Wow! I mean – W-O-W!!!

We are so incredibly honored by the tremendous generosity and support we received at our A Bridge to Change fundraiser event held at Andina Restaurant on Tuesday, September 19th. We filled the room with a completely sold-out crowd. The four-course wine paired meal was a huge hit – as always – and was highlighted by having Sra. Doris and Sr. John (owners of Andina) in attendance.

Thanks to the outpouring of support, we raised almost $83,000 for our work. This is a HUGE blessing and something we will be ever attentive stewards toward utilizing the investment we received.

Thank you to all the amazing supporters of Health Bridges who make our event a giant success!

 

It has been a few weeks since my last post. There is no one reason for my lapse in communication – other than the demands of a full life.

Several things have happened over the past couple of months. HBI has officially taken over the legal responsibilities for the Casa Girasoles. In addition, all the Casa Girasoles Urubamba and Ica staff transferred to employment with HBI-Perú. Finally, we are under-contract to purchase the Casa Girasoles Urubamba property and home. We only have one payment remaining, and the property is HBI’s. We are under the same due diligence for the property in Ica. Whew. That’s a lot.

Yes, that is a lot. It is not, however, a full update on all that’s going on. The most significant change is not anything but a thousand little things. Let me explain.

The city of Lima – comprised of 43 districts or communities – recently shifted from the older sepia-tone streetlights of a bygone era to LED energy-efficient streetlights. The city of Los Angeles made a similar shift back in 2016. It is a bitter-sweet change – as the sepia-tone light of the old streetlights creates a very nostalgic feeling. Alas, progress.

One problem is that transitioning from old to new technology is more than a replacement phenomenon. The growth requires a massive infrastructure shift. This shift is not going smoothly. The new LED street lights are prone to glitching and, in some neighborhoods (ours included), essentially strobe all night. So much for more recent technology.

The change that the city of Lima is going through with its switch to newer technology is the same transition HBI is undergoing. Okay, maybe not the same per se – but there are some parallels.

We are shifting from an organization predominately led by a North American team to an organization with Peruvian leadership at every level. The growth is exciting; however, we are on the cusp of a transition that brings several challenges as we build our new infrastructure. Our focus right now is to make sure we are transitioning slowly and cautiously. This means focusing on the culture of our organization and making certain everyone has the resources they need to successfully transition.

This is an exciting time for HBI. It is a time of change – and a period that will truly light the way for a brighter future for our work.

Oh, by the way – we are having a fundraiser event on September 19th at Portland’s famous Andina Restaurant. This is our return to Andina after a three-year hiatus. We would love for you to join us. You can get tickets at: A Bridge to Change 2023

I have a plastic box of screws, bolts, fasteners, and odds-and-ends I have collected for years. I pull out the box and rummage for a match whenever I have a missing bolt.

I add to the collection whenever I find an aberrant item. It is a collection of treasured finds, incorrect purchases, and failed projects. I love the box. The articles are a reassurance that I have a backup plan. Sometimes I am lucky and find what I need. Other times I merely confirm a suspicion and need to head to the local hardware store.

This past weekend we had our first A Bridge to Change event in Hartford, Connecticut. We sold 63 tickets and had almost 50 attendees. We also raised close to $30,000 to support the Casa Girasoles Program. It was a great success.

In addition to the financial support, the event connected HBI to a whole new group of stakeholders. We built bridges with people who had just learned about our work. We also were blessed to have the support of a large group of ex-pat Peruvians from the area, including the Consular General from the Peruvian Consulate to the United States.

The event was like my box of screws and bolts – it added to our resources and expanded our bridges. This work – transforming the lives of children who have lived through tremendous trauma – takes a team of people. No person has all the knowledge and skills needed to be “everything to everyone,” so we have a group of supporters and stakeholders.

This past weekend we built more support for our movement. Together, we can continue to work toward a world where every child has access to health, hope, home, and purpose.

How is it already May?! This year feels like it is flying past at breakneck speed. We did, however, want to give you an update on our work.

We are in full swing with Phase II of the Center of Excellence training and research project with child welfare programs in Perú. In collaboration with our partners – the Peruvian NGO Paths of Hope and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, USA), and Universidad Catolica Santa Maria (Arequipa, Perú) – we have expanded our project to include a new pilot testing site for the Center of Excellence curriculum. We are also refining the tools we developed under Phase I of the study in the two Casa Girasoles homes.

What is the Center of Excellence project? Great question. The CoE is a 5-years research and training project to understand better how to train staff and service providers in Perú working with children living outside of parental care. That includes children living in orphanages, state-run homes, foster care, and institutional care settings. Rather than re-developing a training curriculum or re-formulating an evidence-based practice, the CoE seeks to help programs create “cultures of excellence” to support staff and child development and empowerment. The CoE is a model for making lasting connections and awareness – among the providers working in child welfare and the youth receiving services. The data from our Phase I research is under review – but so far shows some powerful connections between provider awareness and mindfulness and the creation of “cultures of excellence. We feel confident the Center of Excellence model will become the standard for supporting child welfare care systems and children living outside of parental care throughout Latin America.

