July 11, 2019

Week One with the 2019 Peru Scholars

 

Andrea Shelton and I arrived in Iquitos, Peru on July 1 eager to meet the Claverito community members and get to work on our projects. The weather is not nearly as hot and sticky as we expected, so we are both quite relieved about that surprise! During this first week we got a taste of Amazon weather with mostly warm, sunny days broken up by brief, unexpected showers. This weekend we experienced Amazon rainstorms along with the street flooding and loss of internet and slippery sidewalks that comes with the large amounts of water. So far, we have only got caught in the rain once, so we are surviving the unpredictable weather of the Amazon well!

We have a beautiful apartment situated on the Malecón Tarapaca, which is a large walkway filled with shops, restaurants and museums right next to the Amazon. We are a short walking distance to markets, grocery stores, gyms, the program’s office and almost anything else we could want. Andrea made friends with this talkative parrot named Lorenzo in the Mercado Central. He is very proficient in saying, “Hola!” but “Ciao” seems like a challenge.

The food is wonderful and trying different Peruvian dishes is one of our favorite hobbies! Our first night in Iquitos was celebrated at a restaurant on the Malecón with a variety of different dishes. Andrea is a fan of alligator meat while my jaw gets tired from chewing the tough meat! We both agree the ceviche, especially the sauce put on ceviche, is amazing, and we could get used to the consistent supply of fresh pineapple, papaya, oranges, and granadilla.

Besides getting settled into life in Iquitos we have been busy this week learning about the InterACTION Labs projects, the Claverito community and the specific needs of this part of Peru. Together with a first-year medical student, we created a presentation for the other members of the InterACTION Labs team highlighting our research findings on the most prevalent health and environmental issues in Iquitos. The most prevalent health issues facing the Claverito community, which is a floating, migrant community, are different from the rest of the city. From our previously collected data we have identified high rates of teenage pregnancy, tuberculosis, parasitic infections, vector-borne diseases (Malaria, Dengue, Zika), and malnutrition. As expected, our research demonstrated that many of the most prevalent health conditions in Iquitos are modifiable and many are directly related to the environmental issues of the area.

We have three main activities planned. First, we expect to continue the parenting intervention (Academia Familiar del Amazonas (AFA)) started by the DNP students last summer.  This will include development and implementation of 8-week training modules, one for adolescent girls and another for women in the community. Previously identified topics of interest include reproductive health, management of respiratory illness, management of infectious disease, etc. We are meeting with community members this week to finalize their main interests, so we can best meet their expectations. We also plan to support the establishment and functioning of the floating library. The idea to build the library emanated from AFA activities last summer and the funds to support it were mobilized by last year’s DNP cohort. We are so pleased to be working with three UW landscape architecture students as well as the community in the design the library. Finally we are working with School of Nursing faculty and students to further cement collaboration across our institutions.

During our free-time this week, we enjoyed watching Peru’s team compete in the semi-finals and finals of the Copa de Americas tournament. We learned how excited Peruvians are about fútbol and experienced Peruvian spirit firsthand. We also had a potluck for the US women’s world cup championship. We like to think they heard our cheering all the way from Peru!

 

Until next time!
Hannah Bridgeland