Elective Placement in Peru – the arrival!

I have now been and returned from Peru and my elective placement, and although I realise that I haven’t quite finished my series of the 6C’s posts. I wanted to write about my experiences in Peru whilst they are still fresh in my mind. So I will return to those posts at a later stage!

I have to stay the trip to Peru did not start well. I I originally chose to fly from Heathrow rather than from my home city of Manchester as flights were considerably cheaper at the time of booking and I figured that it would be easy enough to get to on the day. My lovely other half had offered to give me a lift and so we departed on what should have been a 3 hour journey about 7 hours ahead of my time to make sure we were not late and also to allow us some time to stop for a coffee and breakfast etc. As soon as we got onto the motorway the traffic slowed down… then it stopped altogether… and then we realised that the motorway had in fact been closed due to a major accident. We travelled around 15 miles in 2 hours and then spent almost 2 hours on a diversion to the next open junction. I was convinced I would not make my flights and would miss all my connections. I tried to call the airline multiple times (on their premium ‘helpline’ numbers) to see if I could get later flights. However whilst I would have been able to get later flights to Lima, the capital of Peru, there were no flights to my actual destination, Cusco, for the next 4 days, and so it was either get my scheduled flights or reorgnaise my entire trip! It was very stressful and I cried a lot of tears. I worked so hard to pay for my trip and I put so much effort into planning every single day of my Peruvian adventure that the idea of not being able to make it or having to miss some of it was breaking my heart.

But, my fabulous other half of a driver got a very grumpy and emotional me to Heathrow and I ran out of the car with my luggage hoping that I would still make it in time. I don’t even remember saying goodbye or thank you. I just ran.

As I ran into the terminal I grabbed the first airline representative that I saw. I explained. I apologised. I begged. My flight was due to leave at 12.15 and it was 11.13. This very nice representative told me it wasn’t a problem, that the flight would close in a minute and she would get me checked in asap. I am ashamed to say that I actually pushed in front of a very very long queue of people for passport security (for entry into the US), for check in and then for passport control. But thank you to that very understanding and lovely airline representative I was sat on the plane waiting to leave by around 11.45. I made it!

I first flew to Miami and I was welcomed by this sign which I thought was a nice little touch considering how stressful the start of my journey had been, but also how the kindness and love of people had got me there in the end! The rest of my trip was long…very long…around 35 hours in total I think! I flew from Miami to Lima and then Lima to Cusco – where I arrived to very rainy and cold weather!

Peru is south of the Equator and so I went during their autumn/winter, but supposedly dry season. Whilst all my friends were enjoying the heatwave of the UK or were going to their elective placements to hotter and sunnier climates I was wrapping up myself in 5 layers of clothing, woolly hats and gloves!

On arrival at Cusco I was met by Angelika, my placement coordinator and we took the smallest taxi in the world to what would be my home for the next 3 weeks – Kyuki Do Wasi – I don’t know if the name means anything specifically. I asked a few times but no one seemed to know!

Kyuki Do Wasi (I don’t know if the name means anything specifically. I asked a few times but no one seemed to know!) is a home for teenage mums. Peru is is a very poor country with little or no social care to help vulnerable people. This home was really set up to help young girls who need a bit more of a helping hand in caring for their babies in a safe environment. The youngest was 14 with the oldest being 17. I miss them, and I miss their little ones too. They were typical teenagers for the most part, moody but also incredibly humourous and playful. The girls always called me Señorita Ruth…and it made feel very respected and also very special! Many people, including other volunteers, referred to them as ‘the teenage mums’ all the time but I didn’t like that. I felt that they were still girls first and foremost and still needed nurturing as individuals and not just treated as mums.

So, that’s my arrival in Peru! Next blog…placement!

Elective Placement booked…Peru here I come!

I’m completely trying to avoid doing any uni work today so I thought I would update my blog. Great idea eh? I suppose that I’m still talking/writing about uni and nursing so that counts as directed study…yes? Yes.

In any case..I wanted to tell you a little about my exciting news!

