The Real Medicine team -- Steve Henrichon and Rene Castillo
On August 15, there was an 8.0 earthquake in Pisco, Peru
Over 1000 people were killed, many more injured
Thousands of homes were destroyed
Much of the health infrastructure was destroyed.
Status meeting with the United Nations on our first day in Pisco. Rene has the jacket with the yellow and red stripes.
Many people's houses have collapsed and they have been given tents to live in.
Life goes on. Just 2 months after the earthquake. School is already back in session.
This is where an old church used to stand. During the earthquake, church was in service. In addition, many people ran from the central plaza into the church as it is a symbol of strength and faith. The church collapsed seconds later. The green tent is the temporary church.
This is the number of people who died in the collapsed church.
The part of the church still standing.
Red Cross.
This is Martin. He lives in a tent city because his family's house fell down. He loved to talk with me about classic rock n roll such as AC/DC and Led Zepplin.
We helped Caritas erect tents for families that have lost their homes.
We helped a buddhist NGO from Taiwan with a distribution. Everyone in the town of San Andres received oil, rice, a blanket, and mattress.
As hundreds and hundreds of people began to receive their goods, it was difficult to keep everything organized.
People get their received goods back to their houses any way they can.
I must have lifted 100 of these 110 lb sacks of rice...
Many of these people at the distribution were not eligible to receive goods. The seen became dangerous as the people became more agitated. The police closed down the operation around 2 in the afternoon. We were supposed to keep working until 6p.
Grains in the market.
Visiting the markets are always a great cultural experience.
The houses marked with an X are unsafe and they must be torn down.
Boy does his homework amidst his family's collapsed house.
The gringo is a hit with the school kids.
The Mayor discusses the future of Gracio Prado over a glass of wine.
School in San Clemente. These are temporary classrooms. The permanent classrooms have either collapsed or are very unsafe.
Another classroom in San Clemente.
Many of the health centers were destroyed.
This ugly little dog is a specially bred peruvian dog. They are hairless except for a white mohawk.
He lost his home. He now lives in a tent where his home used to be. He sent his children and wife to live with his sister in a different town because they were very frightened from all of the aftershocks.
Our view from our apartment...
Doc David, Margot, Rene, Diano. Margot and Diano are from ACER. We orginally partnered with ACER and then we backed away when we realized it wasnt the best fit for us. This site is where ACER's office used to be...before the earthquake.
The market in Pisco.
Everything is covered in dust.
Edgar's mom. She is quechua. I asked if I could take her picture and she said that she wanted to put on her nice clothes. She came down 1 hour later sportin her best threads!
These are houses from Turkey which are sent in a kit. Very easy to assemble. They are about 10' x 10'
Me and Doc David purchasing some medical equipment in Lima.
Don Gilberto. All of his personal belongings were destroyed after the earthquake when a 2 meter surge washed over 3 blocks inland.
Andres and Estrella.
The houses are made of seashells.
One of the old hotels in Pisco.
Hotel Embassy. This hotel used to extend out into the foreground where the picture is being taken. They only had a permit to build 3 floors. They built 5. There was many people dining in the restaurant on the bottom floor when the building collapsed.
Hotel Regidor. Somehow still standing but it iwll certainly be torn down.
The two front pillars supporting this apartment building collapsed causing it to lean.
The entire Hotel Regidor is split in half. 5 floors. The crack runs all the way through to the back of the building.
Leaning tower of Pisca.
Movie Theater.
Fiorella and her daughter Anna Paula.
Flavia.
The lanscape of Pisco.
Don Gilberto and Nina Isabel. This is all thats left of their living room.
Doc David and his wife Rosario and baby Nazareth. The doc delivered his own baby in the small backpacking tent in which they live. He delivered the baby at 2am and all of the residents of the tent city waited patiently. Rosario was a trooper. She held the flashlight while David worked.
Sorting through our first shipment of medicines.
Rosy is our pharmacist. She is actually a biologist and a lab tech but she is acting as our pharmacist until we have a lab set up. This makeshift pharmacy is in our temporary clinic which we operated out of a church for one month.
Doc David. The temp clinic. His exam room consisted of a big orange tent which we erected inside the parish hall.
Patients receiving their medicine.
Our improvised sink.
The outside of the temporary clinic.
David exams a patient.
Maria Elisa is the nurse. She sees the patients in the triage before they are seen by the doctor.
I speak to some of our first patients and I thank them for coming.
Dont forget to wash your hands a few times per hour!
The orange tent is the exam room. The white curtained off area is the triage. Behind where the picture is being taken is the pharmacy. The people are sitting in the waiting room.
Rosy and Rene
Some young patients.
Rene and Don Julianne. His wife prepares lunch for the clinical team everyday.
The Real Medicine temporary clinic team. Steve, Maria, David, Rosy, Rene.
Rene lending a hand to remove rubble from the church grounds.
Children playing in the dirt in front of the clinic.
Partying at a benefit concert in Pisco's central plaza.
Advertising the clinic on the local Television channel. David, Rene, and Nacho (the talk show host). They use a camcorder in this television studio.
Dotun, meet Jerry...Jerry meet Dotun. Dr Dotun Ogunyemi is the OBGYN Residency Director at Cedar's Sinai Hospital. Jerry is the Peru HIV Research Director for UCLA.
Dotun taking pictures in one of the tent cities in Pisco.
Dr Dotun Ogunyemi is an OB/GYN. He came down to Peru for a few days to visit our clinic and to admisiter some workshops on our behalf. This is the first workshop for 16 local physicians on such topics as HIV transmission during pregnancy, Post partum hemorrhaging, and Hypertension during pregnancy.
Dotun presenting. The man to the right is Dr Gonzales. He is a medical translator.
