Service trip to Peru provides valuable life lesson

Perri Harmon says she learned even on her worst days she remains very lucky, a lesson she took from her medical service trip to Peru this past spring.

Harmon, a senior exercise science major, went with Bloomsburg University’s MEDLIFE club — Medicine, Education and Development for Low Income Families Everywhere — which was established in Fall 2016 as a student chapter of the national MEDLIFE non-profit organization. BU is one of three PASSHE universities to have this club.

MEDLIFE’s mission is to help families overcome the constraints of poverty and the organization firmly believes access to quality healthcare is a basic human right. Harmon and thousands of other volunteers stand behind MEDLIFE’s mission by committing time, resources, knowledge, and hope to low income families everywhere.

Harmon’s experience in Peru was one that will benefit her professionally and emotionally for the rest of her life. With the goal of going to graduate school and becoming an Occupational Therapist in mind, the trip gave her first-hand experience into the medical world far beyond the typical classroom.

“I had the opportunity to observe several medical professionals, but one that was really interesting was the dentist,” Harmon said. “I got to observe how they fill cavities and extract teeth.”

The procedures Harmon observed contained far less mediation and advanced tools than what is normally seen in the United States, so it was a great learning experience on how to work with what is available to get the job done.

“It made me rethink what I take for granted and also made me appreciate what I have and how I live,” Harmon said. “The people in the communities we visited had very little, but were some of the happiest people I’ve ever met because they were surrounded by the people and the things they need and not much more.”

Harmon left Peru with memories she will cherish forever, life-long friends, and a new appreciation that sometimes less is more.