curbsite managing'.)
The architect came running to Dr Wendy when we arrived from morning visits on Tuesday. Behind him, supported by two workers, a woman struggled along, her face covered by a bloody cloth. Dr Wendy opened the health clinic on Campus Leahy quickly.
Under the towel was a large wound, just over her eyebrow, spurting blood. Michaela opened a clean dressing and with a small icepack, ready in the freezer, compressed the woman´s wound, winding gauze around her head. This injury, so close to her eye, needed hospital treatment in Coroico. She was given an antibiotic injection, and put in the ambulance for the 30 minute trip.
We are fortunate here in Carmen Pampa that the UAC supports a school of nursing and an on-site health care provider like Dr Wendy. With so many people living, studying, and working here, the chance for illness and injury to someone is increased.
_______________
Campus Leahy is growing. A new dormitory is popping up on the hill next to the garden and an office building is solidly planted on the slope across from the workshop.
Both are in scaffolding, which looks different every day. Men and women work together on the sites, which I have not seen at home in Michigan. From the path to lower Campus Manning, the cholita costume shapes suggest bees moving over a hive.
Unlike my town, no huge cranes tower over the sites...wheel barrows are pushed up and down planks, and workers hoist beams to one another, many hands together. (And many observers, too, with many comments and suggestions from on-lookers waiting for transport or just 'curbsite managing'.)
The architect came running to Dr Wendy when we arrived from morning visits on Tuesday. Behind him, supported by two workers, a woman struggled along, her face covered by a bloody cloth. Dr Wendy opened the health clinic on Campus Leahy quickly.
Under the towel was a large wound, just over her eyebrow, spurting blood. Michaela opened a clean dressing and with a small icepack, ready in the freezer, compressed the woman´s wound, winding gauze around her head. This injury, so close to her eye, needed hospital treatment in Coroico. She was given an antibiotic injection, and put in the ambulance for the 30 minute trip.
We are fortunate here in Carmen Pampa that the UAC supports a school of nursing and an on-site health care provider like Dr Wendy. With so many people living, studying, and working here, the chance for illness and injury to someone is increased.
Hugh's mom at the UAC
The next two weeks, my mom is here visiting, and she will share her impressions of Carmen Pampa. Enjoy!
__________________________
This visit started out luckily, with no missed connections or baggages (2 backpacks and 3 suitcases). Sarah, Hugh and I stayed at my favorite "home away from home" in Bolivia, Hostal Naira, which had accepted my e-mail reservation by from home in Ann Arbor.
Friday started early, travelling with Dr Wendy and nurses Michaela and Irene to San Pedro for public health visits. The farm families are out in the fields at daybreak, so we try to arrive while they are still at home breakfasting.
We carry vaccines in a cooler, all the families' health documents, measuring scale, and a large backpack which doubles as small emergency room.
Some families are very happy to see us, some not so pleased. The children cling to mama's skirts, the memory of injections obviously still painful, while Dr Wendy documents height, weight and treatments both on the clinic record and each child's pink or blue tri-fold, which brothers or sisters run to find, each kept in a plastic sleeve.
Photo: A baby weighing.
Every visit includes medicines for parasites, vitamins, and a careful discussion of the signs of influenza, as well as a lecture on the importance of fruits and vegetables.
Photo: Oh,no! Hide me, Mama!
In and out of the ambulancia, up and down the paths to the homes, we are finished in time to travel back to Carmen Pampa and open the clinic health post before lunch.
Photo:The ambulancia returns
__________________________
This visit started out luckily, with no missed connections or baggages (2 backpacks and 3 suitcases). Sarah, Hugh and I stayed at my favorite "home away from home" in Bolivia, Hostal Naira, which had accepted my e-mail reservation by from home in Ann Arbor.
Friday started early, travelling with Dr Wendy and nurses Michaela and Irene to San Pedro for public health visits. The farm families are out in the fields at daybreak, so we try to arrive while they are still at home breakfasting.
We carry vaccines in a cooler, all the families' health documents, measuring scale, and a large backpack which doubles as small emergency room.
Some families are very happy to see us, some not so pleased. The children cling to mama's skirts, the memory of injections obviously still painful, while Dr Wendy documents height, weight and treatments both on the clinic record and each child's pink or blue tri-fold, which brothers or sisters run to find, each kept in a plastic sleeve.
Photo: A baby weighing.
Every visit includes medicines for parasites, vitamins, and a careful discussion of the signs of influenza, as well as a lecture on the importance of fruits and vegetables.
Photo: Oh,no! Hide me, Mama!
In and out of the ambulancia, up and down the paths to the homes, we are finished in time to travel back to Carmen Pampa and open the clinic health post before lunch.
Photo:The ambulancia returns
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