Peruvian Children's Fund

Our mission is to work with health professionals, volunteers and state agencies to improve the health of Peruvian children in Ancash Province in central Peru.

A 3-year medical Project in Ancash Province, Peru

This will be a 3-year team project, for which we hope to raise $100,000 in cash and $100,000 in donated equipment in 2008, including medical microscopes,  a 4WD vehicle; and train a team of local nurses and health personnel in the diagnosis and treatment of parasitic and worm infestations, and other infectious diseases.

The medical situation in Ancash Province is dire.  According to UNICEF and CIA estimates, as many as a third of the children do not live to see their tenth birthday, and many of those who do survive are ridden with illnesses for which there is a ready cure. The problem simply is that the children are not getting the medical care they need.

Immediate goals

Our first goal is to obtain a 4WD vehicle and equip it with a computerized tri-ocular microscope that would allow digitized color images of microscopic images of pathological specimens to be catalogued and stored, so that color copies can be made for distribution to each medical clinic for diagnostic and teaching purposes.

Intermediate Goals

We will work with local health professionals at the Medical Clinics, and help them correctly identify the causes of the illnesses that kill so many of their children. For accurate diagnosis, microscopes are an essential tool, and we have collected generous donations of more than 40 microscopes so far to bring to the clinics. We will train the nurses who staff the clinics how to examine blood, sputa and stool samples for the pathogens that cause each specific illness.

Thus, we will help the medical personnel make correct diagnoses, and put into effect effective treatment schedules, something they have not been able to do without the microscopes.

We will help educate the high school students on simple preventive measures they can take against common ailments, demonstrating to them that eggs and larvae of worms commonly are present on the uncooked vegetables Peruvians love to eat. In turn, we believe these students will be very effective agents to spread the word to their parents, and to others in the community.

As we make progress, we believe the population at large will begin to see the effect of good health measures, and proper treatment, on the health of their communities.

Long term Goals

We plan to conduct an epidemiological survey of the extent of parasitic and worm infestations that are common in the region, conduct a public relations campaign to educate and inform the population that the ravages of disease that have crippled, maimed and killed so many among them can be prevented and treated.

We will identify further measures that the government can adopt administratively to combat these serious medical problems and propose them to the Peruvian Ministry of Health.

Our Team

Our volunteers are from two groups: from the US, and local Peruvians. Our aim is to live among the people, and gradually win their trust. Following that,

– We will share health information with them, and help them understand the true cause of their illnesses, by showing them pictures of worms, their eggs and the various parasites and microorganisms that cause disease.

– We will also work closely with the health personnel in the Medical Clinics, and help them in using the microscopes effectively to make accurate diagnoses, so that effective treatment can then be instituted.

– We will work with teachers and students in the high schools, and show them microscopic images of worms and parasites that are frequently found on their fruits and vegetables. By demonstrating microscopic worms and their eggs in the stools of adults and children alike, we hope to convince the villagers to take measures to prevent their transmission to their children.

– We will be working closely with the Ministerio de Salud (the Ministry of Health) to come up with administrative measures that the Government of Peru can adopt that will result in a more efficient delivery of health care, especially to their citizens who cannot afford to pay for medical care.

– We will track our progress by conducting epidemiological surveys in the region. It is our hope that after 3 years, we will have helped to significantly improve the health of these children, and laid a foundation so that many more of their children will survive beyond their tenth birthday than presently do.