Dahlia Delgadillo ’23 studied the lack of healthcare resources in Churcampa, Peru and its impact on local residents during her Junior Fellowship project over the summer. 

She said she interviewed medical staff, personally helped treat patients and documented her findings through film to better understand and attempt to address the situation in Peru.

Delgadillo said she used most of the $4,000 allotted to her by the Fellowship program to donate medical equipment to the town. She said despite having a population of roughly 44,000 people, the town’s clinic had just nine hospital beds and lacked other essential supplies; 80% of Churcampa residents had never had a colonoscopy or a cholesterol test, which deeply concerned her. 

She said she has a personal connection to Churcampa and the struggles the community faces because her grandfather, who lived in the town, died of appendicitis on his way to the closest hospital, which was over two hours away. She said her passion for medicine stemmed from this connection.

“As I grew older, I became really interested in medicine, and I realized that the problem is, ‘Why is the nearest hospital two hours, three hours away?’” Delgadillo said. “I asked my dad [what else my grandfather could have done], and the answer was just [go to] a small clinic that has little to no medical materials. ” 

Delgadillo said one of her main goals for her Junior Fellowship project was to record information and personal accounts from the town so she could show the school the conditions faced by the people in Churcampa.

“Hearing [about the townspeople’s] stories was really impactful, and I am really excited to share them with Harvard-Westlake,” Delgadillo said.