Alto Cayma - Our final day of activities

Today is our last full day of project activities. Dr. Bob has taken the team up to the Mission to get started on their morning activities (e.g. clinic, home visits, painting, food preparation and delivery and daycare). Ben and I are running around completing a few errands in the city. This afternoon we will be meeting with one of our partner NGOs in Arequipa and touring their new pediatric hospital.

Paz Holendasa is the brainchild of a nurse from Holland who came to Peru some 15-years ago and saw a great need for maxio-facial procedures for cleft palates. Working with her partners in the European Union, she pulled together a number of wonderful projects over the years. Culminating in the successful development and completion of a multi-specialty care pediatric hospital in Arequipa. It is an amazing facility with state of the art operative theaters and patient encounter areas. Most of all it is a gift to the people of Peru. A clinic and hospital where the highest quality healthcare services can be delivered to the poorest of the poor for minimal to no money.

We are taking the team to tour the Paz Holendasa facility to show them how much one person can accomplish with a focused dream and an unending passion. I will post pictures from our adventure this afternoon.

Through the Eyes of Child

Photo: The lovely children of the Alto Cayma Daycare

When Father Alex first came to Alto Cayma he was alarmed by the number of children that died from very preventable accidents. Children were being left in small 3-meter by 3-meter homes while their parents spent the entire day away in the city looking for work. Many times the children would, looking for water or something to drink, get into a noxious substance. Father said he found himself burying child after child and knew he had to find a solution.

The solution was to build a daycare center. Quickly his program grew - from a small room in a small house to a four room school with a playground, kitchen and complete bathroom (with stalls for bathing the children everyday). Today the daycare is a full fledged preschool, certified by the Peruvian Ministry of Education. There are five certified and fully credentialed teachers, daycare services from 7 am until 7 pm (to match the long work hours of the people living in Alto Cayma) and weekly medical and dental examinations. The school has over 100 children enrolled.

This morning I was very preoccupied with the amount of work I have on my "plate." I knew I needed to get on-line and un-burry myself from my hundreds of emails. Equally, my "To Do" list seems to be multiplying before my eyes. As luck would have it, the power was off at the Mission compound and I could not get on-line. As such, I decided to follow Ben (HBI's Director of Operations) as he did a bit of filming for a small documentary we are developing for Father Alex.

The minute we got into the daycare we were surrounded by children screaming "visitante," which means visitor in English. They swarmed us and enveloped us with hugs and kisses. For about 30-minutes we had a constant succession of kids coming up asking for hugs or wanting to hold our hands. I quickly began to realize that all of my preoccupation to work and my "To Do" list meant nothing when I looked into the eyes of these lovely children.

I began to realize how important it is for me to be fully present to the life of our little girl and how much impact that "presence" will have on her life. I realized once again that my greatest gift is not my ability to churn out email after email . . . but commitment to be a loving, compassionate person.

A Mellow Day with a Sobering Story

Photo: A quick nap in the mid-day sun for a hard working team

Today was a mellow day for our team. We had volunteers working in the clinic, a few team members helping to paint the main community kitchen, we sent a team on home visits with Maria the Social Worker and helped in the community kitchen to prepare meals for delivery to the poorest members of the Alto Cayma Community.

People were busy, but no where near the frenetic pace of week one. In fact, some of our team members even stole some time for a late afternoon nap.

Tonight at dinner, the team members who went out with Maria on home visits told a sobering story for all of us to hear. While walking back to the volunteer house from a home visit, the team was suddenly scurried off the road by a racing truck. Maria told them that the truck was the Peruvian National Police who were going to a home to remove a 4-year old girl from the care of her parents because it had been reported that she was being severely beaten. They went on to tell us that Maria described a harrowing rate of spousal violence in the area. A violence rate that was only slightly ahead of the violence faced by children in their homes.

Maria told them that many people are reticent to report the violence they experience in their homes because of the fear they have for corrupt police. Maria told the team that the greatest advocates the community have is the Church. Stating that Father Alex is often called to the homes of people experiencing severe violence because he is the only person they fully trust. She told them that many people have no one else in their lives they can turn to for support.

