During our first week in Cusco, we had the opportunity to serve in two different locations. On Thursday and Friday of the project, we set up tents, plinth tables, a dentist office, and a lab in two small court yards outside of a small local church in an underserved community in Cusco. The pastor of this church, Edgar, expressed so much gratitude for having us there in his community. It was amazing to hear his testimony of how long he has prayed for a United States medical project to come serve his community. They even built bathrooms just for the project! Robbie and I will never understand just how much of an impact the project made on this congregation.
During the first day at the court yard, we were able to treat a wide variety of patients. We saw multiple children who needed checked for hip dysplasia (a skill I am now happy to have for my upcoming pediatric clinical rotation). The mothers of these children were so grateful for the interventions we gave, the braces we recommended, and the prayers we offered for their children that they shed tears and thanked us with multiple hugs and kisses. We also saw a twelve year old boy born with facial paralysis. After further investigation, we considered the possibility of Mobious Syndrome as his main diagnosis. While our supervising PT, Manuela, consulted a dentist for his oral alignment, we were able to connect with this boy by playing thumb wars. It’s amazing how two people who do not speak the same language can connect and enjoy each other’s company through a simple game. Treating this boy was a unique opportunity where we were able to practice our oral manual techniques as well as educating his mother on the use of tape to improve his facial alignment and to close his eyes when he sleeps at night. The boy expressed to us that he is bullied at school because of his diagnosis, which breaks our hearts. Our prayer for him is that he will do well with the treatment recommended and that he will be accepted by his peers at school despite his physical differences.
In the afternoon we received a mother-daughter pair that had a laundry list of aches and pains. This presented us with a challenge because we were unable to treat everything, so we asked them to identify what they would most like to work on. For the mother, it was her low back pain, which we have seen much of during our first two days. The daughter was a bit more complicated. She sustained a fibulae fracture years ago is was still experiencing pain with walking long distances. We did the best we could for both, and our session ended with a dance lesson from the mother, who was in her late seventies. It was so moving to see their smiles of gratitude after we treated and prayed for them, and it was amazing to see that although they both experience pain, they still are able to have fun and do things they enjoy.
Our last day in Cusco was spent at an orphanage for children with physical and cognitive disabilities. Robbie and I both expected the worst while traveling to this orphanage; pictures of children with dirty clothes and not enough food filled our minds. But we were shocked when we arrived. The building is almost brand new, three stories, with wonderful facilities for the children to receive any treatment they may need. The orphanage is set up to house sixteen children and currently houses twelve. It is ran by Peruvian women and a missionary family from the States. While in the orphanage, we were able to work with a four-year-old with ataxic cerebral palsy. He was such a joy to spend time with, always smiling, laughing, and offering the biggest hugs I’ve ever received from such a little person. He was still able to walk on his own, but falls often and showed weakness in his gluteal and spinal muscles. To aid in his walking and the alignment of his feet, we were able to fit him with a pair of ankle-foot orthotics. It was incredible to see how they changed the way he moved. The Batman pictures on the orthotics was an added bonus for him.
Now, as we leave Cusco behind, we hope we were able to change the lives of the patients we treated because they impacted us in a way they will never fathom. We pray they saw the Light of Christ in us as they consoled in us. But most of all, we hope that these little communities in Cusco will never be the same because of the work Christ did through us.
-Amber
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