The end of week 1, some travel and back to the schools!

We made it back to United States safe and sound! We apologize for the delay in blog posts due to a very busy work schedule followed by some adventuring, but here are three new updates about our final week in Peru.

After completing the seminar, we said our goodbyes to Dr. Phelan as she left that night to return to the US so she could continue her audiology work back at the Northwestern clinic. Having a clinician with us this year was a valuable addition to our team and we hope to continue this tradition on future trips. With the weekend free, the group decided to head to Huaraz to do some hiking/exploring. We hopped on another overnight bus on Friday and spent Saturday exploring the town and acclimatizing to the elevation. On Sunday morning, bright and early, we headed out to Huascaran National Park and hiked Laguna 69 – a 6-hour round trip hike with a peak altitude of 15,000 feet!! It was quite the adventure, but it was well worth it! That same day, we got back on the overnight bus to Trujillo (we were getting quite good at these) and arrived early Monday morning. We just wanted to mention that we have had many great sponsors who have helped fund this volunteer trip, but all recreational traveling has been paid for by ourselves. 

Just one of the friends we made on our way trekking to Laguna 69

We did it! 15,091 feet!  The glacial lake looks tropical due to copper-oxide.

After a few hours of sleep, we were off to Institucion Educativa Antonio Torres Araujo to present to the 6^th grade classrooms and perform hearing screenings. Greg and Jenna gave presentations while Shannon and Clare tested the students hearing. This was our third time back at this school and you could tell the kids had really warmed up to us – taking pictures/selfies, asking us questions while at recess, taking a peek at Greg’s tattoos. It was a really fun day with all of the kids and a great way to end our volunteer work with that school. 

The 6th grade class after our presentation

The kids were happy to see us after the weekend and wanted to take pictures!

Jenna is swarmed with affection from the kids.  

All the hugs!

Demonstrating how the eardrum works.

On Tuesday morning, we headed further outside of Trujillo and went to Institucion Educativa Alto Salaverry. It was interesting to see a different school and get a different perspective on the schools in Trujillo. The kids were out playing when we arrived and were all excited to see us and to learn that we were from the United States. After the kids returned to class, we set up in an empty classroom to perform the hearing screenings. The classrooms are very noisy and reverberant, which made it difficult for testing – we can only imagine the difficulties the kids may have hearing the teacher every day! Today, Greg and Jenna were in charge of the screenings, while Shannon and Clare presented to the 4^th grade classrooms. The kids were thrilled about the different demonstrations – tuning fork, noise thermometer, slinky wave – and even more ecstatic about the earplugs that were passed out at the end. We wrapped up with everything just before lunch and packed up the van with help from some eager students. We said our goodbyes and headed home for a wonderful lunch prepared by Senora Mercy. 

The kids wanted to hear the music on our phones, so Shannon was happy to introduce them to The Beatles.

The kids of Alto Salaverry insisted on carrying our bags for us.

We spent Tuesday afternoon at a community outside of Trujillo called Sr. De Los Milagros with the kids of the different families (ages 4-10).  We started by walking around the neighborhood to gather the kids, and we were all assigned a new friend to walk with. We were unable to perform hearing screenings due to poor testing conditions; however, we still gave our presentation and did activities with the kids. At the end, we gave each kid earplugs and instructed them on their proper use. We had some extra time, so we all played games with the kids before leaving to head back to Vive Peru. 

Gathering the kids from the community

The kids were all eager to participate in our demonstrations

Clare and Shannon teaching the kids about the loudness of different sounds in their environment.

A quick anatomy lesson by Jenna.

The kids of Sr. De Los Milagros and the wonderful volunteers from Vive Peru.

Trying on their new earplugs.

Before dinner, Senor Jose was delighted to share information about his coffee shop and told us about all of the different types of coffee they serve (one of which comes from his family’s farm). He even made us cappuccinos from those beans!!! It was just another demonstration of how kind the family was during this entire stay. The night ended with a delicious dinner prepared by Senora Mercy - we wish we had more pictures of the wonderful food, but we felt it would be rude to have our phones at the dinner table. Let’s just say, her cooking will be missed! 

Cappuccino's compliments of Señor Jose.