Social Design in Peru (1/2)
Loophole traveled down Peru as a volunteer to distribute and test low cost water filters in the remote villages of the Amazon rainforest with Centura Health and the Global Health Initiative.
Rob, owner of Loophole, and Roger, founder of GA2030.org, arrived and hit the ground running after catching the red-eye flight to Iquitos. The day began with meeting with our partners, the Centura Health team to get briefed on how the clinics would be set-up and run, getting supplies for the filter systems, and lastly meeting with the local Rotary Club and Conapac to discuss future partnerships.
The first two days our team went to the villages of San Rafael and Santa Rosa along the Amazon River. These days were spent assisting the medical team with set-up, preparing for our filter educational workshops, and lastly assisting with medical lab tests when Rob and Roger were available. A lot of data was gathered from the communities about their current water gathering methods, the daily routines, and conditions of water towers.
After a couple days of research, they arrived at the village of Manati Zona I. Rob and Roger trained the medical residents and key community leaders how to build the filter systems using locally sourced buckets. The goal was to provide filters as an enhancement of the Family Health initiative. The filters provided an incentive to meet program requirements and grow a sense of earned ownership of the filter systems.
The following day, the team arrived at Iquique and word had traveled about the work our team was doing. The mayor of Indiana had requested that Rob and Roger demonstrate the filter system to the clinic and leaders of the town. It was a moving day as Roger stood below an outdoor waiting area he had helped construct several years prior. At this place, Roger had inquired about the number of patients and the reason people were lined up at the clinic—diarrhea and gastrointestinal issues. This is the place his journey began.
The final day on the river was spent with the medical residents Sinchicuy where Roger and Rob had an afternoon of laughs and building friendships. A total of sixty-five filters were delivered. A couple systems were built for the medical dorm and school, while the remaining filters would be used to promote the Family Health campaign in Sinchicuy.
©2019 Photo by Rob Miller
©2019 Photo by Rob Miller
It was a successful week. The lives of many families were impacted by our teams work. Our teams plan to monitor the usage and effectiveness over the coming year.
