Team Peru 2008

And off we go - this summer marks the ELEVENTH Team Peru Medical, Dental and Social Outreach to Peru. This team promises to be an amazing experience with a broad group of team participants, a diverse set of projects lined-up and an enormous amount of donated supplies. In fact, this year has been our best year yet for raising support (financial) and procuring supplies.

The main objectives for this outreach campaign are:
(1) To continue to support our in-country partner Union Biblica del Peru in their efforts to bring preventive medical, dental and social care services to impoverished children. Our work continues to focus on using screening methods to identify children who are most vulnerable to becoming abandoned. We work to connect families of need with social service advocates to prevent homelessness and family fracturing.

(2) We will be working in the Mission of Alto Cayma to bring support and assistance to the on-going community health care efforts of this Parish run program. Our campaign will help with the construction of a home for a medically fragile child, the delivery of health care services to isolated mountain communities, and we will be working with our Peruvian colleagues (nurses, physicians, dentists, and social workers) around "mini" educational forums and training symposiums.

(3) We will be continuing to work with Union Biblica to bring construction assistance to their "for profit" (i.e. money generating - the monies that are received from the rental of the property go directly into the various ministries of the agency) Camp Kawai in the costal Community of Mala. We will work on a few re-building projects as a result of the devastating earthquakes of 2007.

(4) Finally, in keeping with the organizational mission of HBI - we will be working to build bridges between our North American volunteers and our in-country partners. Our goal is to create "relationships" for change that will allow people from various walks of life to partner their resources and share their talents.

Look for updates from our 2008 Team Peru Outreach posted to this Blog Spot throughout the month of June.

Thank you for your continued support.

Economic Growth in Peru

World Bank: Economic growth helped reduce poverty in Peru

From the ANDINA News Agency - The sustainable economic growth of Peru brought greater investments, more employment and better incomes, which contributed to diminish poverty, not only in the urban areas but also in the rural ones, reported today the World Bank.

The regional director of the World Bank for Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, Felipe Jaramillo, said this growth is linked to the bigger investments of the last two or three years, the good economic management, a better access to foreign markets and some of Peru’s government programs.

“What we see is that there is a virtuous circle in the Peruvian economy, because is growing and it has started to create work, each time of a better quality and for the whole Peru”, he said.

The international representative also stressed on the study called “Poverty in Peru 2007”- whose results represent the sustainable economic growth of Peru during the last years.

“We think these estimates should not impress anyone since Peru has achieved a high suitable growth during the last years”, he said.

(Please note: This news story originally appeared in the "Living in Peru" News Archive on May 27, 2008)

2008 Alto Cayma Medical Conference

The First Annual Alto Cayma Medical Conference and Training Symposium

In keeping with the organizational mission to provide opportunities and programmatic responses for in-country organizations and individuals, Health Bridges International, Inc. developed and produced the “First Annual Alto Cayma Medical Conference and Training Symposium” in April of 2008.

The training, facilitated through a dedicated group of volunteer healthcare professionals from the United States and Peru, was a two-day intensive learning experience with both didactic and hands-on instruction. Over 30 invited participants enrolled in the various workshops and didactic lectures – with the highlight of the event being the informal networking conversations and exchanges that developed during the program breaks. Overwhelmingly conference participants rated their attendance at the event as a great success.

The main purpose of the conference was to unite young Peruvian medical and healthcare professionals who are enthusiastic and passionate about working with underserved communities. With eleven concurrent workshops, facilitated by speakers with recognized expertise in their professional disciplines and fields, the conference included a broad range of topics as diverse as - “Nursing Skills Updates” and “Diagnostic Ultrasound for the Primary Care Provider.” The symposium brought together energetic young professionals and top presenters to create an environment for learning and sharing. Post conference surveys demonstrated a significant learning impact on the participants – with a majority of attendees rating their knowledge and skills of the subject matters presented at the conference as vastly improved after their participation in the training.

Equally important to the mission of HBI is the creation of sustainable improvements in people’s health – this was facilitated by the conference through the creation of a training and learning symposium for Peruvian health care providers. HBI is dedicated to supporting and mentoring the next generation of “change agents” in communities and countries of need, the “First Annual Alto Cayma Medical Conference and Training Symposium” helped to bridge in-country providers with North American volunteers to create collegial exchanges and opportunities for mentoring, professional development and knowledge and skills acquisition. Overwhelmingly – the conference was a great success.

Post Conference Survey Question:
After Attending Conference - how would you rate your knowledge and skills?

Participant’s Response:
“The speakers were very good. They removed many doubts and provided themes and ideas that I can apply to my patients.”

Number of Participants = 43

Number of Workshops = 11

Number of Invited Speakers = 12