Houston's MEDLIFE Story - Cusco, Peru (May 2018)

"Having lived all my life in Toronto as a privileged individual, this trip has opened my eyes to the pervasiveness of poverty and the huge impacts it brings to entire communities. During project day at the rural outskirts of Cusco, I entered a local woman’s house to help paint the walls. I was shocked at the amount of grime and dust that littered the entire area. The floor was so dirty that it felt unsanitary to even sit down on. The roof had gaps that were covered with intertwined twigs. Despite all this, the local woman’s eyes gleamed with pride as she showed us around the house. At that instant, I was astounded at how happy one could be with so little. I felt ashamed that I complained about the lack of heating in my modern hotel room.
The local healthcare and medical services were even worse than the state of the houses. I passed by a deserted hospital that had its construction cancelled halfway through. The next nearest hospital was miles away. Exacerbating the underperforming medical services, many locals had next to no basic healthcare knowledge. At the mobile clinics that we ran, there were many patients with easily preventable conditions such as tooth decay. Children as young as the age of six had black, rotten teeth simply because they were not taught to brush their teeth.
Even in the urban heart of Cusco, there were still telltale signs of poverty. When I went to buy souvenirs, none of the stores had enough change for a 100 soles bill, roughly the equivalent of 30 USD. I saw many children walking aimlessly around the streets all day, probably because some of them could not afford the tuition or transit fees to go to school, which is considered one of the highest luxuries in Cusco.
The recurring theme of this trip was the constant realization that many privileges I had taken for granted were unobtainable by a vast number of Peruvians, such as a clean house with heating and air conditioning, basic healthcare education, and being able to attend school. Overall, this was a very eye-opening and fulfilling trip. If there were any aspect that could be improved, it would be the small portion sizes of the hotel dinners. On several occasions, I went to sleep feeling slightly hungry. However, I have no regrets attending this trip and will forever remember my experiences at my first ever time staying in an impoverished area."
​-Houston

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