A Very Peruvian Practice

When John Lane arrived for a six-week stay as adviser to the Women's Health Care Centre of Lima, he had little idea what he was taking on. Here, he recounts life with the irrepressible Senora and the unconventional staff of the Clinic.

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When John Lane arrived for a six-week stay as adviser to the Women's Health Care Centre of Lima, a private clinic built by La Senora Coraima Pandora del Teodosia Zapallo-Chupado Palermo Bonomini, to provide an appropriate setting for her highly qualified husband Dr Hermogenes, he had little idea what he was taking on. Our clinic is mainly for the expecting woman, La Senora explained. But as yet there was no lift between the delivery room and the wards, so business was limited. As the Clinic staggered from financial difficulty to total insolvency, the author found himself caught up in the rhythms of Peruvian life, attending bullfights with Dr Hermogenes, who was an aficionado, accompanying La Senora to the weddings and funerals of her large extended family and on her whirlwind shopping expeditions to various parts of Peru, while in the background the chaotic presidential elections rumbled on. Punctuated by increasingly desperate attempts to refinance the Clinic, his stay extended far beyond the original six weeks. John Lane's account of life with the irrepressible Senora and the unconventional staff of the Clinic opens a unique window on Peruvian society and politics.