The miracles of modern medicine represent one of the most significant differentials between the developed and underdeveloped nations. Redressing this imbalance brings immediate and dramatic dividends in human, developmental, and social terms. This was amply demonstrated once again during the ten months in 1962-63, when volunteer doctors and nurses from the famed hospital ship Hope labored in Salaverry, Peru to bring the latest advances in the healing arts both to thousands of sick Peruvians and to the local physicians who would carry on the work after departure of the ship. Despite initial opposition from some few suspicious Peruvian doctors, the Communists, and Yankeephobes, the staff of the Hope admirably achieved its principal task of treatment and instruction. According to Dr. Walsh, the Hope was greeted with jeers and departed with cheers.
This volume makes for interesting and occasionally inspiring reading. It contains no forbidding technical language that would discourage lay readers. At times, in fact, the “folksy” style of the author seems a bit contrived, as when he carefully preserves various “Hopie” nicknames for children, peddlers, and dogs of Salaverry. Walsh seldom departs from his principal task of informing the reader about the specific work of the ship. Thus he wisely avoids gratuitious comments on the history, culture, and politics of Peru. Readers will find very few errors in the book, although Cerro de Pasco is spelled three different ways (pp. 62-63), and there is one memorable reference to Peruvian “tribes of mestizos” (p. 40). The principal value of the book for Latin Americanists is the forceful way it documents the enormous need for modern medical training and facilities in the region. Dr. Walsh and the men and women of the Hope rolled up their sleeves and went to work to do what they could. They made a significant contribution, and the story of their labors deserves wide circulation.
