GlobeMed at BC - globalhealthU Case Study

GlobeMed at Boston College: globalhealthU Case Study Background: Ayacucho is a region of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit by terrorism during the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as the internal conflict in Peru. Its economic activity is primarily agriculture (potatoes, wheat, olluco, barley, coca leaves and sheep for livestock) and handicrafts. It has a 72.5% poverty rate and comprises only 0.65% of Peru’s national GDP. The Problem: Two days ago an earthquake hit Ayacucho, Peru. The result of the earthquake has wrecked farms, destroyed homes and killed a number of people. The majority of the population is elderly, and they are either too overwhelmed or disabled to survive without help – especially since their main source of food and income has been devastated. The Peruvian government does not have the resources or the interest to support the province and therefore is not taking action. There is now fear within the community that radical guerrilla groups will take advantage of the situation and set up camp in the region.

In an act of desperation, Lourdes and our Partner CCC-UNSCH called the six famous developmental economists (Amartya Sen, Dambisa Moyo, Esther Duflo, Paul Collier, Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly) for help. Unfortunately, all they have been doing is arguing with each other instead of developing and implementing a solution….there was no other choice. Lourdes had to bring out the big guns: GlobeMed@BC. Each of your Small Group Facilitators were called in and asked to bring the best of the best/ their top elites/ the Big Kahunas (ie. all of you) to Peru in hopes that you will be able to develop a solution to this madness.

The solution itself is simple. We need to rebuild the community in terms of infrastructure (water, roads, electricity etc), jump start the economy, and address the health needs of the people suffering.

The only question that remains is “how.” Create a solution and present it to the GlobeMed chapter.

Remember the relationship between international and national politics, international aid/NGOs and institutions, etc and how they interact and may conflict with each other and/or support each other.