I was in my scrubs again, light blue, shirt
a slightly different shade than the pants, but who really cares when you’re out
to change the world? Walking through the breezy roads of “17 de Septiembre” (17th
of September), which were covered in an inch of powdery dust, I felt the
excitement of the medical clinic begin to well up inside. This clinic was
especially exciting to me because of two remarkable people who had come, two
people who I have loved my entire life, my parents. My father, Dr. Edred
Vizcarra practices medicine in our small town of Ronan,
Montana and
my mother was a nurse and sometime later the owner of a beautiful Christmas/art
gallery where I spent many great years of my childhood. I couldn’t wait to see
them in action. I continued my walk through the village, stopping at every home
to invite the residents to stop by the little house that would serve as our
clinic site for the week. We had 15-to-16 of our workers squeezed in a tiny
two-room home performing blood tests, triage, registrations, and examinations. And
in the midst of all the chaos I was proud to see my parents holding their own
and examining patients thoroughly but quickly.Seeing them work reminded me once again of why I am here. I came to work
hard and be a part of a project that changes lives physically and spiritually. That
first day we saw 160 patients and helped at least that many every day for the
next 4 days, a great start for the campaign that will continue until late
March. After an extremely successful clinic I’d like to say thank you to my mom
and dad. Thank you for giving the best of yourselves to the underclass of Peru, the
people I’ve come to love and care for. Thank you for spending time in the world
that I live in and adapting so well to bird-like mosquitoes, beds made out of
wooden planks, and skin that never gets clean from the dirt. Thank you for
teaching me that the most I can do in life is give it to others and for giving
your talents, time, and money to serve in Peru.
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