Organization

• Is a home where medical care is given to the very poorest of Peruvian society.
• The center tries to be a home for these people where personal care is given to the patients, so that they can develop as much as possible during their recovery. This is difficult because the staff is very busy. Volunteers can form a great additional contribution.
• Patients suffer from a variety of diseases ranging from tuberculosis through cancer to HIV/AIDS, and some have had an accident.
• The center would like to develop preventive educational and information activities.

Project activities

• In a nursing home situated at 40 km to the east of Lima, at the foot of the Andes Mountains, at an altitude of 1100 metres, there is work to be done in the following areas:
• Medical (nursing, physical therapy, etc.)
• Paediatric (supporting activities, etc.)
• Construction / painting
• Etc. (own ideas are possible!)
• For a long term sending, the contribution has to be somehow structural. Before beginning at the project, it should be clear by consulting the contact person of the nursing home what tasks will be performed.

What’s expected of the volunteers?

• Some medical knowledge and some paediatric skills
• Nivel intermedio de Español
• Social
• Flexible
• Enterprising
• Sticking to the rules as mentioned in the volunteers regulations of the center.

Accommodation and living environment

• A maximum of two volunteers can be send out to the home through SIW for the long term. On site there are usually also other volunteers (Canada). At the home, an entire floor is reserved for the reception and stay of volunteers. There are four bedrooms with their own bathroom, a common kitchen, and a small living room. You can eat together with the patients in the dining room. Accommodation and food are for free. There are possibilities to follow Spanish classes at a fee. There is a contact person for the volunteers.

Period / duration

• Throughout the year with a minimum of two months.
• You usually work five or six days a week. On Saturday there is usually sport. The working hours are to be determined, can be whole or half days.

Local costs

• None. You will be picked up from the airport.

Experiences

‘I feel very welcome here. There was even a drawing by the patients. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have to get used to it. There are now about 40 patients living here, among which a quarter are children, a quarter TBC positive (I haven’t been there yet, I have to keep a distance), and half are adults. Some live here a long time already (one mister already since the establishment 30 years ago, he is deaf dumb and is constantly shaking my hand). The idea is that someone lives here temporarily, gets better, receives sufficient medical care, and a kind of training to return to society. Temporarily means about 2 years. On the first day I got a tour of all patients among which quite a few children \ young people with a mental handicap. Some children lie in bed, get tube-feeding, and can’t do anything. They are 6 but look like they’re 2, or a boy of 16 but so tiny still…. I heard so many names on the first day that I now take my notebook with me every day.’ 

Christa