Imagine for a moment that you, or someone you love, is pregnant and needs to walk down the road to buy some groceries. Imagine now, that in order to get down the road you have to scale down an unpaved hill for several miles. You’re not wearing protective shoes with traction because you can’t afford them. The possibility of slipping is very high, yet there is no other option for going out and getting food for you and your family. You simply have to take the risk of injuring yourself and your baby in order to do this basic task. Barriers to healthcare like lack of access to roads and stairs is something that volunteers may not be entirely aware of when first being introduced to the day-to-day realities of the residents of our partner communities.

This was the reality for one of our patients Chais. At six months pregnant, living in the community of Pamploma in Lima, Peru, Chais was walking down one of the many steep unpaved hills near her house. She slipped and fell on her stomach, inducing early labor and a premature birth for her daughter Eiselith. Eiselith was born with heart and lung issues which required special treatment, a lot of which was expensive and difficult to access due to Chais living in a rural, low-income area.

While she was visiting one of our mobile clinics, we learned of Chais’s story and it became evident very quickly that accessibility was one of the prevalent barriers to healthcare for the residents of our partner communities. Without functional infrastructure like roads and stairs, how were people expected to navigate their neighborhoods in order to go to school, work, grow and buy food, socialize, and simply function on a day-to-day basis without the over-looming risk of injuring themselves?

This is where the MEDLIFE staircase project was born. Not only are staircases huge improvements for accessibility, they also function for low-income communities and human settlements as a stepping stone to gaining land title. In order for a community to be considered for being granted a land title, there needs to already be basic amenities within the community like sanitation systems, water, roads, and staircases. By collaborating with the members of the community and with the help of our MEDLIFE volunteers, we have been able to construct multiple staircases within communities like Pamploma all over Latin America.

While MEDLIFE may have been born from the understanding that rural healthcare disparities are things that affect many parts of Latin America, we have since expanded far beyond just our mobile clinics and community healthcare education efforts. Healthcare is a much wider umbrella of many factors that contribute to the well-being of each individual. Understanding that things like safe homes, dental health, education, community infrastructure, follow-up programs, and access to basic amenities all contribute to health and well-being, is why MEDLIFE has expanded beyond just mobile clinics. It’s also why we aim to be ever-developing in our reach. Our divisions like Safe Homes and Smiles Movement are signifiers that our goal is to assist in improving all aspects of the lives of those living in our partner communities.

To learn more about how you can volunteer abroad with MEDLIFE and assist in efforts to decrease barriers to healthcare like our staircase projects, fill out the interest form below, check out our upcoming trips, or download our free brochure!