Collaboration

HBI is an organization that was started, partly, in reaction to the idea that the world needs more clinics or more short term outreach projects. We believe that building bridges of collaboration is the most effective mechanism to source sustainable health outcomes in the lives of people living in extreme poverty.

We are now starting the long term work of defining exactly what collaboration is (and means) and how it truly, objectively sources health outcomes. We are working on the development of a guiding "manual" (or reference tool) that can be used by individuals and communities to coordinate and stimulate collaboration.

If HBI is to have a meaningful contribution to the multitude of efforts that are moving forward to provide health and social service opportunities to people living in extreme poverty, we must build a clearly defined model that we believe in and ascribe to. The next steps for our work is to define that model.

Stay tuned to the HBI website (we will be launching our new site in the next couple of weeks) and this Blog for more details on our "Model of Collaboration."

Thank you for all of your ongoing support!

Bridging the Divide Run 2011

Photo: Keiko Fujimori endorses the project

The endorsements for our December "Bridging the Divide" run are rolling (or in this particular case . . . running) in.

A Caring Community

Photo: Looking out the window of our clinic

Photo: Patient registration with Bridgette

Photo: Dra. Tanya - she is the absolute BEST!

The HBI team is back in Lima and all is well. We are safe and have been completely unaffected by the 6.7 magnitude (the North American press is reporting the quake as 6.9 and the Peruvian press are reporting a 6.7) earthquake in Ica. Equally fortunate is the fact that the community of Ica has made it through the high impact quake with little destruction and damage.

This week has been a fantastic opportunity for our team. Staying at the Girasoles house has been an immersion for many of our team. For many of them, this has been their first chance to really immerse themselves into the lives of the street boys that we work with through our partnership with Union Biblica. For many of the people on the trip this immersion has made a huge impact in their lives.

The lives of these young boys have been filled with trauma and pain. The resilience they demonostrate in their smiles and laughs is a testimony to all of us. The other night I was in the main dining room with the team and noticed a little boy sitting at the end of the table by himself. I ask Billy Greenman (an absolutely amazing young man of gigantic character) about the boy. The story he told me was fillled with abuse, neglect and emotional trauma. The challenges the young boy had in his early development should have been too much for him to fully overcome; and yet, Billy told me the "new" story of a young boy who is recapturing his life.

The love and affection that Union Biblica del Peru puts into serving and supporting the boys in their care is an example to all of us. Duirng times of trial and tribulation in my life, I have to remember that all things are possible through the faith, hope and the support of a caring community. And so, this is my greatest lesson of the 2011 Kusi Outreach Trip.

Thank you to all of our supporters. Your help and generosity are a great blessing to our work.

Kusi - What a week!

This has been an amazing week. From the weather, the time we have spent with the boys, and the amazing clinic experiences - this has been a wonderful week of learning and growth for everyone. I think I can sum up our week in the words of one volunteer - "I love being here, I feel twenty years younger."

This week, in just under 5-days of clinic, we have served over 900 medical patients and 500 dental patients. We have helped our Peruvian partner, Union Biblica, to further clarify their "next steps" for medical and social outreach in the Yungay area. The next steps are to sit down with our partners and determine how the community of Yungay and the Mission and scope of their needs to best serve this area.

This has been a fantastic week - but it is only the begining of our work in this area.

Mosha - Day 1 and 2

Our outreach project in the Ancash area is going great. Working in collaboration with Union Biblica del Peru, we are going into poor communities high in the Andean Mountains around the city of Caraz to bring awareness and medical/dental services. The goal of this project is to support Union Biblica in their plan to develop more permanent clinical services in the Ancash area.

Yesterday and today we brought our team to the town of Mosha - about a 45-minute drive up a long dirt road high into the mountains. Over the course of a 9-hour clinic day we were able to bring medical and dental care to almost 400 people. To be certain, we saw 145 medical patients and 37 dental patients on Monday and 161 medical and 39 dental patients today.

Our staffing is predominately with Peruvian doctors, nurses and dentists. Our goal to to support the work of HBI and build bridges for the people living in the impoverished towns of the area.

Our work over the next three days will be at Union Biblica's Camp Kusi. There, we will be seeing people from around the area. People who have limited access to medical, dental and social services. The hope is that we will better understands the needs of the community and help to direct Union Biblica in their next steps for developing medical and dental services.

Please stay tuned for more updates and photos.

Day One in Kusi

We have gotten a lot done in the last 24-hours. We have traveled by bus for over 12 hours. Spent a full day preparing for clinic and even took the time to go to the Lake Llanganuco.

We start clinic bright and early tomorrow. We will be posting pictures and updates.

Thank you for all of your support -

The HBI Team

Pictures from Clinic in Carabayllo

Photo: The calm before the storm of the clinic.

