Road to Yantalo
Hello everyone,
I’d like to share with you all a global health trip that some of my friends and professors at AUC organized this past August break. Over 10 days, 13 students and 2 professors traveled to the rural Amazonian village of Yantalo, Peru where they organized workshops in infectious diseases, nutrition, CPR, and sexual health to school children and the public, and volunteered in eye glasses distribution, outreach clinics, and ER. The workshop material they created were passed down to local educators in the area so that they can continue giving such workshops to others in the area and surrounding villages. In addition, they collected epidemiology of prevalent diseases from patients of the area for Dr. Shupe’s research.
The Student Government Association helped fund the material for the workshops, eyeglass fitting tools and cases (eyeglasses were donated), agar and petri dishes, and medical supplies.
I think it’s a wonderful thing they did. This trip is not only a humanitarian service to the people Yantalo, but also a great experience for the medical students, the start of a goodwill relationship between AUC and the people of Yantalo, and an example of the passionate individuals we have here in medical school who care about helping society, especially the less fortunate.