INFORMATION AVAILABLE


Additional information regarding this, and future missions is available by contacting the following:

The Luz Fund - TheLuzFund@verizon.net

You can also read about the work The Luz Fund is currently involved in by going to: http://www.theluzfund.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to post any questions or comments through the Comment link at the end of any post

These medical and general assistance missions to Juanjui, Peru, are sponsored by The Luz Fund, which is listed as a 501c(3) charity with the Internal Revenue Service.

Why Not Join Us


Sunday, January 25, 2015

Medical Missions - June, August, November, 2015

June mission a success
The Medical Mission to Juanjui, Peru, continued in June 2015 with our visit to the San Martin Region of Peru.  We had an excellent Cardiologist, Dr Anita Arnold, with us as well as a Family Practitioner, Dr Pamela Ogor.  RN Mary Graham-Louise, Maria Tacunan and Eliana Morla completed the small team which completed an amazing amount of work in Juanjui in a short period of time, holding clinics in several of the villages along the Huayabamba and Hullaga Rivers.
We will continue our assessments of school children in November, but will also add family care clinics again as well as attending our new children's clinic in Lima.
If you are interested in traveling with us, please contact us.  All specialties are needed.  Please see contact information at the end of the following announcement regarding our November 2015 mission. 
         ===============================================================
NEXT MISSION
NOVEMBER 1 through NOVEMBER 20, 2015
(Consider joining us for one, two, or all three weeks)
November mission will concentrate on our continuing Cardiac Project to study Congenital Heart Defects(CHD).  (See preceding posts, Stethoscopes for Peru & November 2014 Mission.
Week #1 - Nov 1 thru Nov 7
Continuation of Stethoscope and Pulse Oximeter testing of school children in the area of Juanjui and San Martin. 
Week #2 - Nov 8 thru Nov 14
  1. Children exhibiting positive results for CHD, from week #1 testing, are scheduled for followup diagnostics with Pediatric Cardiologist and Pediatric ECHO Technician and referral to Lima Children's Hospital.
  2. Field Clinics in river villages with Family Care Physician and Nurses; Education Program with EMT's & Paramedics for CPR & First Aid, Poison Control & Treatment, Animal bites.
Week #3 - Nov 15 thru Nov 20
Open to volunteers wishing to spend time working with the children at Hogar San Francisco de Asis, in Chaclacayo, Peru.  The Hogar is a home for sick and destitute children.(Babies to Teens)  Duties will involve assisting the children from the time they awake in the morning to when they sleep at night.  Dressing, feeding, playing, assisting with transporting them to clinic appointments in Lima.
The home is run by Dr Tony Lazarra, a Pediatrician.  Information regarding the work can be found online at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoEoXpLb_QA
Call or write us for further information.

To Be Determined
Diagnostics, Treatments, at The Luz Fund/Armonizar Sonrisas Children's Clinic, Lima.

If you are a Medical Doctor, Dentist, or Nurse Practitioner with Plastics, Orthopaedics or other specialties and are interested in helping in Juanjui or at The Luz Fund Children's Clinic in Lima, Please contact us for more information.  Please call or email at the contacts below for information regarding costs and travel specifics.

If interested, please forward:
  1. a copy of your recent CV.
  2. a copy of the first page of your passport(photo page).
  3. a copy of your medical licensure.


Positions needed include:
Pediatric Cardiologist
ECHO Tech; (Pediatric)
Family Care NP;
Cardiology NP; (Pediatric)
RN's;  (preceding specialties)
Paramedics
EMT's

Email:  TheLuzFund@verizon.net

Tel:      813-689-3289
Cel:      813-215-0071
Fax:      813-904-6914

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Summary of November 2014 Mission to Peru

Regardless of a few last minute cancellations of some who said they were interested, we arrived in Juanjui with a great Cardiologist, Dr Felix Davalos, Clínica San Gabriel, Complejo Hospitalario San Pablo, San Miguel, Lima, Peru; and the Clínica Ricardo Palma, San Isidro, Lima; Dr Michel Del Castillo, Dra Ingrid Hidalgo Panduro, and Maria Tacunan and Eliana Morla from Armonizar. 
The first morning after arrival we were at the Juanjui Hospital bright and early and were met by adults and children, already waiting for the “Doctor of Hearts”.  A long day ensued as were those that followed.  Days of listening to little heart beats, at the hospital, at the Government Health Posts in various communities of San Martin, and at many schools, both in Juanjui and small villages along the Rio Hullaga. 
The procedures included clinical evaluations using Pulse Oximetry testing, Ascultation of heart sounds with Stethoscopes, visual, and in some cases, Echocardiography. The results of four days showed 1080 school children tested, 26 of whom needed follow-up through Echocardiography, and six(6) that were referred to Los Ninos Hospital in Lima.
Four days of intensive work showed the results predicted by the studies of Dr Bob Detrano and others regarding the prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects(CHD) in young school age children.  The best part of this four days of work, was that there are six children who, prior to the testing, were not aware that there was a problem.  Now, help can be obtained through the Cardiology Department at Los Ninos Hospital in Lima, to start corrections before the children suffer the effects at a later stage of life.  Correction at an early age means quicker recovery and an excellent chance of a healthy, normal life.

