First Day of Clinic - Wednesday

Today was our first clinic day at the St. Paul's misión médica and what a great day it was! After our wonderfully prepared breakfast we gathered upstairs for our debriefing and station working. I began working in patient intake where during recess at the school girls of 15 years old came in and stared at Miranda and I. We tried to talk to them about One direction and other music icons but our Spanish was broken and we understood more when they talked to us. One girl spoke English fairly well and said "your eyes colored" they were very intrigued with my green eyes. It's times like these when I wish my spoken Spanish was better! There was another family with 5 small children. The girls continuously asked Miranda and I what our names were, how many siblings we had, what our age was, and to talk to them in English. It was great working in registration and getting to know many of the children.


 After lunch, I was able to work the nursing station with Nurse Linda and together we were able to do vitals, patient history, and background information. We worked from 8am until 7:30 pm and saw a total of 122 patients today and most were young children, mothers, or older women. There was one young boy who was embarrassed to talk to me about his painful urination. I felt sympathy as his face became redder and redder. Linda was able to hold the world's cutest baby while we tried to take its weight and determine his symptoms. Linda and I worked hand in hand and it was almost like we could read each other's minds! One woman came in with several complaints was one she called "turkey wobble" for her droopy triceps. We had many laughs which made our jobs that much more exciting. It was a long but rewarding day. It's amazing how God's grace works through people and His Love and Mercy is spread to everyone. It's truly a humbling experience.

Please pray that the rest of our week goes smooth and well. ¡Cíao!

Catherine Gathers Details

Waiting Room Waiving "Hello"

Lindsey Fitting Woman with Glasses

Submitted by Olivia

Here we go...

We made it to Paita! Miranda and I have been awake for about 40 hours straight with a couple of hours of dozing off on the flight  to Piura. Neither one of us can sleep on planes. We were exhausted but seeing the Sisters again gave us our second wind! They are so full of energy,  enthusiasm and love the community they serve.

We arrived at St. Clare, had a quick snack, checked in into our hostel and got to work!  We thought through our patient flow as we would have one more provider than our last mission. We will also have a deworming and eye glass clinic in addition to seeing patients. We will be handing out toothbrushes, floss, paste, cloth diapers and formula for infants. Within a few hours, our team had set up our "flow" with a registration area, seating arrangements, nurses stations, exam rooms and opened multiple boxes of medications and set up the pharmacy. We headed down for a delicious chicken dinner and  after bagged hundred of bags with vitamins, deworming and pain medication...all before 8pm!



Setting up Clinic



Volunteer Students from St. Clare School

Children Helping to Carry Chairs Down Long Stairwell



Lindsey trying on Donated Glasses

 

Setting up Pharmacy

Adding Screens to Make Areas Private
 

Setting Up Dental Area

 

Miranda

Catherine just keeps smiling as she's counting!

Lindsey, Lisa, and Olivia doing a fun, family activity

Tomorrow, will be our first day of clinic. We will show up with our stethoscopes and otoscopes in hand and all in our matching t-shirts!! But most importantly, we will show up with serving hearts full of gratitude. Our shirts remind us that:


"Service is what prayer looks like when it gets up off its knees and walks around the world."
-Michael  Graham, SJ

God wanted us to help and serve one another. The good news? You don't have to travel to a different continent or wear a matching t-shirt to do it!! You can do it in your own church, your neighborhood, town or city. You can serve anywhere and anyone. You just have to show up with a serving and grateful heart.

Here we go...

God Bless!

Submitted by Charlie Spindt

We're the First to Arrive

Sunday June 12 - Monday June 13

We arrived in Piura, Peru early in the morning at 7:01 am. Our flights were all on time.  Our flight from Chicago departed on the 12th at 3:35 pm. My husband JJ drove us to O'Hare with a gracious heart. He doesn't like traffic or O'Hare but was very good willed about both. He walked us through security as far as he could and then we said our goodbyes. Each of us were traveling with three bags:  one large suitcase filled with the donations from St. Paul and two carrying on bags. International travel allows two checked bags per person so we could have checked one of our carry ons but decided to play it safe and not chance losing one.  Each of the donations suitcases weighed close to 50 pounds which was the weight limit.  Olivia's suitcase of donations from St. Paul didn't have wheels or a handle. JJ carried her bag from the car to the airport but Olivia would have to carry the bag the rest of the way. The weight limit for our carry on bags was 22 pounds. My carry on was too heavy. The girls teased me that I overpacked! I thought about how Olivia had helped me pack and was having laughing fits. I had to take some things out and redistribute them to the donations suitcase to make weight.

