We were going to leave Ayaviri and move on to Bolivia, but they convinced us to stay an extra week to work as translators for the annual medical mission. Each year a group of 50 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other non-medical personnel travel to Ayaviri with all the medicines and tools necessary to see patients for 4 days. After spending a whole day setting up and cleaning the place where the mission was to be held (in addition to the weeks of preparation that had been done by the locals before any of us arrived,) we began to see patients for 4 days. There were oncologists, pediatricians, gynecologists, dentists, eye doctors, and a fully stocked pharmacy for the people to receive the treatment they needed. It was a long week, and very tiring, but it was a necessary mission. The most difficult part was hearing that some people had been abused or raped, and trying our best to help them. The most we could do in some of these difficult cases was give them basic medical attention and pray with them for their healing and strength to move forward.

Ayavari missions