Tonight, as I sit in the lobby of our hotel - I am haunted by the thought of young lives under such pain and trauma. I am thankful for the strength that Father Alex brings to his work everyday. And most of all, I am hopeful that we can continue to work together to end the suffering of people living in such abject circumstances.

Peace Corps Peru

Photo: Peace Corps volunteers leading a "networking" breakfast.

This morning Ben and I went to a meeting convened by the Peace Corps volunteers in the Arequipa area. This is a once per month meeting that brings together the Peace Corps representatives from around the Province of Arequipa to discuss their programs and projects. The meeting also includes other NGOs and volunteer organizations working in the Province.

The goal of the meeting was simple: creating connections and opportunities for organizations to collaborate. This is a great opportunity for HBI to meet new organizations doing health related work in Arequipa and the Colca Valley. In fact, we are going to a event on Saturday with a small NGO working with street youth in one of the pueblos jovenes of the city.

Networking, bridge building, collaborating - this is what HBI is all about. We fully recognize that we are most powerful through our common and combined efforts.

"You came here"

Photo: A standing clinic

Photo: Ben's new friend

Photo: Girasoles at dusk

Our last clinic day in Ica was an amazing experience for everyone. Our team collectively decided that we needed to shift our clinic to the desperately impoverished area of Girasoles. This decision was one that would come back to serve us well.

HBI's Director of Operations is charged with the unforgiving job of saying no to the many extra people who show up for the clinics. Sometimes this task is made easy by the fact that our team can fit in a few extra patients or the fact that we are serving in a smaller community; but most of the time, his job is really difficult.

During clinic on Wednesday, Ben politely told a woman that we would be unable to see her and that she should come back the next day. She told Ben that her job made it impossible for her to get to the outreach clinic at 4 or 5 a.m. (as many of the people had to see us) and that she would only be able to get to see us after 6 p.m. He again, politely apologized and explained that all of our equipment and supplies had been packed up and we could just not see her. This is really hard on Ben.

On Thursday, in the sand and dust of the desperately impoverished area of Girasoles, Ben felt a tug on his shirt and turned to see his friend from the day before. He explained that she had a smile on her face from ear-to-ear and said to him with great glee, "you came here, you really came here to see us."

We saw her that night in the cold of the desert moonlight - and it was a great day indeed.

Day One in Arequipa

Photo: My "office" in Arequipa the first day

After a full day in Lima - sightseeing, visiting the Indian Market and touring our partner NGOs (OPRECE) facilities - we finally arrived in Arequipa late on Saturday night.

Sunday was a planned day of rest. Our team had the option of sightseeing in the beautiful "White City" or simply resting in their rooms. I, on the other hand, was forced into rest with a 24-hour illness that has kept me in bed until Monday morning. Alas, it is better to be sick on the rest day, than to be incapacitated during the activities portion of the team's week in Arequipa.

Today, we head up to the Mission of Alto Cayma. This morning will be an orientation and a time to discuss the difference between week one and week two of the Team Peru trip. In addition, we will be putting the team to work this afternoon with a variety of activities - from painting at the volunteer house to working in the Mission's "brick and mortar" health clinic.

This is going to be a great week. Stay tuned for updates.

On to Arequipa

Photo: The HBI Team's reception with the Mayor of Tinguina.

What a great day. We just finished our last day in Lima. A tour of the city, a visit to the Indian Market and a great afternoon team lunch.

This has been one long week. Our days have been non-stop from 6:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. The pace of the week has worn everyone out. We will be in for a whole new experience next week, when Father Alex challenges our team to focus on "being" and not just "doing."

At this point we have had team members head off to Cusco for tourism, back to the U.S. for re-integration, and down to Arequipa for continued outreach efforts. The time together has been fruitful and filled with learnings. Our goal is that all of the new HBI family members can take their new experiences back with them wherever they are.

Stay tuned to the HBI Blog for updates throughout this week. A special thanks to everyone for the support of HBI and the people of Peru.