Meeting with community members of Buena Vista to coordinate an upcoming community development project, of course! Here’s why:

Running a successful MEDLIFE Mobile Clinic takes more work than just showing up to a community with a bus full of doctors, medicine, and excited student volunteers — you have to make sure that the locals know you’re coming! Just ask Carlos Benavides, MEDLIFE’s Director of MEDLIFE Fund projects in Peru, and our all-around community contact for projects and Clinics in Lima.

Embracing MEDLIFE’s mantra of “Listening to the Poor”, Carlos seeks to involve local families and individuals in every community development projects MEDLIFE engages in (Carlos dedication to our communities and patients is legendary — he has been known to stay in Pamplona until 1am speaking with community leaders, only to show up at 6am to a local hospital the following day to accompany a patient through a medical exam).

This July, MEDLIFE is planning to build a staircase in the neighborhood of Buena Vista, but before construction begins we had to meet with the local population to ensure that they will support and maintain the project during and after its completion. With this goal in mind, our group of fearless summer interns — Oana, Zenobia, and Minnie — made the trek out to Pamplona this past Wednesday evening, accompanied by Carlos and MEDLIFE staffers Joseph Tylutki and Tommy Flint.

At 8pm, the team arrived to a small community meeting room in Buena Vista, high up in the hills of Pamplona, Lima. About 25 residents were present as Carlos proposed the staircase construction project and explained the need for community involvement and support. The attendees expressed their enthusiasm for the project and we agreed to set our work dates, July 11 to July 15, to complete the staircase.

We’ll keep you updated on developments with the Buena Vista staircase project. MEDLIFE will even have some American engineering students on hand to help us with the project that week! Hope they’re ready to get their hands dirty!