Strongsville Firemedic Doug Kallin spent April 25 to May 4, 2017 on a mission trip to Truhillo, Peru, helping a community rebuild after a flood washed away homes and crops.
Kallin said he offered to help after learning that a two-week rainstorm in April had flooded the area, leaving many people homeless. He joined missionary friends Jesus and Tracy Altuna in a project to help pour a foundation for a church and to deliver supplies to neighboring villages affected by the flood.
While there, he also delivered water to a vallage called Alto Trujilla. The village had no water, so volunteers drove a tank up the mountain and filled buckets with water.
The volunteers also handed out new dresses to little girls in the village.
While hiking through the jungle one day, Kallin and four other volunteers came upon a husband and wife who had lost most of their crops due to the flood. The volunteers were able to give them a donation to get them on their feet until they could re-establish their crops.
This wasn't Kallin's first mission trip. He visited Peru two years ago to work at a medical clinic, donating his time and paying his own travel expenses. He also has gone to Honduras twice with the Medical Missions Outreach group and even learned to speak Spanish so he could communicate better with the patients there.