Plan your own trip! Whether you’re a group of students, a group of medical professionals, or a non-medical group, we are here to support you and channel your skills, knowledge & passion into sustainable healthcare projects. Dates are generally open year round.
Medical Professionals
CESAPU – Centro de Salud Pública – needs you! If you are a healthcare professional with years of experience and you are looking for a way to give back and share your knowledge, CESAPU is the perfect opportunity for you! We can be flexible regarding dates in order to accomodate your needs. CESAPU is always looking for medical professionals to assist in our medical programs and to train local Peruvian doctors and medical students. This is a great opportunity to share your wisdom, give back – and to learn from other health professionals from around the world! We specifically need help in the following professions: Public Health, OB/GYN, Primary Care Physicians, Dentists, Pediatricians, Ultrasound technicians/ Radiologists, Nurses, Chiropractors, and more. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
Minimum Donation: $950 per week
| Included | Not Included |
| Airport pick up/drop off from Trujillo airport | Airfare to Peru (must fly into Lima and purchase connecting flight from Lima → Trujillo) |
| Comfortable home-stay (WiFi, warm water, and other amenities) | Travel Insurance |
| 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) included in your homestay | Hostel stay and meals in Lima and meals you choose to eat outside of your homestay |
| Transportation to the worksites and to the programmed activities. | Personal vaccinations and medications and coverage of medical expenses in case of an emergency |
| 1 cultural activity | Extra cultural activities |
| Hop volunteer t-shirt | Hop outerwear & other merchandise at HOP store |
| 24+ hour support from volunteer coordinator | Personal Expenses |
| Most tools and equipment necessary for the health and education campaigns (depending on your specialty and our available materials) | Trip to Cusco / Machu Picchu or other parts of Peru |
Note: You do not need to speak Spanish
Graduate Students In The Health Professions
Hands on Peru offers exclusive group mission trips for dedicated students already enrolled in the following postgraduate programs:
- Nursing
- Physician’s assistant
- Nurse Practitioner
- Doctor of Medicine
- Doctor of Orthopedics
- Radiology (primarily ultrasound technicians)
- Dentistry & Orthodontics
- Physical Therapy
- Ophthalmology
- Chiropractic
- Public Health
- Education (Elementary & higher)
- Social Work
These students will have the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice for marginalized groups in Peru. In most cases, they will work under the care of a licensed professional in their specific field.
For these students, we offer customized short-term trips in the time frames that work for the group.
MINIMUM DONATIONS:
$1300 – 10 days *per person
$1800- 14 days *per person
| Included | Not Included |
| Airport pick up/drop off from Trujillo airport | Airfare to Peru (must fly into Lima and purchase connecting flight from Lima → Trujillo) |
| Comfortable home-stay (WiFi, warm water, and other amenities) | Travel Insurance |
| 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) included in your homestay | Hostel stay and meals in Lima and meals you choose to eat outside of your homestay |
| Transportation to the worksites and to the programmed activities. | Any personal transportation costs and taxis to locations, meals, events not included in our schedule |
| 2 cultural activity | Extra cultural or sport activities |
| Hop volunteer t-shirt | Personal vaccinations and medications and coverage of medical expenses in case of an emergency |
| Supervision by local professionals and experts in their respective medical field | Personal Expenses |
| 24+ hour support from volunteer coordinator | Trip to Cusco / Machu Picchu |
| Basic materials for health and educational campaigns | * Specialized material & equipment for health campaigns & projects |
*Regarding materials for health campaigns & projects. We recommend your group raises an extra $1500-$3000 to cover costs of specialized material in your area of expertise.
* We expect professional behavior from all medical volunteers, and that they show a true investment in improving the health of our community and the health care services of CESAPU. They may work up to 8 hours per day (with a lunch break) and we will take some campaigns to external locations (to other places in Trujillo and to the highlands). In some cases, students will also get the opportunity to rotate in other health centers and hospitals in Trujillo and Huanchaco to get a well-rounded view of the Peruvian health system.
* Please plan in advance if your school is interested in sending down a group mission trip. The earlier you plan, the more flexibility we have to accommodate your needs and prepare for your trip.
