Peru Journal: 03 Feb to 06 Feb
Tuesday 03 Feb
Woke up at 6am in time to wave goodbye to Oran as we ventured on to Colonia (population 230) about 20 minutes down river. Took a stroll through the village after breakfast, tried some new fruits and my first intentional termite ingestion. Acidic! Another busy morning (14 patients including 15 fillings and 8 extractions; even had to abort on a 9 year old boy who needed to have an adult molar extracted and got through the anesthesia but refused the rest of treatment). Some villagers from Nuevo Arequipa (population 90) came this morning, so we dropped them off on our way to Canton (population 300), our afternoon village. 13 patients (8 fillings, 14 extractions) in the afternoon. I really wanted to try baca paleta, a green pea-like fruit, so three boys spent 20 minutes throwing sticks at one of the trees to get it down. I traded them gum for their efforts. After dinner, five of the children in Canton kept having me take pictures of them in silly poses. After the first ten shots, I said, "No mas!" They responded "Uno mas!" This exchange then went on for 15-20 more shots before I finally sent them to bed. It was pretty fun.
Wednesday 04 Feb
Left Canton at 6am but couldn't muster the energy to wake up until 7am just as we arrived in Santa Amelia. Did our standard tour of the village to meet the people and try new foods right after breakfast. This morning, I apparently shattered all Amazon Hope speed records by seeing 20 dental patients for 27 extractions and 11 fillings. It was a crazy morning but still quite fulfilling. It seems that the farther we get from Iquitos the fewer fillings and more extractions I am doing. Jaime, a 13 year old boy who was incredibly appreciative to have me pull one of his adult molars, let me fill 4 other teeth as well. Hopefully he'll come back to the boat in 3 months and get the other 4 fillings he needs. A bunch of kids asked me to come and play soccer with them after lunch, but alas we unexpectedly left the village we thought we were visiting all day to travel to Pebas, 90 minutes down river, to get more medications for the next set of villages. The medications we use on the boat are provided by the Peruvian government, but each district only provides medications for their own villages. Since we're leaving one district and heading to another, we need a new set of drugs. Pebas is the largest town in Peru east of Iquitos at 6,000 people. We visited the health care center and then the art studio of Francisco Grippa, which had both beautiful art as well as magnificent views of the village below. Back to the boat after a few hours, and a long journey through the night to Santo Toribio, the farthest down river we will go (approximately 200 miles down river from Iquitos and another 100 miles from Pebas).
Thursday 05 Feb
Woke up at 7am just as we arrived in Santo Torino, a small village of fewer than 100 people. Our tour of the small village was easy, so we spent nearly 30 minutes talking to an elderly woman inside her home who graciously answered all our questions about her lifestyle. A fascinating discussion. Overall, a slow morning for dental patients: one 53 year old man for an extraction and a 17 year old boy for 1 extraction (what he wanted) and 5 fillings (what I wanted). Left Santo Torino and made the 30 minute trip upriver to the village of Cochiquinas (population 1000), which is located on a beautiful peninsula. A more productive afternoon with 15 patients served (7 fillings, 17 extractions) followed by a volleyball game against the village women (this time we won and celebrated with beer from the community store), soccer with the village children and the usual nighttime dinner/shower/reading/bed routine.
Friday 06 Feb
Woke up at 7am in time to watch a pair of pink dolphins swim right off the side of our boat. Breakfast, then a quick jaunt through Cochiquinas before morning patients (17 seen for 6 fillings and 22 extractions); lunch, then a 30 minute ride up to Condor, a small beautiful 100 person village where we took a quick tour and then saw a second round of patients (12 total with 14 fillings and 13 extractions completed). We then invited all the children onto the ship to watch a movie (in Spanish). Since I didn't understand what was going on, I played volleyball and tag with four adorable girls for nearly an hour. Lots of fun! A huge rainstorm tonight! Crazy!
Woke up at 6am in time to wave goodbye to Oran as we ventured on to Colonia (population 230) about 20 minutes down river. Took a stroll through the village after breakfast, tried some new fruits and my first intentional termite ingestion. Acidic! Another busy morning (14 patients including 15 fillings and 8 extractions; even had to abort on a 9 year old boy who needed to have an adult molar extracted and got through the anesthesia but refused the rest of treatment). Some villagers from Nuevo Arequipa (population 90) came this morning, so we dropped them off on our way to Canton (population 300), our afternoon village. 13 patients (8 fillings, 14 extractions) in the afternoon. I really wanted to try baca paleta, a green pea-like fruit, so three boys spent 20 minutes throwing sticks at one of the trees to get it down. I traded them gum for their efforts. After dinner, five of the children in Canton kept having me take pictures of them in silly poses. After the first ten shots, I said, "No mas!" They responded "Uno mas!" This exchange then went on for 15-20 more shots before I finally sent them to bed. It was pretty fun.
Wednesday 04 Feb
Left Canton at 6am but couldn't muster the energy to wake up until 7am just as we arrived in Santa Amelia. Did our standard tour of the village to meet the people and try new foods right after breakfast. This morning, I apparently shattered all Amazon Hope speed records by seeing 20 dental patients for 27 extractions and 11 fillings. It was a crazy morning but still quite fulfilling. It seems that the farther we get from Iquitos the fewer fillings and more extractions I am doing. Jaime, a 13 year old boy who was incredibly appreciative to have me pull one of his adult molars, let me fill 4 other teeth as well. Hopefully he'll come back to the boat in 3 months and get the other 4 fillings he needs. A bunch of kids asked me to come and play soccer with them after lunch, but alas we unexpectedly left the village we thought we were visiting all day to travel to Pebas, 90 minutes down river, to get more medications for the next set of villages. The medications we use on the boat are provided by the Peruvian government, but each district only provides medications for their own villages. Since we're leaving one district and heading to another, we need a new set of drugs. Pebas is the largest town in Peru east of Iquitos at 6,000 people. We visited the health care center and then the art studio of Francisco Grippa, which had both beautiful art as well as magnificent views of the village below. Back to the boat after a few hours, and a long journey through the night to Santo Toribio, the farthest down river we will go (approximately 200 miles down river from Iquitos and another 100 miles from Pebas).
Thursday 05 Feb
Woke up at 7am just as we arrived in Santo Torino, a small village of fewer than 100 people. Our tour of the small village was easy, so we spent nearly 30 minutes talking to an elderly woman inside her home who graciously answered all our questions about her lifestyle. A fascinating discussion. Overall, a slow morning for dental patients: one 53 year old man for an extraction and a 17 year old boy for 1 extraction (what he wanted) and 5 fillings (what I wanted). Left Santo Torino and made the 30 minute trip upriver to the village of Cochiquinas (population 1000), which is located on a beautiful peninsula. A more productive afternoon with 15 patients served (7 fillings, 17 extractions) followed by a volleyball game against the village women (this time we won and celebrated with beer from the community store), soccer with the village children and the usual nighttime dinner/shower/reading/bed routine.
Friday 06 Feb
Woke up at 7am in time to watch a pair of pink dolphins swim right off the side of our boat. Breakfast, then a quick jaunt through Cochiquinas before morning patients (17 seen for 6 fillings and 22 extractions); lunch, then a 30 minute ride up to Condor, a small beautiful 100 person village where we took a quick tour and then saw a second round of patients (12 total with 14 fillings and 13 extractions completed). We then invited all the children onto the ship to watch a movie (in Spanish). Since I didn't understand what was going on, I played volleyball and tag with four adorable girls for nearly an hour. Lots of fun! A huge rainstorm tonight! Crazy!