I was looking forward to traveling with my two daughters, Olivia and Lindsey, but was also a little nervous. We told each other that we would just go with the flow and things wouldn't be perfect.

Olivia had checked us in online for our Avianca flights on the 11th and she did a great job getting us aisle seats next to each other. We flew Avianca airlines and though the planes seemed a little older, they were very reliable and professional. We flew 4 hours and 40 minutes to San Salvador (in El Salvador). I sat next to an elderly couple who knew no English. The man sitting right next to me had his pant leg rolled up and was rubbing his knee and wincing. I felt bad for him. I figured he had arthritis. I tried to ask him in Spanish if he had arthritis. "Tienes arthritis?" I asked. "Si," he said and then went on a one hour discussion with me in which I discovered my "comprendo Espaniol un poco" quickly turned to "no comprendo Espaniol". He was such a pleasant man. I wish I had my Biofreeze to give to him. He kept pointing to Olivia and saying "Bonita" and I kept thinking he was saying daughter but he was actually telling me she was beautiful. His wife took tender care of him opening his meal and silverware when the stewardess served it. She gave him a cracker from her purse which he handed to me. I tried to say no but he insisted so I ate it. I was hoping I wouldn't catch whatever cold he seemed to have. "Gracias".

The woman (I think her name was Margerita from what I gathered from her husband) received the baggage declaration paper from the stewardess. From this I gathered that San Salvador was their final destination. We wouldn't need a baggage declaration form until we reached Lima. Each country has their own baggage declaration paper. Margerita waved her paper at me. I thought she wanted a pen so I gave her one from my backpack. She smiled and handed me her paper. She wanted me to fill it out for her either because she couldn't read or because the words were too small to read. I don't know which. I handed the paper to Olivia and she filled it out. Most of the instructions were in Spanish. Olivia was getting to be a pro at international travel.

When the plane began to descend I looked at the man and he was holding his head and wincing. I think the descent was hurting his ear. My ear felt a lot of pressure too. I pulled out my cherry bubblegum balls and gave him one. He took it and looked at his wife. She smiled at me and nodded to him. I asked her if she wanted one, "¿Quieres?" and she nodded and smiled. They put the gum in their mouths and seemed delighted but I don't think they actually started chewing for a minute or two. I think it was quite a treat for them. The plane landed on time, we disembarked and hurried through the San Salvador airport to our next gate. We only had a about an hour before our flight to Lima, Peru was to take off.

Our flight to Lima left right at time at 8:20. We landed at 1:40 am on Monday the 13th. This flight was uneventful other than my knees were aching and Lindsey's hips hurt and Olivia sat next to some young Peruvian children who weren't quite behaved. Lindsey had a seat between her and the Peruvian man near the window but he moved over to sit right next to her and giggled and tried to flirt with her the entire flight. We tried to sleep on the plane but it was difficult.

On the plane to Lima we filled out our baggage declaration. Because Peru was our final country destination and Lima was an international airport, we would need to claim our bags, go through customs, then recheck our bags before the last flight to Piura.

As soon as we found the baggage claim, two women (security airport personnel) came up to us with a sign that said 'St.Paul'. Olivia conversed in Spanish with them. They had our names on a list. They wanted to look in our donation suitcases. We followed them with our bags to an area marked for mercenaries. They went through each bag checking to see if each bag had what was listed in their records. This went smoothly. Then we were able to go through customs. This also went easy. Olivia and I remarked how much easier than it was in Guatemala and even Canada where the agents stared holes through us and asked us many questions. In Lima there were no questions except for how long we would be here. Once through customs we had to walk outside and go back in a door twenty feet away to re-enter the building to get to ticketing and recheck our bags. No problems there. Then we had to walk outside and go twenty feet away to re-enter the building to get to our departure gait. It was 2:45 am. We thought about eating. All of the fast food restaurants were open in the Lima airport. We should have eaten but we thought we'd be able to get something to eat in the airport in Piura. Our flight didn't leave until 5:20 am. We sat in the eating area for a bit while Olivia and Lindsey connected to wifi and checked in with loved ones. I had trouble connecting for some reason. We made our way to the gate and sprawled out on the seats to sleep. I slept until 4:30 am. We were taken by a bus out to the tarmac where our plane was parked. It was very cool outside and getting dark as we took off.