The second workshop was for pregnant women and it was delivered from the temp clinic. This was more of a discussion session. We try to be as involved in the community as possible. This was the first of many workshops we intend to administer.
Attendees to Dotun's presentation on such topcis as normal pregnancy milestones, irregular bleeding, STDs, etc.
Rosario and Nazareth Belen. They are in their new apartment which we moved them into shortly after the baby was born.
We can always make time for a little futbol. Viva el Peru!
Superfans
We did a medical campaign at a school since the school does not even have a nurse.
Some of the first patients at the school campaign.
Quechua woman and her children at the school campaign.
There were also hair stylists at the school campaign who gave the children haircuts.
very nice.
Me and my buddies
David examining a young patient at the school campaign
Unbelievable sunsets every night in front of our apartment.
We took our good friend Jimmy on an airplane ride over the Nazca lines for his birthday.
Rene and Jimmy in Nazca
First you pick out the prettiest brown Cuy (guinea pig).
Then, you pluck all the hair off the cuy.
Then you cook the cuy on the grill and eat it!
Tastes a lot like chicken...but just enough not like chicken to make you remember you are indeed eating guinea pig.
Me at one of the communal kitchens.
View from our room.
Day of the Biologists! Its a real holiday and we took our biologist, Rosy, out to celebrate.
This was Rene's form of transportation for about a month...
We went to Lima to purchase a significant amount of medical equipment. We received quotes from several stores which all sell the same goods. Here Rene and Guillermo are comparing prices between the stores. It was a truly exhausting process.
A little delirious
Doctor Guillermo checks out the surgical equipment before making the purchase.
This is at Rosy's house. She invited me and Rene over for dinner.
Andres' birthday. His mom asked me if I would be his godfather when he is baptized. Oh $%&#! I pretended I didnt understand the question because mi espanol no es muy bueno :) I wish I could use that one in the states.
Guillermo and Glenda introducing themselves to a classroom of children. We hired Glenda as the school nurse. There are 3600 children in the school so she really has her hands full. Even though she works out of the school, she still reports to Guillermo.
Steve and Anna Paula.
Glenda teaches the children how to wash their hands!!
GLenda treats a head wound which was suffered on the playground.
Glenda in her new infirmary.
Guillermo, Martina, and Rene speak with Nacho on the air. We went in front of the camera to invite the town of San Clemente to our clinic's inauguration on Dec 10. Martina is the CEO of Real Medicine who came out to visit the clinic and attend the inauguration.
Martina, Rene, and myself with the mayor of San Clemente.
Martina chatting with the ladies at a communal kitchen
This boy has amazing eyes. One blue, one brown. He does not have any problem with his vision.
Many residents of San Clemente do not have piped water so they use this communal water tank. Here the truck is filling the water tank up.
The cemetaries are really colorful.
Me and Rene discussing the future of San Clemente.
Martina with children who live in a tent city.
Speckled bird eggs...mmmmmm.
This was a school. The area where I am taking the picture from is completely collapsed. I am thankful that school was not in session when the earthquake struck.
Martina making friends.
Lobo Marino!! Sea lion on the beach outside our apartment.
This is the house that will serve as our permanent clinic
The owner of our new house offered to tear down a portion of it and rebuild it to our design. This will be the site of 2 more exam rooms, waiting room, and a garage.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done to our clinic before the inauguration.
Dr Guillermo and Rene. Guillermo is our clinical director.
Rene discussing the design of the new addition with Carlos, the owner.
The team walking from the clinic to the bus stop. Im not sure why Rene is walking in the wrong direction.
Working to get everything ready before the clinic's inauguration!
Im thankful the sign did not have any misspelled words.
Policlinico Peruano Americano
Does anyone want to help me disinfect disposable speculums?
These guys are part of a news crew from Lima. They came down to San Clemente to cover our inauguration and to do a story on us.
Guillermo and Rosy making preparations.
Our finished clinic, the night before the inauguration!
Jerry and Martina. Martina happens to be wearing my shirt and Dotun's vest...and I am wearing Martina's shi...ummm...nevermind.
Martina passes our Hors Deuvres at the inauguration.
View from one of the balconies.
Pocho blesses the clinic.
Some of the inauguration attendees watching the event.
Guillermo and David speaking during the ceremony.
The TV crew films Guillermo as he speaks to the crowd.
Rene and the mayor.
I had many people to thank who made our success possible.
The Mayor of San Clemente and Martina were the god parents of the clinic.
Martina and una abuelita! Aint she cute?
Salud!
The inauguration attendees. THere was about 100 people in total.
The dominican sisters to the left, waiting for the toast.
We had a celebration after the inauguration.
The Ladies of Policlinico Peruano Americano
In our new pharmacy
Maria checking vitals in the topico
Some patients waiting to be seen.
David examines a baby.
We have to keep the kids entertained so we pass out crayons and coloring paper.
Another satisfied customer
I am going to miss these sunsets!!
David's exam room. He gets the pediatric exam table.
Guillermo's exam room. He gets the gynecology exam table.
Rosy organizing her pharmacy
Don Julianne
the waiting room.
Doctors David and Guillermo
The two nurses at work in the topico
The mayor donated a huge box of medicine to our clinic.
People waiting for the clinic doors to open at 630 am. The clinic doesnt open until 800 am.
The construction workers are working fast to erect the addition to our clinic. Here they are laying the foundation.
Real Medicine Peru -- Policlinico Peruano Americano
The white city of Arequipa
Mountain biking in Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world
field of harvested cacti
This little girl lives in a tiny town perched on the side of canyon slopes
Quechua woman and her baby
mama and her babies
Memories of those who died in the earthquake...
