Drawing from 20 years of ministry, Asociacion San Lucas has become a multi-faceted health care center. The clinic, located in Moyobamba, Peru, provides the community with outpatient care, diagnostic services such as lab work, ultrasound and electrocardiograph, a pharmacy, and the Solidarity Program, which helps children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate.
The ministry is also heavily involved in providing community health to the surrounding villages of Las Palmeras, Nuevo Milargo, and Guillermo. Once they have been trained, health promoters are responsible for providing basic health care to their community. Every month, the local health promoter gathers the children of the community to weigh them and evaluate them for proper hygiene and malnutrition. The community health promoters usually become community leaders as they manage the development of their community – organizing it, identifying problems and finding solutions.
Asociacion San Lucas staff also helps area farmers by teaching them techniques to raise quality crops. The program is a four-step process: seeding, planting, growing, and selling at the market. While the farmers previously grew only what they could sell, San Lucas is promoting well-balanced diets by growing several different foods. San Lucas even has its own farm to demonstrate proper farming techniques. The farm produces fruit, milk, honey, fish, and other produce, which are sold at the local market. Profits are then returned to the farm to improve the learning environment.
The Solidarity Program has become the signature program of the clinic. In the past ten years, over 500 children suffering from cleft lip or cleft palate have had successful surgeries. In 2007, 66 children received the surgery. "Before the surgery, the child is seen by a doctor who assesses the child and gives advice to the parents regarding nutrition to ensure that he or she is in good health for the surgery," explains Carlos Mori. "After the surgery the children are looked after in the small hospital attached to our operating theatre here in the San Lucas Clinic."
The follow-up for these surgeries is very important as the children need to re-learn how to eat and speak. It is the responsibility of the on-staff dentist, psychologist and speech therapist to do the follow-up. "Often the parents don’t see the need to come back for follow up as they are only concerned with the appearance and that the child can eat. So we have to go to their homes to follow them up to ensure that the child gets all the care that they need," says Mori.
Located east of the Andes on the Mayo River in the high jungle of San Martin, Moyobamba has been a population center since the early days of the country’s history. For many years commercial traffic has flowed along the river as well as on the many dirt and sometimes very muddy roads that lead in and out of the city. Recently the main highway to and from the city of Tarapoto, which has a large regional airport, has been completely paved thus increasing the traffic to and from Moyobamba. Though this improvement has most certainly provided increased commercial traffic and development in the region, unfortunately it has also negatively affected the health and lives of the people.
Even though Moyobamba is considered a remote place, the cases of HIV/AIDS have increased over the years. Largely to blame is the lack of appropriate sexual education. As more women are contracting the disease, it is being spread from mother to baby. Factors that put women at an increased risk of getting HIV/AIDS are associated with their low position in society, their low self-esteem, and their lack of self-confidence.
There is an overwhelming concern for the young people in Moyobamba as well. Young people in this rural city do not have the means to practice a safe lifestyle or to express their ideas on things that are relevant to them. These opportunities are non-existent in the families, the schools, the community and the media. This has resulted in increased teenage violence, gang life and a misunderstanding of healthy sexual and social relationships.
Asociacion San Lucas started an education program in 2006 designed for students ages 13 to 16. Subjects such as sexuality, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and selfesteem are taught.
"We also have sessions for parents on similar themes, as well as good parenting," explains Mori. "We run camps for the children where they are taught, then on their return the children have a session teaching their parents what they have learned."
"Also, when there are special events in Moyobamba, we run a stall to give information to the people who come regarding HIV/AIDS," says Mori. "In the clinic we offer a basic test for HIV for a small fee, however to get the comprehensive test they have to travel two hours to Tarapoto."
Even though the program does not provide all the answers to the social problems in Moyobamba, the San Lucas clinic is encouraged by providing avenues for discussion and education.
