EASTERN EUROPEAN MEDICAL SOCIETY HUMANITARIAN MISSION TO PERU

Eastern European Medical Society of Minnesota members are doing a lot of humanitarian work in this country as well as all over the world. In 2006 EEMS accepted invitation of Medical Ministry International and joined their trip to Peru.

Medical Ministry International is a well known charity organization, organizing medical trips to different parts of the globe. Two EEMS members Dr. Elena Polukhin and Dr. Ellen Garbo flew to Peru where they joined MMI mission led by Ms. Lilia Herrera. Later on, the mission moved to Huliaha, the city located in the southern part of Peru. The MMI group united American medical providers, volunteer interpreters from Germany and local physicians, residents and students. The atmosphere in the group was wonderful. Ms. Lilia Herrera was an excellent group leader with a lot of experience in organization of humanitarian trips. She got a hand from Mr. Octavio Corzo and Ms. Elizabeth, the nurse from United Kingdom. All people were honest, spiritual and dedicated to provide medical care to poor and disadvantage people in Peru. Our fist station was in Coaza, a small village located in Southern Andes.

The local people the Peruvian medical system provides mandatory services for children and pregnant females. The rest of population actually has no access to qualified medical care. This is why locals were so happy to see our mission. They lined up in the morning before our clinic and waited for hours under the hot sun to see a physician. The clinic work consisted of basic medical care, treatment of chronic pain, neck, back and arthritis, infections, abdominal pain and other disorders frequently seen in Peru. Besides this, our group provided spiritual patient's education, and all our efforts were highly appreciated by people and local government. After Coaza, we moved to Escana, another small village and later on we moved to the Northern villages.

Our mission was very successful and appreciated by people. News about our activities traveled from road to mountains, and the line of people wanted to see us grew very fast from village to village. We also volunteered in the local Christian school for disabled children that was located in Lima, and we befriended with local official who asks us to help disadvantage and poor children suffering from cerebral palsy, brain injury and other debilitative condition.

Two weeks in Peru flew very fast. We saw more than 2000 people. We left Peru knowing that we did something useful for Peruvian people. We definitely will come back next year, and we are thankful to Medical Mission International for organizing this wonderful humanitarian mission in order to help poor people in need.