Our flight from Lima to Piura took off exactly at 5:20 am. This was a short flight and we landed at 7:01 in Lima. We left the plane on the tarmac and walked into the airport.  We were wrong about restaurants in the Piura airport. As soon as we claimed our bags the only way to go was out the door where dozens of taxi cab drivers were waiting for travelers. I went directly to security and asked for the shuttle to the Wyndham. He escorted us to the shuttle bus. The driver had our name on a list from the hotel. We arrived at the hotel and were told we couldn't check in until 2 pm but I think the receptionist took pity on us and we were able to go to our room right away. The hotel room was cold due to the air conditioner.

We took a long nap then freshened up. The hotel room was nice much like the hotels in America. We checked out the spa on the 5th floor. Several men were photographing a young female model in the swimming pool. We went out for a late breakfast at El Chalán. Eggs, cheese, and ham and toast. It was good. It was a white cheese not cheddar.

We walked all over Piura to the main square, to the Plaza Grau, to the Banco Central De Reserva, to the Museo of Arte Religioso, to the Iglesias San Francisco, and to the Iglesio Catedral De Piura. We didn't go in anywhere. We just walked around and took pictures. It was HOT!  We were sweating a lot. It must have been in the 90s.

People stared at us. Not quick glances but long unapologetic stares. In every block men would whistle at Olivia and Lindsey. We walked past a group of policemen and even they whistled. Lindsey was very uncomfortable with all the stares and whistles. She didn't like it at all. People stared at her long blond hair and her long legs.

We went back to the hotel and decided to check out the pool. We put on our swimsuits and walked up to the 5th floor. The attendant turned the lights on for us in the pool. The temperature of the air had dropped dramatically. It was probably 60 degrees out. The water felt cold. We didn't stay. We went back to our rooms and read our novels until close to 11 pm then turned off the lights.

Submitted by Lisa Weber

Tuesday in Piura and Finally Connecting With the Team

Tuesday June 14

 

I woke at 7am.  I felt well rested. Lindsey and I both got ready for the day. By the time we were ready, Olivia had woken up and was ready as well. We decided to find a bank to exchange our American dollars. We only had to walk a few blocks to find the bank. More stares and whistles. Lindsey hated this. We found a bank and showed the guard our passports. We went inside and waited in line to be called. While we waited, we searched our cash for any bills without tears or marks. No one in South America will take dollars with markings or tears. I wish I would have remembered this from Guatemala. Central America was the same way. Several of mine and Lindsey's bills were marked or torn and the bank wouldn't exchange them. Olivia was smart and had crisp new $100 bills. 

We left the bank and found another cafe. It was another El Chalán. I wonder if it's a chain restaurant. We ate the same eggs, ham, and cheese as yesterday. Lindsey's egg was over easy which I think gave her a little stomach upset a few hours later. 

Room at the Hotel

Olivia, Lisa, and Lindsey

Streets in Piura City, Peru

Church in Piura

While we were eating we received a text from our group that they had arrived at the airport. We finished our breakfast and I hastily left a tip for the waiter. A block away I realized that I didn't give him a very big tip. I meant to give him $2 but instead gave him 2 soles. This equals less than 75 cents. I felt awful and made a note to go back there when we went back to Piura. I would have turned around then but I wanted to get back to hotel so as not to make our group wait. We headed back to the hotel. By the time we got there, our group had been waiting 5 minutes. Charlie, Deb, Miranda, Emily, and Catherine greeted us. We checked out of the hotel and boarded the bus along with our luggage and set off on the 40 mile ride to Paita. Along the way we saw the landscape surrounding Paita which was basically desert. It looked like Arizona Deb said. There were some small shacks that were people's homes. Very poor. Charlie recounted how she and Deb originally began this mission three years ago. I'm amazed that they were able to organize such a huge project. 

