Imagine a city the size of Los Angeles that is constantly under construction. Okay wait, that is Los Angeles. Really, imagine that this city is in a developing country. A country that was, at one point, one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Well – that city is Lima.
I was back in my favorite city for less than 24-hours and the amount of change since my last trip (just 6 short weeks ago) startled me. Everywhere I looked things were under construction. From sidewalks to new boutique apartments, change was truly afoot.
One afternoon I went for a run to one of my favorite little parks (Ben will know this area fondly, “los Olivos”). This is one area of Lima where time stands still. Here is where you can go for a late afternoon run and see the old money of Lima out walking with their personal nurses, their dog walkers, their nannies – all in a continuous processional down a strip of side walk that runs right down the middle of an old olive grove. Los Olivos is an area where the magnitude of this constant change in Lima can be least understood and most understood.
The old money of Lima is a very private group. They are very wealthy. Their lives are split between the very privileged world of Lima (for the wealthy) and Europe, California and other large Latin America mega-cities. They have a great deal of privilege that comes from their financial clout. They are very removed from the change that is happening in the poorer sections of Lima.
In some of the poorest sections of Lima – San Juan de Miraflores, Via Espranza, and Carabayllo – life has been changing in the last couple of years, but not necessarily for the better. In fact, in a lot of areas around Lima-the poor appear to be getting poorer. The gap is widening to the point that it is getting hard to see anyway that we can close it.
There are, however, people who are working ever day to close the gap. When I was in Lima last week I met with Reverend Pat Blanchard. We met to talk about the Anglican Church’s work in some of the very poorest communities of Lima; areas where basic needs are still going greatly unmet. She told me of her fantastic project, the Shalom Center, and the work they are doing to get more assistance and advocacy for children suffering with disabilities. She is doing amazing work with only a shoestring budget. Yet, she told me of several areas in the massive city of Lima where there exists a real need for more programs like hers – but there is no money to start (or better, sustain) the programs.
One way that HBI is working to ensure programs like Reverend Pat’s are sustainable is through our continuing education trainings and conferences. We recently helped to conduct a conference in the Northern Peru city of Piura. Along with our Peruvian partners, Vida Peru and Tierra y Ser, we held one and a half days of instruction in “Diabetes Care and Management” for physicians and nurses working in the communities of Piura. We had over 350 participants in our nearly two days of training. Our speakers, a collection of U.S. professionals and Peruvian colleagues, were fantastic.
Our work is built on the premise that bridges of collaboration and support are the central tool to help ensure that sustainable models for change are available to all communities and people. The conference helped to bridge the gap in knowledge between research and practice. The outcome of the conference was a community committed to learning and growing together. HBI looks to make a difference through innovative approaches. The Piura Conference is one of these approaches.
Thank you for your continued support of HBI and our work to serve the people of Peru. PLEASE consider joining us for one of our Team Peru trips. To learn more about our Team Peru trips - please see: Outreach and Trips
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