Help with Medical Operations

Peru has a socialized medical system.  Most people have medical insurance and can use it at the public hospitals, however it’s common for people to have to wait for a long time before they can receive the care they need.  Sometimes appointments given for an urgent need are a month out.  Other times people who need necessary operations are told they will have to come back at another time because other people are in greater need than they are. 

Because of this, family members will resort to taking their sick family members to a private hospital (or clinic, as they call it) to be treated promptly and with better care.  Medical insurance, however, does not cover anything done at a private clinic, even if the care was given due to an urgent or immediate need which was denied at the public hospital. 

Medical expenses at the private clinics can be somewhat affordable but it can also become very expensive depending on the care that’s needed. 

One very common request we get is to help with a “pollada,” which is a fundraiser that a family does to come up with the money they need to pay for an operation at a private clinic.  They sell plates of chicken and yuca for an inflated price.  The local townspeople buy these plates knowing that they money they’re raising is going to help someone they know.  The way that we help is by buying the chickens needed for the pollada, which enables the family to make a larger profit from their fundraiser.

A typical pollada is 50 chickens, which costs roughly $270 (it varies as the cost of chicken changes daily).