Saturday, October 31, 2009

Team Peru - Kusi Outreach 2009

The Team Peru Kusi Outreach Trip was a great success. Our team just pulled into Lima and had our first hot showers in over a week. We had a marvelous week of clinics and a wonderful survey administration.

A full week without Internet and telephone connection means that we are all eager to check our e-mails and update our blogs; but for tonight sleep is calling my name. I will write a Blog Post on Sunday that gives more detail to our campaign and talks about the many great stories and lessons we all learned.


Friday, October 23, 2009

New Opportunities

Photo: The school kitchen

Photo: Site surrounding the school

Photo: "Restrooms" for 130 children and the school staff

Photo: Father Alex delivered boxes of nutrition bars for the children

Photo: Our new friends at the school

One of the "problems" with our work in Peru is that there is never enough time, money or resources to get everything done that we want to do. This is compounded by the fact that we are forever meeting new partners, being introduced to new potential projects, and getting stimulated by areas of great need.

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of visiting the Pueblo Jovenes of "Mariano Melgar." Mariano Melgar is a famous Peruvian poet and his namesake community is a sprawling peri-urban squatter community on the slopes of the Misti Mountain in Arequipa.

Nestled high in the sand hills above the Plaza de Armas of Arequipa is a small school. The school was started in part by the generous contributions of an Australian businessperson some ten years ago. The businessman was truly moved by the plight of the people living in the area and he decided to "sponsor" the program to the tune of some $1,000 (USD) per month. Well, with the collapse of the financial services industry in 2008-2009, he was forced to stop his donations. This was catastrophic to the school and the 130 students who rely on the instruction and two meals per day that the program provides.

Fast forward to early 2009 when another Australian, a lovely woman by the name of Susie, happens to find her way up to the squatter homes of Mariano Melgar. She too falls quickly in love with the community and feels compelled to do "something" to help. Unlike the original benefactor to the project, her pockets are not lined with gold. Rather, she decides that she will start with some independent fundraising back in Australia (she raised 18-months of operational expenses for the program) and begins the process of trying to identify a "partner" organization in Peru that can help her to keep the school open.

This is where HBI comes in. Ms. Susie happen to meet one of the Board of Directors for our Peruvian NGO partner Sirviendo Logrando Paz (SLP). The SLP Board member then went to Father Alex (Board Chair of SLP) and requested that he visit the school and speaks with Susie. After visiting the program, Father Alex too felt an overwhelming need to do something. Hence the reason that he, I, Evelyn (the SLP Board Member) and Ms. Susie all were visiting the school on Wednesday.

What we found in our short visit was very compelling. With little to no money, the 8 teachers on staff have developed a real model "private school" curriculum. They have instruction from pre-K all the way up to grade 6 (the end of primary education in Peru). The school provides two meals (breakfast and lunch) and a snack per day to the students - along with extra-curricular instruction in music, sports and language.

The facility where the school is housed is a wreck. There is a massive array of construction and the water source that provides for the needs of all the children and the on-site kitchen is anything but potable. The toilets have been temporarily moved to a street side location - without access to a grid waste disposal.

There are a number of really tangible ways that we can help with the on-going development and refinement of this school. We are currently working to create a strategy that is sustainable and involves our in-country partners. One “next step” that we have identified is to have our staff pediatrician (Dr. Bob Gehringer) and nurse (Karen Falkenstein) visit the program and develop a health record for all of the children.

Our goal with this partnership has not yet been fully defined or refined. That does not, however, mean that we are not anything but committed to help. Alas the real challenge is one that we continually face – how to utilize our resources to their greatest extent. This is an on-going level of learning for HBI – and one that I hope we never stop engaging.

Stay tuned to the BlogSpot for more updates on the work of HBI. Thank you.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Ancash: Working toward sustainability

Photo: My "home" office at the Lima airport awaiting a connection to Arequipa

Photo: 36-hours of sleep deprivation and counting; not good!

I have been in Peru for less than 18-hours and already I have had three meetings, worked remotely with the U.S. through the internet and gone to dinner with one of my favorite people in the whole world (Father Alex Busuttil). This is going to be a really busy trip.

Our team will be arriving in a couple of days. We are headed to the central highlands of Peru - an area known as the "Alps of Latin America." An area that is unmatched by the natural beauty that continually displays itself all around you. I am really excited to get back to Ancash - it has been a couple of years and I have been "longing" to reconnect with the people of the area and some of the early work we did in 2007.

For now though - there are three days between when the team arrives and tonight; and, there is an endless list of things to do. The HBI staff (Ben, Bob and Karen) will be arriving in Lima tonight and tomorrow. They will be joining me (I will be flying back to Lima tomorrow evening after a full day of meetings in Arequipa) and Daniel (our "go-to-guy" and barrister) for two days of slammed packed meetings, errands and frantic "get readies."

Once the team arrives we will be departing via a chartered bus for the 12-hour trip to the town of Yungay. Our first week of clinic and outreach will provide little to no access to the internet - so I hope to post a number of updates before we leave mid-day on Saturday.

The purpose of this trip is two-fold: To support Union Biblica in their on-going quest to develop a "brick and mortar" clinic at their Kusi Camp; we will be providing a small community clinic (pediatric, geriatric, general medicine, and dental) and survey those coming to the clinic about their experiences in gaining access to health and medical care in the area around the Union Biblica Kusi Camp.

In addition, we will be conducting a community assessment survey to 500 convenience sampled people from the various communities in the area to better understand their access to medical, dental and basic social assistance services. We will again be collaborating with the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and Dr. Kae Livsey on this very important research study.

For now - know that we will do our best to keep you informed about this Team Peru project; but our internet connectivity will be non-existent in Ancash. So I plan to load you with information in the next couple of days.

I better, however, get some sleep - as I have been up for almost 48-hours and I am really starting to feel the effects or cramped air travel and really bad airport food.

Thank you for all of your on-going support. Stay tuned to the Blog for updates on the Team Peru Ancash Adventure!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Alaska "Connect" Event

The HBI Alaska Connect Event - Mr. Steven Dougherty, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Dougherty and Dr. and Mrs. Maurice Coyle hosted a fantastic event in Anchorage, Alaska for HBI and our partner organization Sirviendo Logrando Paz on Tuesday, September 29.

The event was a smashing hit - with over 40 participants in attendance and a spread of Peruvian delicacies that would make even Gaston take notice. The event included a "meet and greet" cocktail reception (complete with Pisco Sours) and a showing of the HBI documentary "working toward change."

A very special thank you goes out to our hosts and the many people who attended this inagural Alaska HBI Connect Event.

HBI is looking to promote many more Connect Events across the country. Anyone interested in hosting a Connect Event should contact - info@HBInt.org