It’s Ian’s second week in Lima, Peru, and he has had a lot to tell us. If you’re just tuning in now, Ian is a Yampu-sponsored MEDLIFE student from the University of Vermont pursuing his dream to fuse together his biology major and his community & international development minor to help those in need. He is the president of his university’s chapter of MEDLIFE, where he has volunteered for the last three years. He also volunteers on the pediatric floor of UVM Medical Center. Keep reading below to see what MEDLIFE has been up to in Peru. Their hard work is helping those in need in the outskirts of Lima, but we also get to take a peek at some of the fun activities the region has to offer for adventurous travelers.

Week 2

This week we were in Ica, Peru where we went on a boat tour to visit the Ballestas Islands, a wildlife sanctuary. We saw wild birds and mammals including sea lions, endangered Humboldt penguins, pelicans, boobies, red-footed Guanay cormorants, and many other types of birds. We also saw a geoglyph that was carved into a cliff over 1,000 years ago. This symbol is called The Candelabra. It most likely was created by the Paracas tribe living in the coast at that time, for reasons unknown, but it is still under debate who really created it.

We also headed to the desert. The town was called Huacachina, which surrounds a natural Oasis. We went on dune buggies and sand-boarding. It was crazy to see the huge sand dunes and feel absolutely small in a massive coastal desert. Sand-boarding was a blast and we plan on going back to camp in the desert one weekend.

This week we had mobile clinics in Cusco, Peru but not in Lima so we worked on our group projects such as creating new material to send out to MEDLIFE Chapters throughout the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and the Netherlands. We also are working on updating chapter information and answering emails and phone calls. Since there was no mobile clinic in Lima, we were able to go on patient follow-up visits.

When MEDLIFE has mobile clinics in a community but a patient requires more support and treatment, MEDLIFE staff members review each patient’s case to enroll them in the patient follow-up program. MEDLIFE provides financial resources for treatments, emotional support, nutritional assistance for malnourished families, and educational resources to help individuals better understand their conditions.

I went on a patient follow-up on Tuesday, June 14, during which we bought a walker and delivered it to a patient.

The patient was a young, single mother who was having a lot of trouble walking. With two kids, including one who had to drop out of school to work to help provide for the family, she was dealing with a lot. It was a very emotional patient follow-up. She explained that she was waiting to hear back from the doctor to see what was going on but they thought it was due to a back problem that was affecting her nerves and; therefore, her ability to walk. We ended up hearing the next day that she had uterine cancer causing her to loose the ability to walk. This hit me really hard and it made me proud to be working with MEDLIFE since we will be continuing patient follow-ups with this woman, helping her to get to and from the doctors, and with her treatment and recovery. The MEDLIFE patient follow-up program is amazing and I am happy I was able to be part of it.

-Ian

Continue follow Ian’s adventures on Instagram: @ianmchale or Follow him on Facebook

About Ian
Hometown: Hamilton, NJ
School: University of Vermont
Major: Biology
Minor: Community & International Development

Ian is a mentor for two awesome mentees Keshon and Kiki, a volunteer at the University of Vermont Medical Center on the pediatric floor, the president of MEDVIDA, his local chapter of MEDLIFE, and a member of the UVM Triathlon club. He loves being outdoors hiking, snowboarding, and camping.

Ian first got involved with MEDLIFE at the University of Vermont by joining his local chapter during Freshman year. He went on his first brigade that summer to Cusco, Peru and it changed his life. During his Sophomore year he became Vice President and Brigades Officer for his chapter. That summer he went on my second brigade to Esmeraldas, Ecuador where he first learned about his current internship in Lima, Peru. In his Junior year he became the President of his chapter at UVM and he is now a MEDLIFE Volunteer Affairs Intern.

His goal for this internship is to connect his Biology major and Community and International Development minor through helping with the planning and implementation of sustainable community development projects that help bring medical access to vulnerable communities.

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