ABOVE: DR MOFFREY WITH LOCAL MEDICAL STAFF AFTER AN EDUCATION SESSION.
try to encourage as many women as possible to attend. Thankfully DB Peru has been doing clinics in
some form in the region for nearly 15 years so the relationship they have built with the village elders
ensures most community members are receptive to participating in the clinics.
The day starts out with an information session for the village, educating them about what we will be doing
during the day, but also providing education about other health measures they should be taking. We set up
our clinic in a building within the village that is private, something not as simple as you might expect, as
most buildings aren’t built with four walls, in order to access air flow to cool things down. In one village we
used the school kitchen as that was the only building available and they literally had to put out the cooking
fire for us to hold our clinic. We used the student’s desks as our examination table and set up amongst the
pots and the pans.
The work DB Peru does is life changing, not just for the villages and patients but also for the
volunteers - to see these people with such minimalistic lifestyles who are so happy and appreciative,
makes me very thankful we live in Australia. I cannot wait to return and am looking forward to taking
some of my colleagues with me on the next trip. If you would like to find out more about the charity
DB Peru or to make a donation please go to their webpage at http://dbperu.org
pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine | 33