Our work in the Juanjui Project will continue in 2015 with missions in June/July and October/November.  You can be a part of history and our efforts to eliminate the late discovery of CHD in Juanjui, San Martin, and hopefully in the Region of Arequipa in late 2015.  Contact us to reserve a spot.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

UPDATE #1 - "Stethoscopes for Peru"


UPDATE #1:  “Stethoscopes for Peru”
First of all, thanks to all my friends and friends of The Luz Fund, who donated to help purchase Stethoscopes and equipment needed for the project.  I am sure the people of San Martin and Juanjui echo my thoughts.
Through your kindness, we were able to purchase twenty new Littman Stethoscopes for the 2014 graduating Nurses of Juanjui Institute.  They will be assisting us in October to mass screen all the school children of Juanjui and as much of San Martin as we are able.
Our list of purchases made with your donations include:
20  Stethoscopes
1    Master (Teaching) Stethoscope
6    Pulse Oximeters
2    Infant Pulse Oximeters
1    Adult Sphygmomanometer
1    Pediatric                  
These items will be shipped this week to Dr Ingrid in Peru to present to the Nurses to use in the October mass screening project, and for ongoing care of children, infants, and new borns, in the San Martin – Juanjui area of Peru.
In November, we will begin followup testing of children who show positive results for Congenital Heart Disease during the mass screening.
The balance of the donations, not used on the purchase, will help to pay the $503.00 Fed-Ex shipping fee for our large box to Juanjui, Peru. 

In case you missed taking part in the Stethoscopes program, above, there is still time to donate.  Next on the agenda, shipping eight hospital gurneys, medical equipment and medicines to the Juanjui Hospital for the Poor.  Approximately $3000.00.
Remember us on “Amazon Smile” when you purchase items from Amazon.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Cardiac Medical Mission - Peru - November 2014

STETHOSCOPES FOR PERU

The Stethoscope Project is basically a small part of our overall project to help make people in the San Martin Province of Peru aware of the need to check children, and adults, for signs of congenital heart disease, and to provide for them the means to do it, using their own resources.  I have a dear friend in Juanjui, Peru, her name is "Dr" Ingrid. She is not a real doctor, but a registered midwife. However, for 95% of the women and many of the children in the town of Juanjui and the river villages, she is their doctor.

Ingrid asked me last year to help her find a Cardiologist that could come to Juanjui.  She feels there are a lot of undiagnosed cardiac issues among the population there. Women give birth, usually at home, and the child is likely never seen by a doctor. Thus many illnesses go undetected, as well as recognition of cardiac issues, treatable at a young age if discovered.  Many adults also show signs of cardiac disease but there is no doctor nor any close clinics or healthcare facilities where they can go, even if the financial resources were available.

A Cardiologist friend, now volunteering fulltime in China, Dr Robert Detrano, from UCLA Med School, wrote an article regarding the easiest way to make this happen in developing countries. Dr Bob's model includes Stethoscope screening of school children.  Thus starts the Juanjui Cardiac Project. The Stethoscopes for Peru is the first step in the project.

There is a small Nursing School in Juanjui and The Luz Fund enjoys a close working relationship with the administrator, Dr Vasquez.  But Stethoscope training is likely not understood well enough to allow the students to recognize cardiac issues when they hear them.  Our plan is to give the nursing students thorough instruction on Stethoscope heart sounds.  Then to use those students in a program described by Dr Detrano, in the schools in the province of San Martin(Juanjui and the river villages).  Those students registering positive indicators will be further reviewed locally by a Luz Fund volunteer ECHO Tech and Cardiologist. Those still positive have already been pre-approved for referral to the Los Ninos Children’s Hospital, Lima, for followup, or to the heart team of Heart Care International(HCI).  HCI is a heart team from New York that visits Los Ninos Hospital twice each year to perform free heart surgeries on children who would otherwise never receive treatment, through no fault of their own.

