As a DESEA Community Health Nurse, Mary Luz possesses a wide range of skills applicable to community healthcare in remote Andean communities. She began her tenure with DESEA as a water filter educator and through her consistent contact with Andean families and her passion for improving their lives she naturally began assisting in the delivery of health services, training of community health workers, and community education program development. Her command of Quechua, the indigenous language of the Andes, adds an invaluable skill to the organization, helping create a context of mutual trust where language isn’t a barrier.

Mary Luz was inspired to join DESEA because of the positive work she saw being carried out in project areas and recognized an opportunity to help individuals in those communities. Her hope for the future is that DESEA is able to spread its work in Peru, to continue to reduce water-borne disease, and to improve nutrition in campesino communities.

Mary Luz is from the San Martín District of Calca Province. She studied technical nursing in Cusco and Sicuani, Peru, where she specialized in audiometry. She is fluent in Quechua and Spanish.