SALUD Program in Peru

By Tina Lin – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Cusco, Peru.
Thursday
Today we got a tour of the Hospital Segurio Social in Cusco. Everyone in my program (including me) was very impressed with the facility. It has 3 floors; the first floor is administration and emergency. Second floor has specialties like Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, oncology…etc. The third floor is for in-patients who stabilized.
The hospital has a laboratory that runs over 300 lab tests. There are also altars of the Virgin scattered throughout the hospital. According to our guide, Dr. Viviana, this is a tertiary facility that is the best in the region. She said we can try to visit other hospitals around the area, because this facility is not representative of the healthcare here in Peru. Most of the other hospitals lack funding and equipments.
After the visit to the hospital, we also visited CIMA (Center of Altitude Medicine). It has a hyperbaric chamber and two other rooms for observations. Everyone in the SALUD program got assigned to various specialties that we chose. I am going to work in Emergency and Intensive care starting next week.
Saturday
Today I awoke to the sound of Ochiro (my house dog) barking at 5:30am. Then I couldn't really sleep after that. The plan for today was to visit Tipon, one of the Incan sites that contains excellent aqueduct system and magnificent views of the Andean mountains. I invited a bunch of other classmates that decided not to go to Puno (other people went to Puno for the weekend).
We met up in front of school and took 2 cabs to go to Tipon. It was quite a ride to get up to the entrance of the ruins. It would have been too strenuous to walk up the hill. Marcy, Todd, Taylor, Joan, Deandra and I took many pictures of the beautiful field and waterfalls. It is just so amazing to see that the same aqueducts are still directing water downhill.
The view from the top of the mountains was just amazing; you can see how well the fields are organized. A man that picks up trash around the area asked to be our guide, and he explained to us what the ruins were originally. The plants in the mountains were unique. I saw a dandelion type flower that grew straight out of the ground.
After our visit to the ruins, we walked back down to Pista Principal. We all decided to take the cab and eat lunch back in Cusco instead of trying the famous cui (guinea pig) dish in Tipon. People were afraid of having some digestive problems. After lunch in Cusco with my new friends, I went to visit the Cathedral and La Compania in Plaza de Armas. The history of Catholicism in Cusco is very fascinating. The guides in these churches are very good in English, so it is very easy to understand them.