Today the news is filled with stories about the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts from an incurable brain tumor.
During his almost fifty years in the Congress, Senator Kennedy has been a dominant leader in so many areas of our national life – health and health care, education, civil rights, and on and [...]

Several people have asked me in the past few days for my perspective on what’s happening to health reform in Washington.

For what it’s worth, here goes –

We flew home overnight - and arrived today at RDU.
It was simply a wonderful trip - we learned a lot, we saw the UNC global health partnership in action and we got to know a bit about the people and history of Peru.

Today was our last full day in Cuzco. It was low-key and pleasant.
We went on a driving tour of several sites south of Cuzco, including a beautiful old church, a large pre-Incan site and an elaborate Incan structure.
This visit has really taught me a lot about the history and culture of Peru. It [...]

Today we went to Machu Picchu.
It is called one of the seven wonders of the modern world — and now I know why.
It was an incredible experience. I am sure it will be the highpoint of our entire trip to Peru.
We took a half hour bus ride, a three hour train ride, then another [...]

Today (Sunday) we took a tour of the “Sacred Valley of the Incas,” one of the prime collections of sites in the Americas. It was an all day bus tour, but was well worth it.
We visited the Sunday market at Pisac, and had a great time looking and did some buying — beautiful handmade [...]

Yesterday we had another full day in Trujillo.
In the morning, Doug Morgan, Luis Diaz and I met with the student leaders of the UNT (National University of Trujillo) School of Medicine. In UNC terms, it was like meeting with the leadership of the Whitehead Medical Society, our student association.
They are an obviously bright and [...]

We had a very full day yesterday.
We spent the morning at the “South Building” of the University of Trujillo, meeting with the Rector (like our Chancellor) and others. He was about to receive an official delegation from the University of Guantanamo, in Cuba, and he invited us to join him for the meeting. [...]

Last evening we left RDU, and flew overnight to Lima, Peru, via Miami.
This is another in a series of trips I have taken in support of UNC’s global health work. In 2007, I went to South Africa and Malawi. And in 2008, I took separate trips to Nicaragua and to China.
This year’s trip [...]