Photo: Eric tirelessly writing prescription labels in Spanish.

Photo: A curious poster advertising a new "urban" development with a swimming pool. Lomas de Carabayllo is one of the poorest areas in all of Latin America. Very interesting . . .

First Few Days in Lima

Photo: Ms. Bridgette enjoying the sights and sounds of Lima as we take a break from rushing around to meetings.

Wow - this has been an exciting and very full first few days of the outreach project to Kusi. As our Peruvian project director is fond of saying, "all is possible in Peru."

Well, let me tell you . . . I think we have maxed it out. The bulk of the last few dyas have been around the promotion and "bridge building" for our Briding the Divide run in December. We have been really fortunate to meet with a number of really influential Peruvian "change agents."

On Thursday afternoon we video taped 5 very high ranking Peruvian national congress people for the "I am the Bridge" promotion. The five included the former President Alberto Fujimori's son, one of the most respected junior congress woman and the equivalent of the U.S. speaker of the house. We filmed them in the congress hall.

Last night, we met with Keiko Fujimori and filmed her for the "I am the Bridge" promotion. Need-less-to-say, Keiko is one of the biggest names in Peruvian politics. Her name recognition (for good or bad) is pretty much world wide. I think this could be a "viral" video hit on YouTube.

Additional video filming included one of the top surfers in the world, Peru's most notable modern painter, and Ms. Peru. This week we will have Daniel working on the Mayor of Lima and perhaps . . . fingers crossed, the President himself - Ollanta Humala. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday we had an amazing outreach clinic with Peruvian physicians, dentists and nurses in the community of Lomas de Carabayllo. You may remember this area from our previous work around the car battery issue (please see Valle Segrado). The clinic was very busy and a bit chaotic. It, however, was a great success. We ended up seeing over 100 people in around 4 hours. Most important for our work was the community forum that took place after the clinic. We are hoping that the collective interest on the part of the community leaders and representatives can help to source a long term solution for the needs of this desperately impoverished area.

Stay tuned to the HBI Blog for updates on our adventures in Yungay at the Union Biblica Camp Kusi.

Kusi, Here we Come

Photo: A view from our bungalow at the Union Biblica Camp Kusi in Ancash.

I am on a plane headed to San Francisco as I type this message. In the morning I will be back at the airport to board a flight to Peru. Our team, a great group of first time HBI volunteers and seasoned veterans, will be heading to the Province of Ancash on Saturday.

This is going to be a full week. We have a couple of days of prep, a day of media events for the Bridging the Divide run on Thursday, an outreach clinic in Carabayllo on Friday and an 18-hour bus ride to Ancash on Saturday. This is all before we actually begin the outreach trip! Oh, did I mention that the camp where we will be staying is located at over 3,600 meters above sea level. Wow - this is going to be some week.

The outreach to Ancash will begin on Sunday, October 22. We have a full week of mobile clinics (we will be going to very remote areas to provide services in one room school houses) and on-site clinics. We are again, partnering with our long-term collaborator Union Biblica del Peru to further advance their efforts to build a brick-and-mortar clinic at their Camp Kusi.

Our clinics will be staffed with a mix of Peruvian physicians, dentists and nurses - as well as a great team of North America physicians and nurses. We have twenty people on the team in total and expect to provide care this week to almost 800 people.

As our internet connection allows, we will be posting pictures and updates from Ancash. I am certain there will be a number of great storeis to share. Stay tuned.

People want change

For the longest time I have been hearing that services can't be provided to underserved communities for free. The rationale behind such statements - "people will take advantage of the services because they do not truly 'value' the services."

I have always felt this was a bit too narrow sided. It seemed to me that the poorest, most marginalized people - are the communities and populations that need the services the most. They also tend to have the least resources.

A new study by the Poverty Action Lab at MIT (also known as the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab or J-PAL) confirms my assumption - having people pay for services is not always the best approach. J-PAL's well crafted and fastidiously implemented research demonstrates that charging (even nominal fees) creates barriers for poor communities. And, barriers lead to a reduction in services utilization.

You have heard the argument, charge a small fee for the mosquito bed-netting and the mother will value the netting and use it to protect her children from malaria. Well - this J-PAL study ("The Price is Wrong") seems to confirm just the opposite. Providing free and easily accessible resources and services to extremely improvised communities is the most effective mechanism to serve the needs of the communities and the people.

The one caveat to this study - it does not purport to encompass every community or every service. The research is solid for the services they list - but probably needs to be expanded to include other services predominately distributed in global outreach.

Sound scientifically driven research - this is fantastic and has the potential for revolutionizing the way that the international aid community delivers services and resources. J-PAL is a fantastic resource and a much needed asset to all of our efforts.