It's been a bit of a rough week. I've been sick with some sort of stomach bug for the past 4 days (feeling a little better now), and, even after three weeks, all the clinics are still on strike. The strike has hit dangerous point; Marisol (CCS staff), told us of multiple cases where the strike has directly lead to a severe worsening of patient illness/death over the past few weeks. A lack of low-cost healthcare is devastating to this area, as it's the only place the the extremely poor population of Ayacucho can afford to go. We keep hearing "next week it'll be over", and to be honest, we're starting to become immune to that statement. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it was three more weeks until it's truly over. Laura, Natalie, and I are trying to stay positive, though. Afterall, it's not like we're sitting idle in the CCS house. We've been going the the Drop-In Center, the Old Folks Home, and the Prison on weekdays, and we might be able to help one of the Santa Elena Clinic staff give vaccinations to the women at the prison! Here's to hoping...
We've also just bought bus tickets for a weekend trip to Lima! I did spend the wee hours of the morning in the Lima airport, but I haven't been able to see the city at all. I'm excited!
Last night was the craziest rain storm I've seen to date... That's saying a lot for having spent my entire life in Seattle. Let's just put it this way: about two hours before I took the picture below, I was getting a sunburn.
This is our street, 26 de Enero, about a half hour after it started raining. Not a picture of a river! Along with the torrential downpour, the lightning and thunder were unbelievable; one of the thunder bouts was so loud that it set off car alarms outside our house!!
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