Emilee Ray
Staff Writer
Costa senior Barron Regan and junior Natasha Anders took nine days out of their summer to travel to Peru to help people living in rural and impoverished areas to live healthy lifestyles by setting up make-shift medical clinics.
Anders and Regan traveled to Peru with Global Health Force for a medical missions trip to help communities and villages by providing them with basic medical education during the month of August. Anders was inspired to go to gain experiences. On the other hand, Barron wanted to see if his experience would be as grand as his mom and sister’s when they went.
“I have always been interested in going into medicine,” Anders said. “The fact that the medical mission was also in a Spanish speaking country was something that really caught my attention. In the end, a lot of it came down to the fact that it would be an incredible opportunity.”
While in Peru, Anders and Regan journeyed throughout the country to reach the places in need of the greatest assistance. They arrived early in the morning where they were greeted by long lines of people in need of help to set up temporary clinics. They included triage centers, where the injured people were organized into groups, doctors and nurses, an opthamologist, a pharmacy, a physical therapist and a dentist.
“I have no real medical experience, but they put me in charge of physical therapy where I taught the locals various stretches and exercises to recover from injury and to prevent further strain,” Regan said. “This was a great experience because it made me interested in something I didn’t know I liked before.”
Regan and Anders traveled to Ica, Trujillo, Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu where they were also able to get a sense of the country’s diverse culture and history. Anders said that they were able to experience Peru’s busy cities along with their small rural villages.
“In the towns that we visited, all of the people were super nice,” Regan said. “Some of them were pretty desperate to see us, but everyone was really grateful that we were there and they all wanted our help. It was shocking to see the economic state of some of the areas.”
Global Health Force travels to different countries with medical groups every year. They make a tremendous difference in people’s lives by giving them methods to living a healthy lifestyle and providing those who are ill with help. The main goal of the organization is meant to bring people together and change lives, according to Regan.
“Barron and I definitely became better friends on the trip. Traveling with someone, spending a lot of time with them, and going through so many different experiences brings you way closer to a person,” Anders said.
Anders and Regan said that they gained more than they knew they could from their medical mission in Peru and obtained incredible experiences. Interacting with the different people there from the doctors to the town’s children was really inspiring to the two Costa students and opened up their eyes to the world around them, Anders and Regan said.
“It was so cool how much I got to see and I really hope that my work was helpful and that they do their exercises every day,” Regan said. “It allowed me to explore the medical field a little and I had a great time doing physical therapy.”
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