More than twenty doctors, residents, and students with backpacks full of medications and medical equipment, as well as a wealth of passion and expertise, spent two weeks working in villages and shantytowns where access to healthcare is virtually nonexistent, meeting and visiting approximately 1.300 people. The 2025 edition of Workcamp Peru, the international volunteer project promoted by the Peruvian National Institute of Health, concluded a few days ago.Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital Foundation, launched in 2006. This year, 23 volunteers had the opportunity to work in the Cañete Valley, south of Lima, offering screenings and training sessions to the local community, in collaboration with Condoray – a Peruvian organization that supports the personal and social growth of women of all ages – and with Caritas in the territories of Cañete, Yauyos and Huarochirí.
The group – coordinated by Prof. Rossana Alloni, Associate Professor of Surgery and Clinical Director of the Foundation, provided assistance to local residents by performing medical checkups, tests such as electrocardiograms, ultrasounds, and blood sugar checks, anemia screenings for young women, nutritional assessments for heart patients and diabetics, and ENT examinations with audiometry. With the support of Caritas, volunteers then organized free medical campaigns in schools for students, teachers, and families, and also worked at the local prison, where over 70 people were examined in a single morning.
"For almost twenty years now, Workcamp Peru has reminded us that medicine finds its deepest meaning in responsibility towards others.", said the President of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and the Campus Bio-Medico University Polyclinic Foundation Carlo Tosti, who then added: By offering visits, training, and support to vulnerable communities, even geographically distant from our daily lives, volunteers demonstrate that the knowledge acquired at universities and hospitals becomes authentic service only when it translates into care and attention for the most vulnerable..
"Working in the Cañete Valley means dealing every day with complex living conditions and often unanswered healthcare needs.", commented the professor Rossana Alloni. "It's in situations like this – continued Alloni – That our professionals, both present and future, experience essential medicine, based on listening, fundamental clinical skills, and empathy. Clinical work thus also becomes a journey of mutual encounter: seeking to improve the lives of those we serve can profoundly transform all of us who stand by their side..
Alongside the outpatient clinic, health education sessions on nutrition, personal and household hygiene were also held, as well as ongoing training sessions for healthcare workers and local school teachers on pathologies that are very common in the area, such as Huntington's disease and autism spectrum disorders, which unfortunately still lack adequate support in the region.
But the Workcamp is about more than just medicine: the volunteers also contributed to the restoration of the facilities used for healthcare activities, conducted a study on waste management—a critical issue for the area and of significant impact on public health—and began the on-site production of sulfur soap, particularly useful in an environment where dust mites are prevalent. Finally, the group was engaged in organizing a remote ECG reporting system and exploring the feasibility of creating online consultations for other medical specialties that are lacking in the area.
The project, therefore, in addition to offering concrete support to the most vulnerable communities of Cañete, also helps foster a strong sense of social responsibility among participants each year, reinforcing the institution's founding values, such as solidarity, service, and commitment to others.
An aspect that emerged chiaramind from the testimonies of some of the volunteers: "Thanks to Workcamp Peru, I had the opportunity to follow visits directly in the field, dealing with known pathologies but in completely different living conditions: an experience that broadened my clinical perspective, but above all, helped me understand the importance of teamwork and the human dimension of every encounter with the patient.", the specialist said Chiara Lagravinese. "Be part of this mission" – added the medical student Francesco Musolino - "It made me understand that medicine isn't just a technical discipline, but above all a relationship and commitment to those who have fewer resources."