 

Standing in Front of Hotel

  



Checking Out of Hotel

 We entered Paita and drove past some small market places before arriving at the school. There were some men at the school that unloaded our donation bags and now we were free from the cumbersome task of transporting them. We went in the school and met the sisters. We walked around and saw where we would set up the clinic. Charlie told us we could go settle into the hostel and come back at 4 pm to help bag the medicine. 

Olivia, Lindsey, Dr Roberto, and I walked a block to the Hostel Jesimer. It was gated but they saw us coming and opened the gate. We were given our room key and we climbed the stairs to our room to rest. Our room had three twin beds and its own bathroom!  We also had a small TV that played all Spanish stations. I am so grateful for Olivia for packing me a pillow cover!  We had one window. I made a kite to remember two very important things that I had trouble remembering. One, don't throw toilet paper in the toilet!!  Wipe and throw it in the garbage. Everywhere in Central and South America this is the rule. Their sewer systems can't handle all the paper. It was very warm. And two, keep your mouth shut in the shower!!  Don't let any water in your mouth or you chance getting sick from the water. Even brushing our teeth we had to use bottled water. 

We rested until 2pm and returned to the make shift clinic and began helping Charlie set it up. After an hour it was really coming together. Dr Roberto and Catherine and Emily came at 4pmr and helped us finish the clinic. Deb left to pick up Linda at the airport. Linda was on the same flight as Cathy and Elena. When their flight was delayed Linda ended up commenting in New York!  It sounded like a nightmare. Linda was pretty shook up but started to calm down. She is a wonderful and funny lady who we came to really enjoy on this mission.

Linda, Sr. Monica, Sr. Maribel



Linda Made it to Piura

 

Those of us who were there took part in counting pills for the pharmacy. We were actually only counting vitamins and putting them into baggies. When the process seemed too slow, I suggested we use a measuring cup instead of counting out the vitamins. Dr Roberto thought this was a great idea. I found a measuring spoon with help from the sisters and this made the process much faster. Finally we were finished and we said our good nights and walked back to the hostel. 

We set our alarms for 6:15 the next morning. We were to meet the group at 6:50 for breakfast and to go over last minute details. Breakfast was poached, fruit, and toast. Deb is a wonderful cook and she took great care of us with meals. She also had pear juice, peach juice, orange juice, and yogurt you could drink. It was a delicious breakfast. We finished up and headed upstairs to the clinic which was about to open in 5 minutes. Opening day... No one knew what to expect. We were still short one health care provider - Cathy Valentyn had not yet arrived with her daughter Elena. 

Submitted by Lisa W.

We're On Our Way

Six team members flew to Orlando from Chicago. We are a bit tired because we decided to arrive at the airport at 6:20am so that we could get through security in time for our flight. The lines were long but not as long as they've been talking about on the news.

 

 

 

 

 

Flight Radar can track your flight for you. Here are some real time photos of our flight to Lima. We flew over Cuba and didn't even know it!

 

 



 

We made it to Orlando by noon (we gained an hour) and ate lunch at McCoy's Restaurant. There's a five hour layover and we have some time to waste. Catherine D. went to the spa and is having a massage. Some of the group went shopping...lots of stores in Mickey's city of Orlando.

We'll be catching our flight to Peru in another two hours. Several of us are sitting and charging our devices. Of course, I'm blogging, trying to keep you updated on what we're doing on our travels.

This afternoon, three of the team will be flying from Milwaukee to Dallas/Fort Worth and will be arriving at the Lima airport at 5:30am tomorrow morning. Our group of six will be arriving at 10:45 this evening and we'll be spending the night in the Lima airport. After we get through customs, we'll all be flying into Piura at 9am on Tuesday morning.

Three  of our team are already in Piura and are awaiting our arrival. We'll all be meeting up on Tuesday morning.

Please continue praying for our safe travel.

Submitted by Deb Passino

Blessing Weekend

What a beautiful sendoff given to the team this weekend(June 11 and June 12). Thank you Father Ralph for giving us such a beautiful blessing at each Mass. We were honored to have you recite the blessing prayer at your last St. Paul Mass. We'll miss you!

The Blessing...

