Peru: A Successful Whirlwind

The team of clinical participants and trainers after 3.5 long days of screening and treating women

A full eight months after my first program trip to Peru, I was thrilled to be boarding the plane to Lima in November. Three and a half weeks later, as I flew back to the United States just in time for Thanksgiving, I couldn’t help but remark on the results of the trip:

52 women treated (!)

373 women screened

All in just 5 days

14 providers from 11 health centers trained in VIA and cryotherapy by:

5 local providers

1 clinical consultant

2 volunteers

11 partner and donor meetings in Lima

Followed by 3 partner meetings in Jaen,

All culminating in a partnership agreement between 6 partner organizations: Grounds for Health, CENFROCAFE, Sol y Café, APROVAT, CAC la Prosperidad de Chirinos, and DISA Jaén.

The trip was a whirlwind, yet full of successes. I was joined by Kayla Moore, Senior Program Officer, for partner meetings in Lima that made us hopeful about opportunities to engage others and expand the program. Clinical Consultant Elisa Vandervort trained five local providers that have been strong participants and advocates for our program to serve as our in-country clinical experts and to lead the push for coverage of preventative services among all women aged 30-49. Finally, we hosted a clinical training for 14 participants and a 3.5 day campaign for the women of Tabaconas District, where our local providers, Elisa, and 2 invaluable volunteers, Sylvia Estrada and Joni Price, attended to 373 women. All along, our in-country staff of Program Coordinator Martha Pineda Guerrero and Community Coodinator Cristely Mejia Cordova organized, directed, and executed the program. The did an excellent job of managing logistics, relationships, and next steps for all involved.

Martha Pineda Guerrero, center, and Cristely Mejia Cordova, GFH in-country team, register women for the campaign in Tamborapa Pueblo

The goal for the Peru program is to continue to grow and expand so that we can achieve full coverage in the districts where we currently operate while simultaneously expanding to a broader geographic area. Through strategic partnerships and shared resources, Peru is poised to become a model country in reducing cervical cancer among rural women. Although this goal occupied a lot of my time in the field, I’d like to share a highlight of the trip where I was reminded of the daily impact of our program:

Socorro, Gabi, and Carmen are three members of APROVAT coffee cooperative who were selected by the co-op leadership to be trained as Grounds for Health Community Health Promoters. The women of their community – Tamborapa Pueblo – were invited to attend our campaign on its very first day.

These three women had been trained in cervical cancer prevention by our in-country staff and arrived with a group of women they had recruited. Every woman they brought was seen that day by our recently trained providers. In many ways, it was our model working in its purest form: Community Health Promoters recruit women from their communities to join us for a campaign, which is organized and run by our in-country staff and partners and where the women receive preventative services from local providers.

What set this experience apart for me was that all three women – Socorro, Gabi, and Carmen – returned to the campaign every day thereafter with more women that they had recruited to come for services. Their commitment and determination, fueled by the knowledge and support they were given by our in-country staff and the high-quality care administered from local providers, exemplify the spirit of community mobilization and the importance of prevention.

It shows us what an impact Grounds for Health programs can have on the lives of individuals.