Introduction

Most who view this will know who I am and generally what I'm doing. Hopefully this will fill in some of the gaps and introduce anyone who might stumble onto this site out in the vast wilderness of the internet.

My name is Andy Trent and I'll be leaving soon to spend around 7 weeks with Rev. Francisco Mendoza in Carorita, Venezuela, in the Trujillo state. All I really know is that it's a community of about 80 families approximately 8000 feet up in the Andes. This was facilitated by United Methodist Volunteers in Missions, www.umvim.org. Nick Elliot was extremely helpful in choosing a good place for me to serve, and I think he has done an excellent job in matching me.

I am hoping to have a medical focus to this trip. I'll help out where I can in other areas of psuedo-expertise, but as I'm heading more and more towards healthcare as a career, I want to learn and experience as much as I can in that field. Some of the problems Francisco mentioned were the overuse of organo-phosphate fertilizers (not good for your nervous system) and problems with STDs. I guess we'll do some education stuff, as well as do what we can to address people's problems as they arise.

My exact schedule is this: Leave from Knoxville early Aug. 19th, arrive in Madison later that morning. Take the MCAT on the 20th, be in a friend's wedding the 21st. Leave for Maracaibo on Aug 22nd, arriving the 23rd after an all-night layover in St. Louis. That'll be fun. Stay in a hotel in Maracaibo that night, then meet Francisco on the 24th to head up to Carorita. I'm used to packing things in, but that'll be a busy few days.