Sourcing Hope

One of the boys we met with this last week in Yungay at the Casa Girasoles Kusi is a young man who I have known for years. I first met him at another one of the Union Biblica Girasoles homes called Kawai.

He is a delightful young man of 21, who is the strong and silent type. He rarely talks unless he is spoken to and has a quiet demeanor that hides a very complex life. For purposes of his confidentiality, I am going to call him Wilbur.

Wilbur lived at Casa Girasoles Kawai for years. In fact, in the almost 20-years that I have been traveling to Kawai I have a hard time ever remembering a time when Wilbur wasn't at the home. I have been told a bit about his background. I was once told that he came from a life that could only be described as hard. He has a little brother who is also at the Casa Girasoles home in Kusi. I know he is very protective of his little brother.

A worker once told me that Wilbur had been through so much in his life on the streets partly because he worked so hard to protect his younger brother. Protect him from prostitution, stealing, fighting and any other manner of survival that living on the streets requires. I have also know Wilbur to be very quiet about his past. I totally understand why.

A few years back Wilbur and a friend of his were crossing the busy Pan-American Highway that runs just outside of the front gates to the Casa Girasoles Kawai. The Pan-American highway is a strange series of constantly expanding and contracting roadways of two to four lanes. There is a steady stream of trucks, buses and private vehicles - all traveling at very high speeds.  It can be very hard to distinguish the "layers" of traffic on the road - as cars will often travel in slipstreams to save fuel. Well, on this day Wilbur and his friend watched a bus traveling a high speeds from a distance and judged the exact time they would need to race past the vehicle to the center island of the highway. Unbeknownst to them, next to this bus - under cover of the inside lane and in the shadow of the large bus - was a truck. Wilbur's friend ran out first. He was instantly struck by the speeding truck. Wilbur's "two-steps-behind" pace provided just enough distance to prevent him from meeting the same fate.

I am certain the scene of the accident was one of pure horror. I have been told by a Union Biblica staff person that it was like a "war scene." Wilbur, being the courageous boy that he was (and is) cradled his friend while a bystander ran for help. Wilbur later told a staff person that he held his friend as he died. He said he looked into his eyes as he passed away.

The pain and anguish of holding a dear friend as they die would be nearly impossible for anyone to process and deal with. It is that much harder for a young man who has known nothing but pain in his short life.  Shortly after the accident, Wilbur asked to be sent to the Casa Girasoles Kusi home in Yungay. He wanted to start over and find a new life.

This week when we were at the Girasoles home in Yungay, Wilbur told a Union Biblica staff person that he has been unable to "think clearly" since the death of his friend. He also confided that he continues to feel "pain deep in his head." 

I think that some of our work in the trips we take to the Casa Girasoles homes is about our work to support the infrastructure and program development for Union Biblica. And, I think a lot of our work is about being present to the suffering of boys like Wilbur. Certainly, I can never take away the pain and the horrible suffering that Wilbur has been through in his life . . . though I sure wish I could. I guess the one thing I can do is hold a place for Wilbur's healing. I can be present to his pain and I can not forget his story.

Tonight as I speed through sky in a plane bound for Portland and home to my two wonderful ladies - I will hold Wilbur deeply in my thoughts and prayers. Through my constant allegiance to his story, I feel I can show him the respect and love that he so surely deserves. And, most of all I can work to shape a world where young boys like Wilbur never end up on the streets in the first place.

Back in the USA

I am back Stateside and jumping right back into a full load of activities.

My goodness – it is amazing, that it has only been a few hours since I was on the streets of Lima and here I am in the ultra modern Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. It feels so close and yet so very far.

We met with Dr. Townsend Cooper from the Anglican Church on Sunday afternoon to further refine and define our steps for the Special Needs Children Program (see prospectus document above). We have a huge undertaking before us. We are hoping to develop a model care delivery and advocacy program for medically fragile children and we have a ton-oh-work before we can fully start the project. We are also working to establish a research component of our project. The ultimate goal is to create a sustainable and reproducible model that can be translated to a number of different environments to holistically manage the complex needs of medically fragile children and their families.

We plan to start with the first phase of our project. The remaining phases of the project will unfold over the course of 2013. We are really excited for this work and feel confident that it will represent a model way for the Peruvian Government to address the complicated and complex needs of medically fragile children in resource constrained environments. Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks.

Ica the End of the Campaign

 Photo: The plaque at the Casa Girasoles in Ica.

 Photo: Our home away from home in the desert.

 Photo: Pepe - the team mascot. Boy did Pepe and I bond . . . 

 Photo: Team breakfast before our departure.

Photo: Our bus ride back to Lima.

Once again, off we go. This time we are on our way back to Lima. Our two days in Ica at the Casa Girasoles have been very fruitful. Yesterday was spent seeing all of the boys at the house and helping to develop a record keeping system for the health and social care needs.

Our clinic started around 9 a.m. and ended just after 7 p.m. Needless-to-say, it was a long day. The challenge for our project is the fact that there is a strong needs to document a “holistic” history and evaluation on each boy – as mandated by a Government law established in 2010. The exact requirements of the new law (although the law was established in 2010, it was not operationalized and required until this year) are still being sorted out. We figure it will take a couple of years for the Peruvian Government to fully require compliance with the details of the mandate. For now, we are hoping to develop a model that can be rolled out to all of the Casa Girasoles.

