HBI Team Peru - Week 1

Our first week of clinic has been a smashing success. In just over 4 and ½ days of clinic our team of Peruvian and American healthcare providers were able to provide medical, dental, psychological evaluation and focused counseling and health education services to just over 840 patients. Our fantastic team of dedicated providers made this week of clinic one of our most successful outreach events yet!

Our project was conducted in the communities of Mala, Chincha, Pucusana and Asia (communities strongly impacted by the massive earthquake of August of 2007 – see: http://hbint.blogspot.com/2007/08/internatioanl-aid-for-peru-help-is-on.html). This last week was our 11th outreach campaign into these communities and was conducted in collaboration with our long term partner Union Biblica del Peru and is a part of our bigger schools based outreach program.

The Health Bridges International Schools Advocacy for the Vulnerable and Endangered Children (SAVE) program is a comprehensive approach to addressing poverty and childhood endangerment. The foundational element of the SAVE outreach program is volunteer mission teams – staffed by Peruvian and U.S. physicians, dentists, nurses, psychologists and dedicated helpers. Working in close partnership with Union Biblica – HBI is attempting to create a programmatic response that will make a meaningful impact in the lives of homeless and abandon youth. The programmatic goal of the SAVE outreach project is to create a “response” that will work to prevent familial breakdown before young children become abandoned to the streets.

The schools based outreach program is designed toward reaching into the poorest communities – areas where families are at greatest risk of breaking down. The SAVE program focuses on geographic areas in the country of Peru where economic depravity and social violence fracture family stability; areas where the children that live on the streets of Lima are coming from. This week found us working in such schools; institutions with very little resources and few of the standard academic opportunities found in the U.S.

The mission of the SAVE program is to identify youth who are at greatest risk for homelessness – and connect these children to outreach workers. The outreach/social workers then build trust and relationship with the family unit to provide a broad range of services that are designed at keeping the family from fracturing. As is the case in most developing nations, the community schools of rural and impoverished areas are often the strongest element of the social network. Partnering with teachers and community leaders enables the SAVE program to build a “safety net” in communities that are extremely vulnerable to economic and political ebbs and flows.

In essence, the SAVE program is designed at offering an “up stream” approach to a social problem that is firmly entrenched in economic disparity. Research studies have now connected the degree of social capital in a community (as defined by the collective efficacy or the belief a community has in its own abilities to create and structure change) to health outcomes, economic prosperity and crime figure adjustments. What this means for the SAVE outreach program is that by creating an even stronger community foundation in the schools - homelessness can be prevented in vulnerable youth populations.

This last week had our teams working in some of the poorest schools in Peru. Through compassion and true commitment to providing the highest quality healthcare services possibly – our team was able to reach out and hopefully change the lives of desperately impoverished children.

As the bulk of our school based program is designed around identifying children who are at greatest risk of homelessness and abandonment to the streets – our greatest assets are the community workers from Union Biblica who spend so much of their time working in the schools where we provide clinics. Union Biblica helps with case management of identified high risk children and family level interventions. The social workers from Union Biblica have great relationships with the teachers, staff and children of the schools where we work. The Union Biblica social workers were available all week to consult with a physician or provider about a potential “Vulnerable Youth” – and help to connect the youth with resources. The Union Biblica schools workers then help with follow-up and even conduct home visits when needed.

In a home visit scenario, the Union Biblica social worker develops a more global understanding of the family’s needs and the stressors that are underlying family unity and cohesion. The social worker works very closely with the child’s school and assigned teacher to create a comprehensive care plan to prevent further vulnerability with in the child’s development. Throughout of week of clinics we were very fortunate to have Alan Chang as our Union Biblica Schools Outreach Worker. Alan’s dedication to serving the underserved and commitment to helping vulnerable children was a real motivation for all of our team members.

This next week has our team working in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa with another long term HBI partner and long term program collaborator - the Mission of Alto Cayma. Stay tuned to our BlogSpot for updates and on-going news of HBI’s Team Peru 2008 Campaign. Thank you for your support!