Loving and Merciful God, we ask your blessing on the St. Paul Medical Team as they travel to serve the people in Paita, Peru. May their arrival at their destination be a sign of your love to those they serve. Keep them strong mentally, physically and spiritually. May they be true ambassadors  for Christ both with those they serve and with their fellow team members. Increase their trust in you as they leave their responsibilities and worries about their families and lives back home in your watchful care. May they feel your Holy Spirit at work in and through them. Lord, look kindly on your servants; give them the joy of service. Bless this mission project, the team members, those they serve and the families back home.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  

Amen

 

 

Submitted by Deb Passino

Water Purification for 50 Families

Our Lenten collection at St. Paul Parish will provide 50 families with a water purification system. This purification system is very simple to make. It uses two buckets, two covers, two Berkey filters, and a spigot. A two-filter system will purify 6,000 gallons of water. For most families, this system will probably last eight years or more and will provide pathogen-free water.

In 2015, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) installed 25 systems. Sister Paula, the  community liaison for water purification, likes the system because it's simple system to use. She has asked for more systems, especially for those who have to buy water from a community tank, which contains water delivered by a tank truck.

There are many ways pathogens can enter their water buckets before it gets to their home. Families purchase water several times a week and hand-carry the five-gallon bucket to their home. A full bucket weighs 40 lbs. Can you imagine walking several blocks, carrying two buckets at a time and having to walk ten buckets to your home three or four times a week?
 

Family Buying Water from a Community Tank

Our parish is very lucky to  have high school junior, Miranda, working on this project. This is Miranda's second trip to Peru. She has seen people suffering from intestinal problems due to the water contamination and she's really passionate about helping them get clean drinking water.

Miranda has been practicing her Spanish all year so that she can train-the-trainer. Eight people presently using a water purification system have volunteered to be trainers and  they'll go out into their community to install and show the families how to use the water purification system, since they already know how to use the system. Miranda will  meet with these eight trainees and make sure they are using the system properly.  She will review:

• Assembling each system
• Testing the water to make sure the system is working properly
• Maintaining the system

This system works so well, we have one in our own home. No, it's not pretty. However, it gives my family fresh drinking water and doesn't remove all of the minerals like a reverse osmosis system.

Here are some pictures of the completed system assembled by Miranda. Doesn't she look like she's having fun? Thank God for this precious gift—the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives!

Two-filter System

Water Purification System Assembled by Miranda

 

Article submitted by Deb Passino

Those Pesky Mosquitos

This is the fourth trip our parish is making to Peru.  The airport is in Piura, which is about 40 miles from Paita. Our team must travel to Paita via a rented bus and there could be a chance of coming in contact with mosquitoes.

Even though we've seen only one mosquito on one trip. We need to be careful because there was an outbreak of dengue a few years ago and now there's concerns about the Zika virus.

Do the people of Piura see mosquitos? Most definitely because they live next to the large river. This is an agricultural community requiring irrigation. Their summer and rainy season is December through April.  During this time, they get approximately six inches of rain. We have been told that the city has taken action by spraying an insecticide throughout the community to help eliminate the mosquitos. We will use precautions by spraying our clothing with a Deet product.

It is an El Niño year in Peru. The temperatures are warmer and they have gotten more rain. FYI, the ocean is warmer, creating havoc for the cool water fish, usually found off the Peruvian coast. Now that the coastal waters are 4 to 8 degrees warmer, these fish are now swimming further out into the ocean, out of range of most fishermen's boats. More people are probably unemployed due to this problem. We'll save this problem for another blog!!!

The 2016 medical team will be traveling to Peru in June, 2016. They will be kept abreast of these diseases by checking with WHO (World Health Organization).

Here's an article describing the current mosquito problem in Peru.

http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-zika-officially-confirmed-in-peru-109456

MEET CATHY AND ELENA

 

Cathy & Elena are a mother-daughter team going on their first, ever medical mission trip. Both are very excited and a bit apprehensive.

 

Elena is a junior at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School (DSHA), where she runs both Track and Cross Country. She is the youngest of five children. She has served others by tutoring children at St. Rose in Milwaukee for the last three years and serves at Mass by distributing the Holy Eucharist at St. Dominic’s Catholic Parish. Elena has been involved in several walk/runs for various charities, as well. Her course load at DSHA has a heavy emphasis on the Sciences and Elena is contemplating a career in Medicine.

