Spring semester of my junior year at the University of Minnesota has just begun, but I still find myself reflecting on the amazing opportunity I had to travel to Lima, Peru over winter break to volunteer on a MEDLIFE mobile clinic with three of my fellow UMN Engineering World Health members.  In conjunction with student volunteers from all over the United States we helped deliver medical care to over 2,000 people who do not readily have access to healthcare.  We worked side by side with a dentist, an OB/GYN, and three general medicine doctors to offer these health services.

 

I am having a hard time putting into words the effect of what I experienced and the people I met.  Even though the care we were able to provide is incredibly uplifting, I still came across countless patients that will not receive the care they need because of monetary barriers.  I saw an eleven year old boy with muscular dystrophy who can no longer walk on his own.  His parents can’t afford a wheel chair so they must carry him whenever he leaves the house.  He will soon develop respiratory complications due to his illness and will not be able to receive the care he needs because of his parents’ economic status.  I saw a woman dying of stage 4 breast cancer that cannot receive the treatment she needs because she cannot afford it.  I saw a five year old girl with a mouth full of rotting teeth because she has never brushed them.  Although we were able to help many people during our one week clinic, these cases were a reminder to me that global health inequality is far more complicated than simply volunteering for a week in a developing country.

 

After interacting with communities that live without electricity or access to safe water, my intrinsic privilege is impossible to ignore.  This trip helped validate the work that we are trying to do with Engineering World Health at UMN and is inspiring me to work towards global access to quality healthcare regardless of a person’s economic status.