At present, we have completed a trial of our record keeping and evaluation project at three houses; and, we have run into challenges at each location. We have also established some amazing relationships with the boys in the Girasoles houses and the staff working at each location.

One little boy I had the pleasure of serving yesterday was a short stature 8-year old by the name of Sanchez. He has a deep, raspy voice that seems more appropriately vocalized from the body of a person five decades his senior. He is absolutely adorable – constantly in motion and forever questioning everything. Sanchez has lived at the Girasoels house in Ica for 4-years. He comes from a very economically impoverished background. At one point when we were seeing him he mentioned that he had a hard time hearing. A quick otoscopic exam definitely diagnosed the etiology of his decreased hearing. He had more sand in his years than may be physically possible.

Karen helped to lavage his ears with a special large gauge syringe infused with warm water and hydrogen peroxide. He was not that happy with our procedure. In fact, it took more than a few folks to coax him through the procedure. Later last night at dinner Sanchez was sitting a few chairs away from me. I asked him if he left better. He looked at me with a puzzled appearance, not quite understand the intent of my inquiry. I rephrased my question and asked him if he could hear well. He responded with one word – “bastante” (lots)!

I love the work we are doing. I love the fact that the goal of our work is to connect the pieces together to create a bigger whole. Collaboration is built through relationships and trust. Each day we strive to create deeper relationships and establish more trust through the merits of our work and the compassion of our service.

Ica - Casa Girasoles

Today was a transfer day. We left Lima this morning and boarded another bus – this time heading south along the Pan American highway for 6+ hours. Our destination – the city of Ica.

Ica is a coastal community just North of the driest desert in the world. Ica is best know for a massive earthquake that decimated parts of the community in 2007. HBI has worked with our Peruvian partner Union Biblica in this area for a few years now. The city is just now recovering from the devastating effects of the earthquake.

We will be working here for two days. Once again, seeing all the boys at the Casa Girasoles is our main priority. Our goal for this project and campaign continues to be documenting the needs of the children and helping to develop a formal medical and social record keeping system. We are so fortunate to be working with Union Biblica and their fantastic team (Billy and Kate are two of the best people anyone could ever wish to meet and have the pleasure of working with).

Tonight at dinner one of the house parents was telling me that our dental team was going to be very busy. Thank goodness we have two dentists and the amazing energy and extreme talents of our team (Karen, HBI’s Director of Nursing – does the work of three people). Mike Dotten has been a real trooper acting as the dentists assistant. His poor back has got to be killing me – but Mike is never one to complain!

On our trip to Ica we took a slight divergence and visited one of Peru’s most famous winery. It was a fun filled visit to a former convent turned winery. We really enjoyed getting to see a window into the past of this ancient colonial city.

Lunch on the Continetal Divide

Today was a bit of sightseeing and planning for our project that begins tomorrow.

We drove up to Lago Llanganuco and then kept driving all the way to 16,800 feet above sea level where we took pictures, played with a snowball and then had a wonderful lunch overlooking the dividing line of the watershed to the east and west. It was amazing to look out from the continental divide at the seemingly never ending expanse of the Andes Mountains.

Tomorrow starts bright and early and we will have a full day of activities. Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for all of your support!

Kusi 2012

After an almost 10-hour bus ride and a 2-hour taxi ride, we made it to Kusi late last night. It is so great to be back here. The sheer splendor and beauty of the area (along with the 11,000 feet) take your breath away.

Today is a planning and sight-seeing day. We are headed to Lake Llanganuco and then on a small hike to the Campo Santo in the old city of Yungay. We also have a bit of planning and preparation before we start a clinic for the boys of the Casa Girasoles. The focus of this trip is to continue the work we have been doing for Union Biblica del Peru.

The work we are doing in Kusi over the next three days is a part of a program we are calling  Ayuda Girasoles Project. We will be working in collaboration with Union Biblica del Peru, helping to develop a monitoring and record keeping system for children living-in group homes around Peru. HBI will work Union Biblica to develop a system for collecting health and psychosocial data on children living in the Girasoles homes in accordance to the requirements (resolution number 080-2012-MIMP) of the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA).

The project will be administered in three phases and include continuous collaboration with the Union Biblica administration and staff to assure the accuracy and relevance of data collection.  The goal of the project is to help with routine data collection as mandated by the Peruvian Government for children under the care and protection of Union Biblica and to identify youth who are at greater risk for health and social complications as they age out of services eligibility with Union Biblica and move toward emancipation.

We leave Kusi on Tuesday night and take an overnight bus back to Lima. Wednesday is a full day of meetings and preparations for the next phase of this project – which is departing for another Union Biblica Girasoles home on Thursday morning. We will be in the desert town of Ica from Thursday to Saturday collecting the same data on the boys living in this home.

In addition to the data collection and evaluation work we are doing for the Ayuda Girasoles Project, we also have two Peruvian dentists, a Peruvian nurse, and a Peruvian physician with our team. We will be providing medical and dental care to the boys during our visits to the homes.

All and all, this promises to be a very full week. We will be posting pictures and providing updates when the Internet will allow. A big thank you for all of your ongoing support.