Throughout our nursing education pre-registration, we spend 50% of our time on placement…you know…doing hands on stuff and applying all that lovely theory into real life situations. We are allocated placements based on the requirements from the Nursing and Midwifery Council with the aim to get exposure to different (by no means all) areas of nursing (community/acute/medical/surgical etc…).However…during our second year as student nurses, we are given the opportunity to arrange our own placement. This is what we refer to as our ‘elective’. For us, this can be anything from 2 days to 4 weeks and so long as there is a nurse involved, it can take shape as almost anything… we can go to a mental health placement, paediatrics  military…you name it! The world is our oyster! It’s a great opportunity to get exposure to nursing areas which we may not otherwise experience, or, if unlike me, you know what type of nursing you want to be practicing upon registration, its a great chance to test the waters in that particular area.

As the title may suggest. I have booked my elective placement! I decided to go to Peru and you know what…I am so excited!! It may sound like a bit of an extravagant trip away, and well, it is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, but the point is, I have the opportunity to do it so I am! Here are my reasons for choosing my placement and Peru:

– I speak Spanish fluently and I think that, as future nurses, we have to be resourceful and use every skill that we have. I want to develop my language skills and learn clinical/medical terminology in Spanish. I don’t think that my ability to speak the same language will make it much easier. I don’t purposely like to make things difficult to myself, but I do like a challenge. The Spanish spoken in South America is very different to the Spanish spoken in Spain. It is my view that even when you speak the same language (irrespective of accent/vocabulary/dialects) there are always communication issues and barriers. How many times have you misunderstood what someone else was saying in your own language because of tone/body language? So no, it won’t be easy but hopefully, it will mean that I’m a little bit more clued up on what’s going on if I can understand what’s being said.

– Why Peru and not Spain? Well, I lived in Spain for 11 years and I visit one or twice a year. I wanted a change of scenery. Once I have been to South America I will have been to every continent in the world with the exception of Antarctica. That can be next on my hit list. I also wanted to move away from the luxuries we enjoy every day and go back to nursing essentials. By that I mean the luxury of free health care and complete accessibility to services at our doorsteps. I’ll be going to placement in Cusco, a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range, where there is a real lack of quality health care that is affordable. 

– My degree is in Adult Nursing, so I wanted exposure to family and children’s nursing. My placement will be at a small hospital that specialises in meeting the needs of families and children in Cusco and the people from the outlying areas of Sacred Valley. The hospital specialises in family medicine, children, some preventative health care, and  provides specialised clinical services in areas such as general medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, neurology, obstetrics, dental, and more depending of the specialist available. They also have a small infirmary, day emergency room, triage, well baby care, and psychological care. They clinic see around 150 to 180 patients daily. Are you jealous yet?

– I wanted to go on my own, and somewhere that wasn’t going to be full of students…I don’t mean that to sound like I would have hated it if someone else would have come along with me but I wanted it to be a brand new, fresh experience for me…so I avoided places where everyone else was going (Tanzania/Sri Lanka/Nepal). Haha! 

– I was not willing to pay through the nose for the trip. Word of warning…yes..you may want to go to a third world country with the aim to make a difference and go back to basics but many of the companies out there that will help you to make that happen will make an immense amount of profit doing so. I chose to ignore those bigger/better advertised companies and go with a not-for-profit humanitarian organisation. That was my preference. I get the same support (with the exception of a branded t-shirt and scrubs) but I know that I’m paying at cost plus making a small donation which goes directly to my placement and host family…not lining some fat cat’s pockets.

– Finally….if I’m going to go far and away, I wanted to go somewhere with lots of things to see. Cusco is the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. I aim on visiting Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley and if I get a chance, Lake Titicaca too. 

 

I know that I am extremely lucky to be in a position to be able to go abroad, and all the way to Peru, for my elective placement. I know that some people simply can’t afford it, and I also know that there are people who have other commitments which makes a placement abroad impossible…I also know that you don’t need to go abroad to make memories and to feel fulfilled, so if you are in the process on organising your elective placement, just base your decision on things that will make you happy and develop you personally and professionally and you will be fandabidozi!

…but if you are reading this wondering how on Earth I can afford it, please know that I can’t, not really..but  I’m working super hard and making a lot of sacrifices, mostly because I know that it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and that no matter what, I will never forget it. You can’t put a price on that! 

Ps – if anyone would like to buy me some scrubs I would be very grateful! I also need a camera….if you don’t ask, you don’t get!