Mission:

Awamaki is a community-driven organization. Our health program is dedicated to improving the health and the well being of the people in Ollantaytambo, Peru and the surrounding mountain communities of the Sacred Valley.

Goals:

Awamaki Health has three main foci to our projects: Clinical placements, Disabilities Campaign, and Public Health.  Our aim is to integrate health volunteers into the community and to create a sustainable health program by promoting prevention and education, and by assisting with the medical well being of the community. 

Our programs include:

• Mobile Health Unit - Providing monthly health services to remote mountain communities with limited access to healthcare.
• Promotora Campaign - Training women within rural communities to serve as health promoters in the essentials of first aid, sanitation, public health education and overall well-being.
• Clinical Volunteering - Assisting local doctors and nurses with triage, paperwork, and clinic services.
• Chocolotoda - Every Friday providing a nutritious breakfast of porridge and bread to mother and children who travel upwards of three hours for well child checks.
• Disabilities Campaign - Volunteers work with local disabled children and adults to seek contributions for life-changing medical care or equipment, like wheelchairs. They also provide physical therapy and carry out home renovations to increase the disabled person's ability to move into, out of and around his or her own home.
• Public Health Education - Volunteers educate children in an after-school program in the basics of public health: nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, anatomy and physiology, and exercise.
• Fluoride campaigns- Volunteers visit local schools to provide fluoride treatments to local children.
• Medical Carpentry- working with individuals with special needs to adapt medical equipment or homes to their specific needs.
• Service trips- Organizing and hosting medical service trips for medical professionals and student.

We have a huge need for public health education in the Sacred Valley, as neither the schools nor the clinics have consolidated programs. Despite the national provision of contraceptives, teen pregnancy remains extremely prevalent both in Ollanta and in the highland communities due to a lack of open communication and formal sexual education. Limited access to health care and resources results in untreated conditions, severe sickness, or death. 

Malnutrition plagues the countryside, as young mothers often aren’t aware of what a balanced diet is or how to pair the very limited selection of foods at their disposal in order to maximize nutritional uptake.  Being born with a disability means living isolated in one’s home without a hope of getting an education. It has become clear the future of Awamaki Health lies significantly in developing education programs in response to these issues.