Peru -- food!

This post is about FOOD! There is lots to say about Peruvian food, from 2500 varieties of potatoes to omnipresent Chinese restaurants. Here are a few pictures:

This is a really large amount of food!!!! Audra (in pink) and I shared -- with lots of leftovers --the pachamanca you see in front of her, but it really is for one person. In addition to three kinds of meat (no guinea pig, although it was served there) there were several kinds of potatoes, fava beans, and a sweet corn mush inside the corn husk wrappings. The drink you see is "purple chincha," and there was also a "fermented yellow chincha" at the other end of the table.


A Peruvian potato dish: served at a local restaurant with a Veggie Tales tablecloth!

Ceviche: raw fish "cured" with lemon/lime juice.

This is a rough and tough tri-vehicle (tee-hee!) seen on the streets of Huancayo on our way to a restaurant.

I don't remember the name of this fruit, but it's really strange-looking inside! It tasted yummy, though -- one eats the gray seeds and the gelatinous goo surrounding them.

Peru -- training!

Marco (a Peruvian colleague) and I facilitated a Training of Trainers 1 (TOT1) in Huancayo, Peru, for two different mission organizations.

We split up into small groups frequently. Above one mission organization is discussing future plans.
Here's another way of working with small groups: the group above is trying to put in chronological order the steps to implementing Community Health Evangelism (CHE).

Above is a skit: we frequently do a river-crossing drama to illustrate the differences between relief, betterment, and development. In this part of the skit Paul has "hurt" his back carrying Rocio to the island in the middle of the river (relief), so he has no choice but to teach Karen how to cross (betterment going towards development). Then he leaves, and Karen teaches Rocio how to finish crossing the river (multiplication).

And here is a view of the mountains we crossed going from Lima (Pacific coast) to the high valley where Huancayo is located. I've read different estimates, but it appears we got up to nearly 16,000 feet (5000 m). Huancayo is just under 11,000 feet (3300 m).

Future Plans

I've spent the past few weeks preparing for two big events:

1) Training of Trainers 1 in Huancayo, Peru! Two mission organizations have requested Community Health Evangelism (CHE) training there. A Peruvian missionary, who is already using CHE in another part of the country, will facilitate this five-day training with me at the end of August.

2) Move to my temporary assignment in Haiti! In mid-September I will arrive in Cap Haitian, the second-largest city in Haiti. This northern city is also the headquarters for Medical Ambassadors Haiti, and the four Haitian facilitators who are the core of this team have invited me to work alongside them for six months. I'll spend the first few months learning the language and accompanying the team to trainings and site visits, while I also take advantage of my English skills and work on project proposals and continuing relationships they've begun with other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Some of the people with whom I'll be working. The woman in the yellow t-shirt is Mme. Grimard, one of the four facilitators with Medical Ambassadors Haiti.

I'm to travel to Port-au-Prince monthly. There were two CHE programs there before the earthquake which are still trying to recover. There are also lots of pastors and NGOs who are looking for ways to move from relief to development and we want to be available to work with anyone who is interested in using the CHE tools.

Since so many of the Haiti CHE programs are involved with local clinics, one way that I will be able to help is with my medical skills, both in consulting and working alongside the nurse auxiliaries. Please pray for me about this: I haven't practiced medicine for three years and although I saw a few malaria cases in the States I have mostly only read about tropical medicine -- 13 years ago in the first year of medical school!

This is a great hand-washing system that we teach: there is a stick this man is stepping on which tips the bottle so that a small stream of water comes out. Soap is hanging next to the bottle, protected from rain by a plastic cup. This particular "tipitap" is right next to the latrine at the Bayeux clinic.