 

Cathy has 12 years experience as a Physician Assistant (PA) in Family Medicine. She also volunteers as a PA at the St. Joseph’s Medical Clinic, serving the poor of the Waukesha area. She is the mother of five and has been married to Tom for 29 years this June! Cathy is passionate about patient care and views it a privilege to serve others in this capacity. She is very excited to use her skills and compassion for the people she will be treating in Peru. “In this year of Mercy, as declared by Pope Francis, there couldn’t be a more fitting time to be part of such an important outreach to our less fortunate brothers and sisters and I am delighted to share this experience with my daughter.”

MEET LINDSEY

 

Lindsey is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Crookston, and is on the women's basketball team. She has a double major in health science and biology, and is plan on either becoming a doctor or physician assistant someday. She is currently becoming a certified nursing assistant through Waukesha County Technical College, and took all four years of high school Spanish.

 

Lindsey said, "I believe this mission trip will provide a new perspective on diversity and faith. I am very excited to work with a team to help the quality of life of the people living in Peru. I also look forward to observing and assisting the doctors on this trip, and to gain a new understanding of the culture of Peru."

MEET EMILY

Emily is the granddaughter of Catherine. She is fifteen years old and an only child, She grew up in Milwaukee Wisconsin and then moved to West Bend in 2009. She is in the Slinger School District and attending Slinger High School. As for traveling, this is her first time to Peru or out of the county, but she would like to travel and try new things. She loves to play sports, especially basketball and track, and doing shot put and discus. 

 

Emily said, "I am really excited to be joining this amazing mission while doing great things for other people. I have taken two years of Spanish and am very excited to experiment in speaking the language in Peru." 

 

 

MEET MIRANDA

Miranda is currently a sophomore at Kettle Moraine's charter school KM Global School of Leadership and Innovation. She is a member of the Tri-M Honor Society, the KM Varsity Dance Team and an active member of the Girl Scouts as an Ambassador.  She enjoys volunteering with St. Paul's Church, Senior Interfaith and the Caring Place in Waukesha.

This will be Miranda's second trip to Peru. Her last trip inspired her Gold Award project with the Girl Scouts.  During our mission, she will lead training and educational classes over the use of our water purifying systems to be used by families in Paita. She will train members of the community to help build, set up, trouble shoot and clean the systems so they can continue to train families on their use once we are gone and more filters are donated. Our mission will be taking 50 systems to help families have access to healthy water and avoid illnesses common in Paita due to contaminated drinking water.

MEET LISA

Lisa is a science instructor for Waukesha County Technical College.  She has taught Anatomy & Physiology full-time for the past eight years.  Prior to teaching, she owned and operated her own chiropractic clinic where she treated a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders for 18 years.  Lisa has a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a doctor of chiropractic degree from the National University of Life Sciences in Lombard, Illinois. 

 Lisa was born and raised in Wisconsin.  This is her second medical mission trip.  Two years ago, she went to the mountains of Guatemala to provide health care to the residents of the Mayan villages.

 Lisa moved to Delafield in 2001 with her husband and four children.  She and her husband Jeff have been married for 25 years.  Their two older children are currently in college and their two younger children will both be in high school next year.

MEET CATHERINE

 

Catherine is from Watertown, WI and is a friend of Nancy Reinbold, a parishioner of St. Paul's.  She and Nancy met through Casa Maria Catholic Worker Shelter in Milwaukee, where St. Paul parish dotes grocery shopping gift cards monthly. Catherine has been a CW volunteer for five years, which she chose to do after her husband's death. She's blessed with four sons, three of whom are married and have provided five delightful grandchildren. The other son is a priest in diocese of Sioux Falls, SD.

 

Her careers have been: an RN, psychotherapist, AODA counselor and teacher. Sometime in the middle of that, her family chose to join Papal Volunteers to Latin America. They spent three years in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She thought she'd never travel anywhere but there, as they were so drawn to spend all their vacations with friends in Aguascalientes. But they did wean themselves, eventually.