We’re also excited to share the progress made by the Newborn Resuscitation Training Program (NRTP) team in Perú. Under the direction of Dr. Bob Gehringer, HBI Medical Director, the NRTP team is advancing training for healthcare professionals nationwide.Dr. Bob and Dra. Mary Boyer has been working closely with our partners, the Peruvian College of Midwives and the Peruvian College of Nurses, to establish training teams and implement the program. Over the course of 3-weeks, Dr. Bob and Dra. Mary visited  5 cities, 12 organizations, provided the equivalent of 32 workshops for 496 participants including 36 new nurse trainers.  They are making tentative plans for returning to conduct trainings for a few days in Cajamarca where the regional College of Midwives wants a training for 10-12 new trainers, one for each provincia.  They will also train more nurse trainers in Lima at the College of Nurses, followed by 10-12 days of separate visits to several new regional colleges of nursing programs of the National College of Nursings choosing.

Through their efforts, Peru’s healthcare professionals receive the training they need to provide life-saving care to newborns.We’re proud to support the NRTP and the vital work to improve healthcare outcomes for mothers and infants in Perú. With continued effort and dedication, we’re confident that the program will continue to make a significant impact in the years to come.

Thew new clinic – our Center of Excellence in Community Healthcare – has finally opened in Alto Cayma. Father Alex Busuttil and the Missionary Society of St. Paul have worked tirelessly over the past 18-months to build a state-of-the-art community health center. Check out this video for an update: https://youtu.be/Rh6ysVxOMpk

We resigned our historic Memorandum of Agreement with Catholic University (Universidad Catolica Santa Maria) in Arequipa. Our agreements are a first of there kind, in that the MOA includes collaboration with all faculty at the university and offers a platform for research, cultural and professional exchange, and inter-professional development. We are super proud of of our partnership with UCSM and look forward to doing a lot of really wonderful things together over the coming years.

Our final update is on the boys and staff of the Casa Girasoles homes. The past three years have been rough is a terrible understatement. With COVID and the social and political unrest, Perú has been through a lot. This “double pandemic” impacted the boys and staff of our homes. However, things are finally moving back to normal. Thanks to the generous and ongoing support of BicycleAttorney.com and the team – we have a fleet of new bikes for the boys. They love the freedom and connection of getting out and about on their new bikes. We have some new staff, and they are all integrating wonderfully. Dr. Roberto Tarazona has been promoted to the role of the Director of the Comunidad Girasoles program and is now responsible for helping to ensure all aspects of our work with the boys are at the highest level. The Communidad Girasoles includes the work of our mentorship and youth development program. Under the leadership of Lic. Mg. Billy Greenman from Paths of Hope and Lic. Jocabeth Oscátegui Pérez, HBI, now has a scholarship and technical training program for young men who have aged out of the Casa Girasoles. The program includes helping connect young men with screened and vetted mentors and supporting former Girasoles as they transition to independent living. This is a considerable addition to our work and is already making a difference in the lives of many of the Girasol.

Needless to say, we’ve been busy. Please feel free to send us a message or call – we love hearing from you – the HBI family of supporters. Thank you for all your ongoing dedication to HBI and the people of Perú.

Greetings from Lima. I arrived to the sticky humid air of early Autumn in the city this morning.

We’ve been getting many requests for updates on the “happenings” in Perú. As such, here is a blog update on the happenings as we see them.

Undoubtedly you have heard the story about the frog in boiling water. The slower the temperature rises, the more the frog has lured into a sense that everything is normal—unfortunately, this false sense of security leads to the frog’s demise.

Perú is in a strange political space. Outside of a couple of focal areas in the country’s southern portion, the protests that paralyzed the country in early 2023 have stopped. The demonstrations that shocked the international community and nearly shut down the country’s economy have quelled. Many Peruvians are just tired of the frustrations of the roadblocks and supply chain disruptions.

What does this mean for the average Peruvian? Well, since there is no such thing as an average Peruvian – it means something different for everyone. However, one thing seems clear – politics, as usual, will reign. The social unrest that led to mass protests with the mandate for early elections and constitutional reform seems to have disappeared. The current administrator of President Dina Boluarte appears to be headed toward a full term – with elections not happening until 2026.

With such a polarizing political system, President Boluarte will likely have little to no beneficial impact over the next three years. The proverbial tea leaf readers of Peruvian politics anticipate little to no action on the part of the current administration; and, unfortunately, this means all of the challenges that impacted the country over the pandemic and the protracted recovery of the economy due to the political and social unrest will weigh heavily on the backs of underserved Peruvians – an estimated 60+% of the population!

This political stasis means the crippling inflation and escalating social disparity seems likely to continue . . . if not escalate. Whatever lens one chooses to look at the situation, one thing is clear: life for the underserved, undereducated, marginalized citizens of Perú – the temperature is rising and getting dangerous. The frog is boiling and does not even know it, or it is fully aware of its fate – but has no other option than to simmer in the boiling waters of its current situation.

Look, I am not implying the people of Perú are pre-destined for continued political and social strife. I certainly hope not. I am, however, saying that the situation – political distrust, social discontent, economic polarization – is becoming normalized . . . and this normalization will not be to the betterment of people living in the experience of economic poverty of social exclusion.

So, what’s next? That is hard to say. Prices for basic foodstuffs and daily staples continue to rise. Wages remain stagnant. The enormous percentage of the Peruvian workforce locked into informal employment is not abating. The water is slowly boiling.

All of this brings me to a solution. Let’s figure out a way to get the frog out of the boiling pot, and if that’s not possible, let’s find a way to turn down the heat. In practical terms, for HBI, this means working to fully prepare the families, youth, and young adults we work with to have the skills they need to navigate the complex world around them. It means continuing in our work to create models that can be used in various contexts to help people gain access to the futures they deserve. And it means continually focusing on the current and pressing, as well as the future and uncertain. For us, it means staying the course.