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A Day In the Life: A Photo Journey Through the Pueblos Jovenes

The Pueblos Jovenes are complex places. Looking the bleak surroundings and hearing about the grave struggles that these communities on a daily basis, it can be easy to see nothing but hardship, misery, and hard living conditions.  But the Pueblos Jovenes are full of people living their lives as best they can much like anywhere else, encompassing a range of human experience. The juxtapositions I see in this collection of photos reminds me of that.

IMG 4867Two children play on a wooden beam outside their house while a nurse inspects her mother’s tumor, seemingly blissfully unaware of what we are doing there.

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IMG 2547A MEDLIFE patient and her daughter on our nurse’s first visit.

 

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IMG 1584A 16 year old MEDLIFE patient named Dixon who suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis, with his mom and sister outside of their home. Since his arthritis has left him unable to walk, Dixon´s father often carries him down the steep hillside on his shoulders.

 

IMG 2614A MEDLIFE patient and her children along with MEDLIFE nurse Janet look at a litter of puppies living outside their home.

 

IMG 2637A pile of rubbish next to a group of houses and a community meeting area. There simply isn’t space here to seperate these things.

 

IMG 4788A patient takes a break for picking apart the corncobs she cooks and sells to sit with her baby and talk with us.

 

IMG 2642A community meeting space.

 

IMG 4768The hills look dramatically different on a sunny day; you can see the lack of city planning and infrastructure clearly in this photo.  

 

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Hear it From MEDLIFErs

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Reya Seby
Western University

This trip motivated me more to pursue a career in the healthcare field so that I can use my resources to help those who need it the most, similar to MEDLIFE’s mission.

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Victoria DiCanio
University of Connecticut

It was most enjoyable to finish the hard work and see how big a difference a group of individuals can make. It was such an amazing experience.

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Anita Woo
University of Toronto

I enjoyed the mobile clinics the most, especially the dental and triage portions. I would definitely recommend a MEDLIFE trip, it was a great experience.

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David Saff
Maclay High School

The most enjoyable part of my trip was hanging out with the amazing group of kids I was with. I would highly recommend a MEDLIFE volunteer trip to others.

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Sydney Sansone
Nova Southeastern University

This trip made everything that I was learning in my public health courses come to life and immersed me in a new culture while also learning about medicine.

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Abygail Youmans
College of Charleston

Being involved with MEDLIFE is not like joining another club - its bigger than that. It is about joining a movement that seeks to help change people’s quality of life for forever.

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Emi Hofmann
University of Central Florida

Not only was I able to participate in a week long Mobile Clinic, shadowing doctors of all types of specialties including pharmacy, dentistry, gynecology, and more, but I was also able to learn about the culture and visit incredible places.

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Julian Takagi-Stewart
University of Toronto

One thing that I really loved about this trip was that MEDLIFE made sure that the volunteers got an understanding of the complexity of issues that lead to underprivileged people in communities outside of the main city

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Hannah Van Hofwegen
University of Ottawa

Whether it was basketball with the local kids, assisting the doctors, talking with families, building washrooms, holding babies, or spending time with the people who were on the SLT with me, this was an amazing opportunity that I would do over and over again.

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Isabelle Holt
Cornell University

I loved learning about the patients MEDLIFE has followed and how they offer real help to people with chronic/urgent conditions. It is amazing how the organization formed real connections with the communities.

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Valerie Lindeborg
Parent

Our family had the privilege of participating in multiple trips with Nick [founder] and his amazing staff. Their expertise made the trips unforgettable while instilling in my boys the fundamentals of good character: selflessness, compassion, and empathy.

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Harry Vildibill
University of Georgia

As an aspiring physician, MEDLIFE motivated me to further continue my goal of becoming a doctor. In fact, I enjoyed the Tanzania Service Learning Trip so much that I decided to go on another trip to Cusco, Peru.