The Jungle

So I´m in my last week of ´work´ here in Bolivia. Am looking forward to being free to travel around a bit, am planning to go to the 40th Anniversary of the Death/murder of Erensto Che Guevara in Vallegrande where he was killed, which will be interesting, and then some other places in Bolivia.

The last few weeks have been up and down, I was getting quite fed up of the hospital so was really good to be able to escape to jungle for last week. One of the doctors here is doing a residency in Family, Community and Intercultural Health, a new program started by the current government, which sends doctors out to remote communities, to work with the community in health promotion, public health and community development, as well as attending day to day health problems. Its really interesting and I think it confirmed for me that thats the kind of thing I want to do in the future... The best bit was 3 days of trekking and canoeing in the jungle to visit 3 indigenous communities where the doctor and nurse vaccinated children and gave talks to the communities, as well as talking to local leaders to plan activities for the future. In one community we met the founder of the village, who chose the site and settled there with 80 people. If you´ve read 100 Years of Solitude, it really reminded me of that. The people were very friendly but also wary, I think they have been let down by a lot of people in the past so its not easy to win their trust. They live in a National Park, in virgin rainforest alongside rivers full of fish, which they live off along with the crops they grow. Recently, the influx of people from other parts of Bolivia to the area, to grow coca, has put lots of pressure on them. It was really interesting to talk to them, unfortunately I couldnt stay longer. It was the best thing I´ve done so far.

I´ve got 2 more days in the hospital, and then I go back to Cochabamba to see my supervisor, and then I´m free! I´m looking forward to having some time off and also maybe seeing some gringos, I havent mixed with many and sometimes its been a bit lonely I think. Also looking forward to coming back to Bristol, seeing friends and family and (surprisingly) learning some medicine, have realised here how important it can be.....