GlobeMed at the University of Rochester
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It’s raining it’s pouring
It’s not unusual for us as students in the rainy city of Rochester to talk about the weather. However, what we tend to forget as students at the U of R is that even though the gray skies may become monotonous and the precipitation may put a damper on our weekend plans, we never really think about how the weather can impact our lives. When it rains for days on end in Rochester we rarely are concerned with the effect it will have on our ability to attend classes. It is unreasonable and outlandish to even conjure images of the Genesee flooding and halting activities.
While in Rochester the rains and bleak weather serve at best as a conversation starter and at worse as a nuisance, it does not have the same kind of impact that the weather has on El Porvenir. Last summer, we had the opportunity to visit the neighborhood just at the end of the rainy season. Throughout our 3.5 weeks in El Porvenir we were able to see how the sunny days not only improved the mood in the neighborhood but also facilitated in the lowering of the rivers, which allowed for members of the community to access the main city in a more convenient matter. We had learned that for the first few months of the year the Nanay and Itaya rivers, which border the city of Iquitos, flood and leave neighborhoods such as El Porvenir, inundated, and somewhat stranded from the rest of the city.
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In a normal rainy season, the floods may serve as an inconvenience, adolescents might have more trouble getting into the city to hang out with friends and adults in the community may have to take a motorcar on the one road to get to their jobs in the city. And in some ways, some community members embrace the regular floods. It provides entertainment for the children who can be found paddling from house to house in the canoes and walking between the houses on bridges they constructed. Though but what might become clear is that these floods, even when controllable, can have detrimental effects on the community. For example, it can become difficult to travel to and from the city and even more concerning it can serve as a breeding ground for skin infections and exposes the population to water-borne illnesses.
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In our time in El Porvenir, we saw how the floods affected the daily lives of those in El Porvenir and therefore it was determined that some of our funds we raised throughout the year would be allocated to building up the ground to create a playground. This project was one which Kallpa and the community chose to create a fun and healthy space for children from the community.Therefore, it was particularly startling when we received news from our friends at Kallpa regarding the severity of the weather. At first, what we might perceive as a mere inconvenience of relentless rainfall became increasingly worrisome as we noticed the statuses of our friends coun
ting the number of days of incessant precipitation. Luckily, we received communication from Manuel (our liaison) just a few days later with a formal report of the status of life in El Porvenir and the neighboring areas in Pampachica. Manuel included a report stating that the flooding is the worst it has been in over 50 years, resulting in a nationally recognized emergency leaving 20 of the houses abandoned and others that would have to be evacuated if the floods continue to rise. In addition, the El Porvenir health center was moved to another part of town, and the elementary school paused all classes for a short period of time. The youth group, which we have been working particularly close with, would also be halting all activities due to flooding in the cultural center. This type of flooding is particularly worrisome for infection and the spread of illness.
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While the n
ews we received was disheartening, and it was clear that our friends in Iquitos were struggling, it also reminded us how strong, resilient and unbelievably dedicated El Porvenir is. In Manuel’s report he detailed how the community has come together to take action to protect the furniture in the youth center, and how they have continued to help each other out to put together plank to make travel easier. Manuel explained how they are doing their best to mobilize resources to ensure that families have access to clean water and that solid waste will be removed. They are making their best efforts to prevent respiratory illness and skin infections and coming together as a community to handle this situation in the most appropriate way possible.
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The flooding of the first weeks of April has been a particularly important reminder for us as to how much this partnership means to us. It reminded us as to how important it is for us to be in communication with this community and how we must continue to support them as they are struggling and to praise them when they are thriving. We know these next couple weeks will be very difficult for our friends in Iquitos and we are making sure that our communication is as transparent as ever. We know that they will continue to work together and show their incredible motivation and dedication to each other and to their neighborhood. We will continue to support them through these weeks and communicate with them as to how we can assist them to get them back on their feet as soon as possible.
Sara Lever ’13
A few weeks ago one of our members, Anisha Gundewar, had the opportunity to spend a few days visiting Kallpa while she was in Peru. During that time she was able to witness and photograph some of the damage that has resulted from the recent flooding in the area. Many of the communities in which Kallpa and by association GlobeMed are involved are currently under water. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.362679180435815.71604.149969351706800&type=1
