We have exciting news! We just completed our first day in the field yesterday. We had a very productive and exciting day after a busy week of preliminary meetings. It began with a 5:30 am wake-up call so that we could get to the futbol stadium for a quick workout before the jungle heat and humidity set in. We picked up a quick breakfast para llevar (to go) at the Central Market which consisted of a classic local jungle food called juanes. Juanes are rice balls filled with chicken, spices, eggs, olives, and more rice. Delicioso! We arrived at the San Juan Centro de Salud (health center/department of health) at 8 via mototaxi where we met our local assistant. Wilfredo works with the Department of Health on their Dengue Campaign by canvassing local neighborhoods for education and prevention purposes. The area we began surveying has little street or address organization, so we were incredibly lucky to have his help. Without him we would have literally been very lost! The day was incredibly successful as a whole. Families were extremely receptive to welcoming us into their homes to talk openly about the access and quality of water they have. People were very friendly, helpful, and patient with us. We learned some indispensable information about the local "potable" water and how some people do or do not treat their water. We definitely saw some evidence of waterborne illness as parents described several times having to use anti-parasitics for their children. Kim and I also met a very interesting elderly man during our traversings of the San Juan neighborhoods. He approached us at a street corner to inquire about our work. In conversation, he began to explain to us the conflict in Peru between conventional and traditional medicine. He learned medicine in the traditional way, understanding the many uses that each local plant has for each variety of ailments. He pointed out a nearby tree with a white trunk, explaining how in Peru it is typically used for heart and pancreas problems. Others help with high cholesterol, diseases of the prostate, and even fertility. He also lamented that modern day medical students are not taught traditonal medicine anymore, but only conventional. His concerns over this transition seemed to echo the struggle between allopathic and complementary medicine in the US. It was fascinating to hear that Peru is struggling with a similar problem within their medical system as we are. Overall we far surpassed our initial goal for the number of surveys we hoped to complete each day. This was great news at the end of the day despite not being able to find some houses, not finding a few families at home, and being caught in a torrential afternoon rainstorm. We sure felt like we were in the jungle then! Overall the day bode very well for the next couple weeks of data collection. We finished in time to avoid the afternoon heat and additional storms, arriving home exhausted, hot, dirty, and famished after a long day of work. We caught a quick lunch at what is quickly becoming one of our favorite local spots because of it's delicious and cheap eats, Huasai. After a nice siesta, we grabbed a light dinner of chaufa (Peruvian version of fried rice) then embarked on our first night of dancing with Kim's local friends. Que divertido! Tomorrow is another holiday, Dia de Los Amigos, and then we will resume surveying on Monday!
Ciao ciao,
Katie and the Iquitos gang
Below:
Trekking through the neighborhoods of San Juan and waiting out a torrential downpour.
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