Become a Global Health Volunteer in Peru

The family my family and I stayed with were so loving and welcoming! With our lack of Spanish, there were times to where we were speaking English, french, and Spanish all in one sentence! The food was AMAZING. Dreaming of the day I can have lomo saltado again...

I first came across FIRMC by a simple google search. I wanted to find something to do during the summer. I wanted to get exposure in the medical field but more importantly I wanted to help. The program gave me this opportunity. I went to Peru by myself, not knowing anyone and with little Spanish skill. Once I met the rest of the group, everyone was so friendly that making friends was very easy. The host family was amazing at making us feel right at home and making us feel like a part of their family. When we went to the hospitals, it was very useful that we had atleast someone with us who could translate. The doctors were very good about giving you as much information as you asked for. If you had a question, they were willing to explain the answer to you. I remember spending two hours in the Internal Medicine area in Huancayo learning about CT scans and EKG results. I was exposed to all of medicine and if I had a question then I could ask. After the morning hospital rotations, we were able to volunteer in dental campaigns or at local schools. The goal was to give us exposure in the hospital setting in the morning and then take us outside of the city into the rural communities to see how the need to medical intervention process works. The language barrier was not an issue at all. You would be surprised at how much knowledge you can pick up without such a short time. If you put yourself out their and try to use the language then you will see that the people will really appreciate it. This was a lesson for me when we did a health campaign about Nutrition and Contraceptions. The experience was amazing I can not wait to go on another adventure where I can use my skills to help others.

Coming from the UK to Peru by myself was a pretty daunting experience so I was so relieved to meet such welcoming people in Huancayo and La Merced! I spent 4 weeks in each site and had an amazing time!

The work days were mostly very fun. Some days we would shadow doctors and speak to patients in the hospitals and there's a wide variety of things to see across the 2 sites. Other days we would go out into communities and teach them about health topics relevant to them, take blood pressures, do glucose testing and the medical students in our group would speak to patients and examine them. We all enjoyed working with local people and the queues of them waiting to see us showed just how much they appreciated it too. Some afternoons we would get to visit local schools or orphanages and teach a bit of english or do activities with them which was really fun too.

There was a great social aspect to the groups I was with. We would try and meet up on an evening and at weekends and there's loads of stuff to do around both places. There's the glacier and market in Huancayo and waterfalls and a mini zoo in La Merced. A few of us would stay in each homestay and we loved being there - we were made to feel very at home with great food and were very well looked after!

I would thoroughly recommend this programme to anyone wanting to get involved in volunteer healthcare abroad. They are developing the sites in Peru and have lots of projects to help the local people there which you can get involved in. Peru is a great country to visit and FIMRC are a great charity who were very willing to help with any problems we had and organised everything very well in a country where organisation can be difficult!

In Peru, I spent most mornings shadowing in two hospitals, a general one and one focused on maternal health. Both hospitals were large hospitals so that means I got to see a variety of cases. I had the opportunity to observe surgery and a live birth. We visited the medical school and learned about the Peruvian health system from medical students and took a short class on suturing there. In afternoons, we taught classes at orphanages about dental hygiene, and did a dental hygiene campaign at an elementary school. We each cleaned one kid’s teeth and then helped with filling cavities. We also did some general service projects, like helping care for a tree reforestation farm and volunteering in a soup kitchen that serves hundreds daily (and is normally run single-handedly by one woman). Natalia, the assistant FOM, made all the logistics run smoothly and she arranged a great homestay. I was with a large group of volunteers and it was great working with them and making new friends from around the US.
I also got to spend a weekend day in the Amazon, which I would highly recommend doing!

My trip to Peru with FIMRC was amazing! We got to visit two very different sites, one in the mountains and one in the jungle. While there, Danel and Natalia made sure each person got to see and experience everything they wanted. Anything from more time in the hospital, to more time in the orphanages, or completing service projects. We decided while we were there that we wanted to fix up the swings at one of the orphanages and the staff immediately jumped in the help us get the supplies necessary to make it happen. The host families were great and so welcoming, always wanting to talk with us and making sure we felt welcome.

Counting the days until I can go back!

We took a group of medical students to Huancayo for the week and all had meaningful experiences. Our days were spent participating on rounds, doing health screenings, and interacting with Peruvian medical students.

I am a registered nurse and went to Peru with FIMRC in 2014. Our week consisted of visits to local hospitals, giving health information sessions at local orphanages, and hearing lectures at the local medical school. The hospital visits were observation only, which was unfortunate as myself and a fellow critical care RN would have been happy to use our skills and help out. We did enjoy preparing and giving presentations regarding health issues to local orphanages, however we wondered who chose the topics for us to teach about as they were simply assigned to us, and we would have preferred to have been involved in the assessment of the local community and identify their needs. We teamed with a local dentist to give fluoride treatments to children in a school type setting, which was an awesome experience. As a group we were able to give treatment to at least 150-200 kids. We also taught a first aid course, which we designed, to a group of local law enforcement, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Overall I found this program to be very geared towards pre-Med students who would probably benefit more from the observation aspect of the program and they very basic health promotion activities, however I do not feel that this program is designed to accommodate experienced healthcare professionals with more advanced clinical and public health skills.

The accommodations were great, we stayed with a local family and really got to learn the local culture from them. Their hospitality was amazing and they cooked us delicious Peruvian meals. The social aspect was also great, we often spent the evenings with our group checking out the local sights and exploring the town. For these reasons, I would very much recommend this trip to anyone looking to experience Peru.

My experience in Peru was fantastic from my host family to the flexibility of the program to work with my needs for my school project. I was able to observe many different types of surgeries and surgical procedures, pre and post operative car as well as wound cleaning in conducting my project about surgical site infections. My host family was incredibly gracious and welcoming along with proving delicious traditional Peruvian foods and cultural experiences.