Days 2, 3 and 4

Our week has just flown by. From the exhaustion of our first couple of days to the delight of working together as a team, this week has been a huge success.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were in the South – the communities of Chincha (a different school than Monday) and Canete. The drive to our school sites took us anywhere from 2 hours to ninety minutes. The bulk of the kids we have been seeing are undernourished, stunted in their growth, and have a mouth filled with cavities – but they are, by in large, pretty healthy.

The bulk of the kids are pretty healthy – that does not mean all of them are. Some of the children we have met through this week are living in extremely difficult situations. We have identified a few children who we suspect are in homes with significant abuse and trauma. Our team of social workers and our staff lawyer are already developing a plan to advocate for their needs and their safety.

Last night we met as a team to outline our plan for helping the “cases” identified over the week of outreach clinics. Over the next week, while the team heads to Arequipa – Alan, the Union Biblica schools worker, and Daniel, HBI’s staff lawyer, will be meeting with the teachers and the families of the children we have identified. Their goal will be to conduct a thorough assessment of the needs of the children and their families and then prepare a well-crafted plan of support and advocacy.

We have just starting our last day of clinic. In fact, as I type this message – our team is scrambling around seeing patients, helping with health education, and preparing medications. This has been an absolutely fantastic week that has been all the more special because of the phenomenal work of our volunteer Peruvian and American team members.

I will be writing more in the next couple of days. And, as always – thank you so much for all of your support.