Project Amazonas seeks dental volunteers

Project Amazonas will be holding a medical service expedition in the Peruvian Amazon April 20 through May 3 and are calling for medical, dental, and nonmedical volunteers to fill the limited spaces available.

The expedition is boat-based on the Nenita riverboat, and will be traveling to the Ampiyacu River, home to a number of Bora, Huitoto, and Ocaina Indian communities. The expedition will also be visiting the historic town of Pevas.

The trip will be anchored by a Peruvian medical doctor and a Peruvian dentist, and several advanced medical students have already signed up. For nonmedical volunteers will help with registering patients, collecting community data, assistance with the pharmacy, maintaining inventory, entertaining or distracting community children, and more.

Project Amazonas will be traveling from community to community, holding clinics in the local schools, but volunteers will also have time for jungle exploration, fishing, swimming, kayaking, photography, activities with community children, and just getting to know people in the communities. Having conversational Spanish is helpful but not essential.

The starting point will be Iquitos, Peru. Volunteers will be required to secure their own travel arrangements. Expedition costs are $975 for medical and dental students, and $1,825 for others. This includes all meals, transportation, bedding, and other amenities while aboard the riverboat. A portion of the funds is also used for the purchase of medications for the trip. The organizers are happy to give advice on flights, assist with any needed hotel reservations in Iquitos, and other information.

This will be the group's third visit to the communities on this river, and the response in the past has been very welcoming and appreciative. Volunteers should note that this is quite a remote area, and there will be no cellphone signal or Internet access for most of the trip. However, Project Amazonas always carries a satellite phone for emergency use should volunteers need to communicate.

Visit the Project Amazonas' website for more information or to sign up.