The Importance of Education

Above is a photo of the old famous quaint cathedral on La Plaza de Armas in Cuzco where I was last Sunday. The weeks seem to keep flying by and we are conducting our last survey in the pueblos here. In addition, we’re writing up our findings for our research. My hope is that we can soon get an educational program that’s nonexistent here, up and running. Here’s an excerpt from one of my reports:

The NGO we’re working with here, FONDESURCO, has given out microloans for over a decade without any type of accompanying education. It is obvious from the results of our research that all women would greatly benefit from an education program that would not only teach them how to invest their money more wisely in their businesses, but also teach them vital practicalities such as good hygiene and health competence. Many women I met knew very little about how to prevent disease and also how to take care of their children when they become sick. They hardly ever go to the doctor because of incompetent doctors that don’t know how to treat the sick, clinics and hospitals that only treat those that have money, and clinics that are located too far away. Instead of seeking modern medicine to treat their children, many of these women use household remedies that have been passed down through generations. For example many of the women of the Altiplano bathe their children in urine when they are become sick with acute respiratory infections (ARI). Many also give their children toasted rice with water when they have diarrhea. Educational classes could teach mothers the importance of treating ARI with proper medication like antibiotics and severe diarrhea with Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT). In addition, a myriad of health topics would be useful to these mothers including the importance of vaccines, breastfeeding, proper hygiene, a balanced nutritional diet, water and food safety, etc.

Last week before I came back from Cuzco, Brittany, Sampson and I went to a nice restaurant on La Plaza de Armas (the main town square) with authentic Peruvian music and dancing. It was a cold night and hardly anyone was there so for two hours we had a private concert with some amazing musicians and dancers in elaborate costumes. And of course I was asked to dance by one of the Peruanas.

Above is he Sunflower House, the orphanage where Brittany and Sampson will be working for the next month. It’s located up on the hill in an incredible picturesque valley in between Cuzco and Machu Pichu.

We only have a couple of more weeks of data collection. I'm looking forward to the day when we won’t have to pack up every couple of days and travel to a new area. However since we are close to the border of Chile, I’ve been tempted to hop on a bus to Santiago when we get done here. That idea came to an end last night when I found out that the bus takes 45 hours to get to Santiago and costs $110 one-way. I don’t think I have it in me for another four days on buses.