It was ten years ago. She didn't speak much Spanish and she was only a tourist in Peru, but she recognized a need and knew she could find a way to help. Diana Bowie tells me that her first river trip in the Amazon was not a fun experience. On a boat all night with a cook who spoke no English, but offered her a sandwich, she arrived on the bank of a village at day break. A couple of hours later, the person who was to meet her showed up. The return trip was no better. But along the way, Diana learned that the people in the villages had no access to health care or information. As a registered nurse with an MBA and a great deal of experience in health care, she was determined to help. After a year working in various clinics in the Amazon region, she traveled with a guide she had met to several villages along the Napo River, talking with the villagers about their needs. The focus of Diana's future efforts was determined from that trip:
To bring as much basic care to the villages as possible and train the people to care for themselves.
In areas where the nearest clinic may be 8 to 16 hours away by canoe, helping to bring health care to the people makes a huge difference in their lives. Since 2002, Diana and her friend
Renzo Peña have made more than 45 trips to the jungle, carrying medicine, supplies, doctors and other medical volunteers, radios, solar panels. They have done medical and dental exams and treatment, pap smears. They have done health fairs and seminars, women's projects. They have often carried severely injured or desperately ill patients on their boat to a hospital. Their many special projects, like a scholarship program and building a school add to their achievements.
Diana's NGO, DB Peru, welcomes volunteers to assist with their work in the jungle. Unlike many such organizations, there is no charge to volunteer, although of course participants do pay their own expenses. For the first time, this year the organization, with the support of other groups and sponsors, will do some fund raising events, including a gala at the home of the Australian ambassador to Peru in October. I have been asked to assist the organization as a member of the local advisory board. Since I have a huge amount of respect for Diana and am overwhelmed by her achievements, I am very happy to work with the group. But what, I wonder, can I really do to help.
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| Cleaning a Machete Cut |
Last night I attended another meeting of the board. The members are extremely knowledgeable and experienced. The seem to know all the ins and outs of Peru and Lima society, the people, the other organizations. They clearly have experience with marketing, promotion, NGO's, fund-raising, the jungle, world health issues. An amazing group of people. So what, I ask, do I have to offer? My financial training and experience is so out of date, it's rusting like metal in Lima. I have no background in promotion, etc and not being a particularly social person, I know almost no one. Yet I would very much like to help Diana's group somehow. So I will hang in there, hoping to learn from this impressive group of people and hoping to ultimately find a way to help in a real way. Meanwhile, dear readers, your suggestions are always welcome.
Photos by permission of DB Peru
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