The Next Chapter: Clinica Lamay

Urubamba is a dusty road deep in a gully formed by the jagged but earthy Andes mountains. At the end of the road is a gate, and it opens to a little piece of paradise which we now inhabit.

This morning at 6:30am I met Edwin, the proprietor of the hotel, Guido, the Mayor of Lamay, and Gonzalo, a young friend of the Peruvian doctor who is sponsoring us, as we all stood outside the arrival gate at Cusco airport waiting for the group to arrive. We cheered as everyone stumbled one after another into the bright Andean sunlight, and straight away we loaded up the three vans and were off for Urubamba. I rode with Jackie and heard a little about the adventures. Everyone got through security with no problems until the last person, Matt, who had brought an extra box of supplies. They opened it, and demanded a letter of proof that this was done with the approval of the Peruvian government, which they produced (if fact, a packet from the consulate, NGOs, etc, that they painstakingly put together). Then security demanded an itemize list of what was in the box, which Matt amazingly had (it was the only box for which such a list existed). After looking through everything, and hearing that the whole group was part of this medical team, they looked over the group and said, any other medical supplies in the group that we need to go through? -- Stunned silence at the thought of not having lists for everything and having everything confiscated – And then innocent Alida pipes up and says, "in those bags? Just clothes" She smiled. Doctors need clothes you know. They waived everyone through with everything intact.

Everyone was tired after traveling for so long. Even I was tired, which I am aware is ridiculous, but last night I was up the whole night reviewing the chapter in my life that had just past and thinking forward to the new one. Like a whole night of turning the page. So we declared 2 hours of rest, snacks, and showers, and time to take in our surroundings. The hotel is beautiful. It is on a little piece of property that is green – so green – compared with the surroundings. A place of exotic flowers and butterflies and hummingbirds. A place which, speaking of energy, is at once tranquil and brimming with natural life. We students have four to a large room, comfortably, and our own little hut area with a large sunlit porch overlooking the mountains. We were met by the local tea and indeed a three-course free lunch specially to honor our coming.

It is incredible that such important people would take the entire day to pick us up, drive us around, entertain and teach us. Mayor Guido is an austere man, dressed very professionally, but entirely committed to his town. Lamay is lucky to have him because from what I have seen he is a true civil servant, working tirelessly to use his political favor to help his people. He built the clinic using local money, and clearly thought through every nuance, thinking progressively for room and resources to grow (will explain more later). Everywhere are signs of his careful improvement of the town. Water evaluations, a new children's swimming pool, a new ambulance. He is a professor of social science, and one can easily see that for him, it is not just theory, it is the workings of life.

Senor Edwin, the hotel owner, is a man out of a fiction novel. Friendly, kind, with an easy smile, he is a family man, telling us about his five children from age 1.5yrs to 30yrs and introducing his wife proudly during lunch. But as we drove up to Lamay, the depth of his character was revealed. I had thought that he was from Lamay which explained his connection and willingness to donate his own money and time to the town, but he is not, he is from Cusco. In fact I found out that Lamay is not the only town he does this for. There are at least three or four others in which he sponsors lunches at schools to feed the children who walk miles into school, that he donates time and money to improve poor towns all over Peru, and why? He doesnt answer, he just smiles a little. Its because it makes him happy to give back. Because he is a generous spirit who hurts to see a hungry child. Because he knows he was blessed with small success in life and needs to spread it over his people. Edwin does this because its the right thing to do in and of itself, with no need to advertise it or use it for secondary gain. Incredible. In addition he, like many from Cusco, is deeply connected with his Incan roots, and he runs his hotel here with traditional values. He knows everyone in the area and treats each with dignity because he appreciates the Incan value of community. He grows fruit trees and coca and coffee and maize on the property, all naturally with no pesticides, because of a deep connection with the earth and a respect for nature. As we drive through the countryside he shows me the rivers that come from the nearby glacier, their names and their routes to join the Amazon River. The water systems and city layouts, the history and the Incan stories, all of it he explains by heart. He is a man with a big heart that he wears on his sleeve, and Guido saw it and brought him to Lamay.

So here we all are. Living in Edwins hotel with the flowers and the butterflies, ready to roll up our sleeves and help Lamay in whatever way we can.

And thats a whole different story. To explain what we learned in the two hours at Clinica Lamay is very difficult. It would involve knowing a whole backdrop of expectations that were quickly shifted. But in short, the clinic is very big and clean staffed by one doctor, one nurse, one dentist, and a gentleman named Mario who dispenses the meds in the pharmacy. The clinic building is built for the big-time; a lead-lined room for x-rays (no x-ray machine), an OR (with no lights or equipment), a birthing room with a baby-warmer (proudly displayed as the piece de resistance since there are only a few in Peru), and so on. The problem as it seems to be, is that Guido managed to raise the funds for this and put it together, but the government created hoops to jump through in order to get government staffing and funding for a clinic. Among them, a microscope of their very own, and an ultrasound machine; they are getting together a list of the rest. So

Part I of their hopes for our participation is to see if we can help get them fitted with the missing pieces that will allow them to work with the Federal government and be self-sustaining.

Part II is to help the clinic gain the confidence of those not only in Lamay, but the thousands of underserved who live in the deep rural mountains and receive no medical care at all.

People dont come for a number of reasons beyond just monetary. They use herbs and traditional Incan remedies instead, plus they have been to the clinic once before, know the only services and meds offered are basic, and feel they need more help than the clinic can provide. This is what Mayor Guido is trying to change with our help. The idea that specialists come – and ones from the US no less – will instill a new confidence in the clinic as it grows slowly on its own. It will be credible, and so used by the target population. As part of that they have been broadcasting our coming on the radio, complete with which specialties will be here when, and the rate (2 sol if you can afford it, free if not). Its funny, in Cusco in the past month quite a number of people said to me, oh yeah, I know about your Lamay clinic, and I thought to myself, Im sure theyre thinking of something else, but now I realize that we were on the radio, and people know.

So here we are. In a post so long that I cant imagine anyone getting to the end of it. Alida and I are sitting in the silence of the stars, drinking coca matte and writing. This is only Day 1 of the chapter, and we have learned so much already. Tomorrow is scheduled a transportation strike that might prevent our working, but we'll see if it goes through. Until then.