** Note: This does NOT include the foreign transaction fees from payments made outside of the USA or Peru. Foreign transaction fees can cost between $10-$50 for payments made from Europe, Central America, South America, Asia, and Africa. You are responsible for making this fee. (Payment fees from Europe to USA typically cost $10-$15, payment fees from Europe to Peru typically cost $50).
Sponsors
We highly encourage that these student groups look for sponsors for their mission trip, to be able to bring down cutting edge products and donations for our clinic and the people we serve. Hands on Peru is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in NC, USA and all donations are tax deductible.
What will volunteering entail?
For Nursing, PA, MD, DO & NP students:
Triage: The volunteer will be expected to be able to take height, weight, blood pressure, respiration rates, pulse, and clinical history & triage in all campaigns.
Additional: The volunteer will also be trained to do the following: glucose meter tests for diabetes, auscultation exams, hemoglobin tests, urine analysis. Students may get to perform: vaccinations, pap smears, prostate exams, ultrasounds, and sutures & wound cleaning. They will get to work directly with the doctors.
Chiropractic:
You will get to do chiropractic education, and perform low risk adjustments. We recommend bringing your own tools and equipment to do so.
Dental:
You will get to perform dental cleanings, extractions, fillings, and dental education. We recommend bringing donations of floss, toothbrushes, and toothpaste and materials needed for the procedures outlined above.
Physical Therapy:
You will get to teach and lead stretches, identifying certain individuals in the community, asses their health status, putting together a plan of care. We recommend bringing donations of shoe inserts and insoles and additional materials for your group.
Radiology:
Ultrasound technicians and students of this profession will be able to perform a variety of ultrasounds, with an emphasis on pregnant women. Cesapu will provide the ultrasound, which is a portable MindRay DP10.
Ophthalmology:
These students will help do eye examinations for all ages, including measuring each individual in his or her visual acuity, and identifying other eye-related needs in the population. We recommend bringing your own tools and donations of glasses.
Education: (longer sessions available and encouraged)
These students will get to work with children (and/or mothers), enhancing their education and literacy through special after school programs. Every year in the months of January, February, and March we teach English to the children.
Public Health: (longer sessions available and encouraged – see global health intern)
These students will participate in cutting edge, innovative public health interventions. You will be expected to combine research and practice, helping Cesapu in its various long-term community projects, which focus on water and sanitation, housing conditions, nutrition, and environmental care. Please see the ‘year-round volunteering’ tab to better understand our community public health programs.
Social Work: (longer sessions available and encouraged – see global health intern)
Students in this profession will participate exclusively with our community – helping to perform a social work diagnosis, identifying risk factors in the population, and formulating an intervention plan to meet their needs. Please see the ‘year-round volunteering’ tab to better understand our community public health programs.
Non-Medical Groups (Teaching english, child development, etc .)
If you would like to plan a non-medical group mission trip – and instead one that focuses on fellowship and community engagement through our CESAPU COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, please contact us! We gladly accept mission trips with children as well, as long as there is at least a 2:1 ratio of children to chaperones. CESAPU does not affiliate with any particular religion, but our values of spreading love and helping the poor are at our core values.
MINIMUM DONATION: $950 per week
| Included | Not Included |
| Airport pick up/drop off from Trujillo airport | Airfare to Peru (must fly into Lima and purchase connecting flight from Lima → Trujillo) |
| Comfortable home-stay (WiFi, warm water, and other amenities) | Travel Insurance |
| 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) included in your homestay | Hostel stay and meals in Lima and meals you choose to eat outside of your homestay |
| Transportation to the worksites and to the programmed activities. | Any personal transportation costs and taxis to locations, meals, events not included in our schedule |
| 1 cultural activities per week (tours of ancient Chimu and Moche ruins, show of Caballo de Paso, and sandboarding lessons) | Extra Activities – Club HOP: These are optional activities that you may chose to partake in during your stay in Trujillo / Huanchaco |
| HOP volunteer t-shirt | Personal spending and meals of the weekend travel |
| 24+ hour support from volunteer coordinator | Personal Expenses |
| Basic materials needed for | Trip to Cusco / Machu Picchu |
| Personal vaccinations and medications and coverage of medical expenses in case of an emergency |
Note: Your group should consist of 1 person who speaks Spanish for every 3 who do not speak Spanish.