Awamaki Health works within Ollantaytambo, Peru and the surrounding rural, mountainous communities. There are multiple aspects to our health program, however our disabilities campaign focuses on disabled individuals in this region to support them in their area of greatest need - whether providing them with a medical apparatus, corrective surgery or greater access to education.
Highland communities around Ollantaytambo are drastically under-served by the Peruvian medical system. Individuals with disabilities, though they may live within reach of medical services, suffer from a lack of appropriate care. The government-provided health insurance for impoverished Peruvians does not cover medication, treatment and rehabilitation services for those suffering from a number of conditions.
Awamaki's disability outreach program works with individuals identified through a broad census of the community. Working with the patients and doctors we have identified priority areas for each individual that our work helps to address. Dependent on the individual, our volunteers provide physical therapy, social interaction, education, or provide connections to specific resources.
Our work with disabled individuals has the potential to make a huge impact on the beneficiaries. Many of these people have never received adequate medical attention and the support we offer them is often the first they have ever received. We hope that connecting these disabled persons with medical resources now will lead to an improved quality of life and a heightened sense of autonomy and empowerment for these individuals.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