I have been extremely fortunate, since we started this planning, to have a Portable Diagnostic Ultrasound Machine, a Seimens Acuson Cypress, donated to our organization, The Luz Fund. Now I need to obtain some good quality Stethoscopes, and Pulse/Ox probes, that can be utilized in the project. I feel that once started, this project can be carried on by local healthcare workers in a self sustaining manner, and that a person can be trained locally to obtain good results with the portable ECHO. The results will help innumerable people, who at present, have no awareness of the potential problems they may have.
Tentative dates for implementing the program in Juanjui are September/October 2014.

I would be extremely grateful for any assistance you may be able to provide or to suggest.
If you would like to be included on a future trip to Peru with us, just ask.

Chuck Mulhern,  The Luz Fund
Tel:  813-689-3289 (Home) 
Cel:  813-215-0071   
TheLuzFund@verizon.net

Monday, June 20, 2011

Eye Care Mission a Success

Photos from our Eye Care Mission
https://picasaweb.google.com/Pooka711/EyeCareMissionJune2011JuanjuiPeru?authkey=Gv1sRgCK39kpahwYv6Tw#
Our Eye Care Mission to Juanjui, Peru, climaxed last week with 17 surgeries by Dr Javier Geronimo Meza. This mission was a great cooperative effort initiated by The Luz Fund. The Institute of Optometry and Science, VOSH International, The Carlos Slim Foundation and the Clinton Giustra Foundation, through the Sustainable Growth Initiative, combined forces which resulted in 1300 eye exams, and the distribution of close to 600 eyeglasses. Dr Meza returned to Juanjui for free cataract surgery, June 25 & 26, resulting in 57 total Pyterigium and 45 Cataract surgeries, courtesy of the Clinton Foundation, for those discovered through our week of diagnostic work.

All this has come as a result of last October's Medical Mission. Several nurses on that mission had brought attention to many eye disorders among the patients they were seeing for other health issues. We expect our October 2011 Medical Mission will include a Cardiologist and a Neurologist as well as another Optometry team to continue the Eye Care program.

The brand new Juanjui Hospital for the Poor is expected to be open within a month and dedication scheduled for July. We had a tour of the shiny new facility and are looking forward to using it in October.

Thank You for your continued support of our work in Peru.

Monday, February 28, 2011

JUNE EYE CARE MISSION

One of the issues we found in October was a multitude of eye problems. With this in mind we will be heading back to Juanjui in June, 2011. This time with an emphasis on Eye Care and Infectious Diseases of the eye. We expect to set up a clinic in Juanjui, likely at the Juanjui Institute, where we saw over 350 patients in two days in October.
We are also collecting eyeglasses in preparation for the trip. We will grade them for eventual distribution where needed. If you want to collect eyeglasses for us, you can send them to our mailing address at:
THE LUZ FUND
512 WHITEOAK AVE
BRANDON, FL 33510

Mission announcement can also be found on: www.medicalmissions.org

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

MISSION COMPLETED

By now everyone is back home from our incredible adventure in Peru. The only team member I have not verified is Nicole, and she was scheduled to do a lot of travelling after the mission.
There is a link to my photos, which I have combined with some from the January Scout Mission. The first 70 or so photos are from January, the rest of the 210 are from October. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed being there to take them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Pooka711/20101110?authkey=Gv1sRgCIP2--23yNrZCA#

The mission was a great success, in spite of the changes of schedule for the two weeks we were there. The workload increased dramatically over what we expected. The members of the team took the extra load in stride and performed extraordinarily well. Instead of the three villages originally planned, we visited eight rural river villages and also worked two full days at Juanjui Institute where we saw 350 patients in two days. We saw a total of over 850 patients during the two weeks. Many just wanted to talk about their daily back and leg pains and other minor ailments.

Many others had significant health problems and were referred to specialists or hospitals or treated on the spot. Many will never followup because of the difficulty of transportation and the expense. However, a few could possibly be seen by surgeons travelling to Peru in January or with our medical team next Spring.

We found many problems that The Luz Fund will seek to address in future visits. One is water quality and the presence of parasites in the population. First Aid, CPR, and other education forums were held in each village we visited. Participation of the villagers gave us hope that the information will be retained.

There are many people and organizations to thank for our success. Of particular note is the Catholic Medical Mission Board in New York City, and Brother's Brother Foundation in Pittsburg, PA. Although hard pressed because of so many crises around the world this year, both combined with enough meds and supplies, carried in by our team members, to restock many shelves in the clinics with anti-biotics and other needed meds. For this we are truly thankful to both organizations.

Enjoy the photos. Signup for the next mission, hopefully in Spring, is already underway.