She was honored to join up with St. Paul’s mission group two years ago and now here she goes again. This time her granddaughter, Emily, will join her to practice her Spanish and tasks Catherine will be sure to assign her.

 

She's so grateful to St Paul parishioners for organizing this mission trip. Catherine said, "It’s a great experience and we love the religious sisters in Paita, Peru. I’m looking forward to working with our former awesome team members and to meeting some new ones. Pray for us."

MEET OLIVIA

Meet Olivia. She's currently a senior at California Baptist University and a three year player for their women’s basketball team. She is a Health Science major looking to become a physician assistant in the near future. She's a certified nursing assistant at Shorehaven’s Rehabilitation Center.

She's gone on previous medical mission trips and is looking looking forward to helping the underserved in Peru! She's most excited to work with other health care professionals and learn about how they can help improve quality of life in Peru. She's also looking for to applying the six years of Spanish that she took in high school!

MEET LINDA

Linda is new to the team going to Peru. This will be her first mission trip, and she is excited and a little fearful.  She is a retired RN with a BSN from Marquette University.  She has done telephone triage for a group of internists; she was employed by the Milwaukee Red Cross Homeless Outreach Nursing Center and worked with mentally ill clients in the homeless shelters including the Rescue Mission and Salvation Army, and on the streets and under the bridges.  This was her “dream job”, but after moving she became certified in parish nursing and worked for ProHealth for almost 9 years in three different churches and in the community at a meal site, the Hope Center (called CCWC then), and a childcare for children of W-2 moms, run by the Hope Center.

Linda has belonged to St. Paul Parish for 18 years and loves the parish and being involved in various ministries.  She is married for almost 46 years to the same man(!), Roger, and has 2 adult daughters, a son-in-law, and 2 precious grandchildren.  She is originally from Green Bay and is a huge Packer fan.  She likes to play the piano and organ at home and sing in the church choirs.  She also enjoys attending Marquette University basketball games, walking, reading, and going to the family cottage up north for swimming and boating. She requests prayers.  

MEET DEB

Deb met her husband Michael while working at AT&T. She retired in 1992, after 20 years of service, to become a stay-at-home mom. While raising their two children, she was able to enjoyed doing a variety of volunteer work in her community. She was an area leader for the Channel 10 (PBS) auction for many years, was a Big Sister for several young girls in Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Milwaukee, and transported seniors and adults with disabilities though the Interfaith Caregiving Network.   

Deb and Michael became involved at St. Paul Parish in 1992 after hearing that the parish would be twinning with a parish in Guatemala, in partnership with the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF).  She was welcomed by  the pastoral associate, Len Grassmann, who had invited her to join them in this new venture. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship with Len, the SSSF and St. Paul Parish. She and her husband have been members at St. Paul's for 22 years. She has lead several trips to Guatemala. Deb is the chairperson of the St. Clare School Outreach Team at St. Paul Parish. She's very excited about her fourth trip to Peru.

MEET CHARLIE

 

Miranda "Charlie" Spindt has been a practicing Physician Assistant in Family Practice and Urgent Care for over twenty years. Her husband Marc and she will be celebrating their 21st wedding anniversary this year and have two great kids, Miranda, 16 and Nicolas, 12.

Miranda said, "Service to others is a passion that we share as a family and a lesson we hope to have instilled in our kids. We are blessed to be a part of a church that is so active in our community both locally and internationally."

This will be her second trip as the medical mission coordinator for the Peru outreach ministry. Charlie and Marc also serve as Eucharistic Ministers, Religious Education Youth Group Leaders and Pre-marriage FOCCUS facilitators. Miranda is also a volunteer medical provider with the St. Joseph's Medical Clinic in Waukesha which serves the homeless and the uninsured in need of medical services.

MEET DR. BOB

Dr. Bob is new to the Peru outreach team at St. Paul Parish. He is a retired Family Practice doctor from Menomonee Falls and has practiced for more than 40 years. He retired from active practice the summer of 2015 and has been very busy since then volunteering at local community medical clinics. In the past, he has participated in several mission trips to Honduras. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, jogging and studying Spanish. He is a proud grandpa.

He has visited Peru twice as a tourist and is looking forward to partaking in this medical mission trip at St. Clare School in Paita, Peru.