Peru We currently have visitors

Peru

We currently have visitors. Lots of visitors. There is an 80-person
medical team from the United States (the Peruvian American Medical Society
(PAMS)) here for two weeks, doing lots of surgeries and seeing outpatients
as well. It's great in the sense that it gives us something constructive to
do without leaving town during the pregnancy, gives us a US-trained
pediatrician who has agreed to help with the delivery, and this same group
has been quite generous with their left-over medical supplies in past years.
My numerous patients with gall-stones can now be operated on for free. The
campaign is bad in the sense that all the local people think that we are in
charge, because they recognize us, and we speak Spanish, when in fact we are
just the local liaisons. Everyone thinks I can sneak their child in for an
appointment, and others are disappointed that 'some other doctor' that they
don't know is going to operate on them. It's hard for me to convince them
that they really don't want me to do their hysterectomies!

Yesterday I had a medical student from Georgia working with me. She was
aghast at the fatty tumor that this lady has had on her arm for the last
10-15 years (see pic). Of course, in the US, it would almost certainly have
been taken out when it was much smaller. The patient and her family were so
thankful after we finished (though you won't note her glee in the follow-up
photo), it really made it worthwhile.

Since it is a humanitarian campaign, and not a Christian campaign, (we have
Hindus, Jews, and Christians working together) the volunteers are quite
curious about what we are doing here. One volunteer, thinking Amy was just
another volunteer and not realizing that we live here, wondered, "How'd they
let her on the plane??"

Serving with you in Peru,

Allen, Amy, Sarah, Ben, & Mia

--
Allen & Amy George
Medical Missionaries with SIM
Peru

The Children of Peru

SIM - Serving in Mission http://www.sim.org/

~ Peruvian American Medical Society ~

PERUVIAN AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY ( PAMS & PAMSEF)

International Medical Education

International Missions