Testimonials

Volunteers are the key to making our programs a success

DB Peru is proud to work with many amazing volunteers who share their talents and professional expertise so freely.  Since 2002, over 1,600 volunteers from around the world have journeyed with us to provide continuous education and health care to more than 6,000 people in the 28 villages of the lower Napo River rainforest of the Peruvian Amazon jungle.

To enjoy some of our past photos, please click on this link Past Photos

It took three days to get to the Napo River area of the Amazon region in Peru and we were using the fastest modes of transportation – airplanes, taxis, and speedboats. DB Peru serves those who live in small villages of 150-250 people in an area of the jungle where most people do not go on purpose.

I would say they were at the “last mile”, but the last mile of infrastructure stopped long before. This is what makes DB Peru so remarkable.

Diana Bowie, founder of DB Peru, and her VP, Renzo Pena, are known and trusted in the eight villages we visited: people asked for Diana by name. DB Peru serves about 28 villages with medical prevention and interventions, but it took five full days of boat travel to visit the eight that we did. Renzo was welcomed into every village and home and we, the volunteers/observers, were welcomed right along with him. An unforgettable comment from one family was that “DB Peru always comes back.” The reality of that statement is that no one else does.

President, Dining for Women

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Working with DB Peru in the Napo region of the Amazon has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. We were held together but the heart and soul of DB Peru which is Diana and Renzo who are the President and Vice President of the organization and arranged and facilitated the whole trip.

Together we have done some amazing things that has really changed so many people’s lives. We have held women’s health clinics, a regional health fair where we held oral hygiene information sessions and teaching self breast exams among other things as well as the massive DB Peru football tournament which 14 villages sent teams to participate in. To top it all off we held a two-day education session for the local health workers on colposcopy and cryotherapy.

The work DB Peru is doing is something that has pulled at my heart and I know I’m going to have a long association with them.

Australia

Traveling to and from work on the Lady Di, mosquitos, a different village each day, jiggers, people of meager means but family strong waiting patiently to see us, snakes, clinics in concrete school rooms, cold showers, pisco, jungle heat and humidity, home visits to houses built on stilts with ladders instead stairs, tarantulas falling on the dining table, the music of the jungle at night, canopy walk, Shaman botanical cures, smiles after glasses are fitted, sloths, do it yourself charcoal mounds, mariposas, Dr. Linnea’s clinic – the best bathroom stop on the Napo, pink dolphins…….all made better and memorable by those that share the journey with us.

I have had two great trips to the Napo River with DB Peru. In October 2012 I joined the women’s project and in March 2013 I helped with a more general health project. Both were wonderful experiences. I enjoyed having the opportunity to work in a team with medical professionals and to use my Spanish in earnest. Getting close to children and adults with very limited access to healthcare in the jungle outside Iquitos was also special. It is satisfying to know that you can really make a difference by volunteering with DB Peru.

(Wife of United Kingdom Ambassador to Peru)

Upon arriving to Iquitos, we (28 of us including 5 doctors, 7 dentists, nurses, medical students and dental hygienists from the States and Canada) were taken straight to a dock on the Amazon from where we took a beautiful three hour ride on first the incredibly huge Amazon and then the Napo river to the Explonapo lodge, our home for the next three days. Our work began the second day when boxes and boxes of donated supplies and equipment were loaded onto two of the Explorama boats and taken to Chapas, the first village. We unloaded everything, with the help of villagers who were waiting for us, into an open covered area, set up as best as we could, and began work. The next two days were similar, but in San Pedro. In the three days, a total of 350 patients were seen by the doctors and a total of 125 extractions and 25 fillings (using a generator the dentists had brought for the purpose) were done by the dentists. They were busy, tiring days, especially because of the heat and the insects, but very rewarding. The need, but also the simplicity and the trust in us of the local people treated, was very moving. The ingenuity of the doctors and dentists who managed admirably in the rustic conditions, was amazing. I got to know a group of wonderful people under very special circumstances. These are some of the high points of an amazing, eye-opening, awesome adventure.

Lima, Peru

Everything I love about being a nurse is here…..
No computers, policies, procedures, diagnostics, insurance…just the pure practice of nursing … With my hands, my head and my heart I have the opportunity to touch the lives of many people.

The experience of working in a remote village in the jungle with a dedicated team of medical personnel is the essence of nursing for me. Each morning when you sling your backpack over your shoulder and step on the boat for an early morning ride up the Napo River headed to work for the day it is the best commute in the world!

DB Peru has filled a life long dream of mine to practice the art of nursing in a remote corner of Peru with the sounds of the jungle all around! Thank you Diana!

Wilton, New Hampshire

My first volunteer trip with DBPeru was in April 2011. I am about to embark upon my 4th. This alone bears testimony to how committed I feel to donating my time and effort in assisting DBPeru.

I urge those interested in sustainable healthcare for the indigenous people of the Napo River region to sign up as a volunteer: Experience first hand the compassionate and professional healthcare Diana and Renzo are providing for people in the region.

The beauty of the Amazon touches me but the people even more so. They are grateful and gracious upon receiving healthcare services that the would not have access to, were it not for the continued efforts of DBPeru.

London, England and Houston, TX

This was a special trip indeed for. Thanks so much to Diana for such an amazing job off organizing us all. To do so is no small feat . And also always in such a gracious manner whether dealing with all if us or the patients and families. Witnessing unconditional care and regard for especially the people who may be marginalized in our world is refreshing This is what refreshes us since we are often caught up in our fast paced world. Great job indeed.

New Jersey

To enjoy some of our past photos, please click on this link Past Photos