Lima – Medical Mission update

Lima – Medical Mission update

• July 2013: Revd Carlos Quispe talked about the Medical Mission;
  • a ‘mobile service’
  • led by Dr Townsend Cooper

• Update from his point of view:
  • different levels of poverty exist, sometimes very close to each other,
  • these zones are constantly moving as the city develops.  
  • need to work with ‘most needy’ – a challenge

• Do regular health checks on children in Diocesan programs, i.e. working with Compassion International and Diocesan schools
  
  • not the most marginalized children.
  • they already are being helped and benefit from church outreach
  • Medical Mission is designed to reach into areas of greatest ill-health and poverty

• Current strategy has two prongs:

• Medically complex/fragile children – have ‘Special Cases Program’

• Identify children with chronic and/or complex illness living in an environment where there medical needs are not met.

• Have a team of Health Ambassadors and a Nurse Coordinator that follow these children and try to identify specific "holes" in the treatment that they receive from the state.  

• Example One: A child on the northern edge of the city who received extensive tuberculosis care from the state but fell out of treatment due to transportation and discrimination (because the child also has cerebral palsy).
  
• With a small amount of resources and advocacy on our part, the child has almost completed her treatment and the mindset and heart of the family has totally changed.

• Example Two: A child with Downs syndrome in one of the southern shanty towns who has a congenital heart defect was completely outside of the health system.  Again, with a little targeted advocacy, education, money for transport, and some targeted nutritional support the child is on the way to getting her needed operation, which will be paid for by the state program to which she is entitled.

• Numerous cases like this, where individual attention has facilitated the targeting of resources in the appropriate fashion.  

• Training the health workers and nurse to recognize the key barriers to care and create plans of action.
  
• Children in the very newest settlements on the outskirts of the shanty town

• Use existing churches (which are themselves in areas of significant poverty) to reach even further into the areas of need.  

• Use geographic proximity and the existing community relationships, to offer some level of continuity for these unstable and transient "new invasions".  Currently we are reaching into three such areas.

• Examples: One is close to the "San Patricio" site in Ventanilla, [on sand-dunes overlooking oil refinery]
  
• It’s not the poorest place in the immediate vicinity; poorer community that has been in existence about 6 months (about 1/2 km from the base site)
  
• Doing serial evaluations of the communities with basic healthcare.
  
• In March there’s a planned a major intestinal parasite evaluation for the communities in conjunction with the Peruvian government (this will help not only these specific communities, but also help to guide the government on how to design policies for similar communities
  
• A similar zinc and iron evaluation later this year [access to zinc to treat childhood diarrhoea]

• Also looking at other mission fronts, such as opening a physical therapy centre in south of Lima; and further outreach in the Ica [coastal] community.  Have done some physician and nurse education and a few community evaluations there over the last year, and have more planned.

• Without careful evaluation and local knowledge, resources can be spent on areas/situations that are not the most needy.

• Developing and training a group of dedicated church members that are acting as Health Ambassadors.  
   
  • We have subdivided the city into several regions based on the location of the local churches, and creating areas of individual responsibility. 
  • The program is progressing well, with several independent initiatives being managed by these ambassadors (physical therapy outreach, health education, etc.)
  • Pray that over time, these ambassadors can gain increasing knowledge and independence to be fierce advocates for health education and access in their respective zones. 

• Thanksgiving

• That Carlos came to us and shared his vision with us
• That we can hear real stories / lives being changed

• For work of the ordinary people of Church in Lima
• That we, here in Wyre Forest, have the opportunity to support them in their work, through prayer and financial support