We mark our work in years and decades. This is a slow and steady approach to our work. It means that a lot of what we do can’t be measured in a single outcome. Instead, measuring the impact of our work requires a more integrated approach.
There are, however, those times when we can see some degree of immediate results. A few years back, we planted trees at the Casa Girasoles Kusi, outside of the community of Yungay in the central highlands of the province of Huaraz. With the help of a volunteer agronomist, we selected plants and trees that fit a high-altitude environment’s challenges. Over three days, we planted a bunch. Then we left. I always wondered what happened to the plants in the back of my mind, but things got busy, and I did not hear back from anyone. That was until a few days ago.
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For JD
/0 Comments/in Blog, COVID-19 /by Wayne CentroneIt is no secret, especially for those that know me – I love professional bike racing. I watch races from Europe a few times per week. It’s a passion.
Recently, however, I’m finding it harder and harder to watch the events. Races in France, Italy, Belgium, Spain – the crowds are a fraction of their pre-COVID numbers, but the fans showing up roadside – far too many aren’t wearing masks. It causes me great distress. I think about all the people who are impacted by what seems like a very personal decision. I think about Juan Diego.
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No Turning Back
/0 Comments/in Blog, COVID-19 /by Wayne CentroneGloria Steinem
I had to mail a couple of packages the other day. It had been months since I was inside the postal annex store in our neighborhood. The owner, a dynamic, friendly person who knows every customer’s name, asked me how I was doing.
In what seems like a custom of our pandemic-era, we talked about the changes that are occurring and the ways we are, or are not, coping. We spoke about Health Bridges and our work and the pandemic’s impact in Latin America and SS Africa. At one point, the conversation – a short exchange – turned to the topic of the day, what will be the new normal?I’ve had this conversation a lot lately. I’ve had it with my family, friends, co-workers, and acquittances. The one thing that seems to come up in all of the discussions is a desire not to go back to the way things were. Over and over again, I have heard people say some version of – let’s not lose the pandemic lessons in our rush to retrieve some semblance of normal.
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Hope
/0 Comments/in Blog /by Wayne CentroneHere in North America, there is an ever so slight whisper of spring. Although we just survived an artic blast rarely seen, the promise of spring is apparent. It gives me hope.
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Processes in Parallel
/0 Comments/in Blog /by Wayne CentroneBoys at the Casa Girasoles playing and having fun.
Thank goodness for a 10 acre property.Official figures report more than 7,000 deaths in Perú during the last week. Conventional belief is there are many more deaths undercounted. For all intent and purposes, systems are beginning to fail: Oxygen is challenging to find and expensive, hospitals are at capacity, and people are overwhelmed.
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COVID response in Perú
/0 Comments/in Blog, COVID-19 /by Wayne CentroneWe have never done a Go Fund Me project before. Heck, we’ve never been through a global pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic challenges in Perú are decimating the healthcare system in the country. We feel a compelling need to respond. We’re working with our medical and healthcare professional colleagues in Lima on a pilot project.
Check out our Go Fund Me project and learn more about our plans at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/per-oxygen-concentrator-response-project
As always, thank you for all your ongoing support.
Building Bridges
/0 Comments/in Blog, COVID-19 /by Wayne CentroneI bet there are a lot of us who are closely tracking the COVID cases in Latin America. The reports coming out of Manaus (a city of over 2 million people in northwestern Brazil) are incomprehensible and altogether a clarion call to the rest of Latin America and the world. This backdrop makes what happen over the past two weeks even more otherworldly.
About two weeks ago, I received a call from a physician who has been a Health Bridges partner for several years. He called to ask if I knew how to get health equipment (PPE, oxygen, etc.) into Brazil. He was calling on behalf of his daughter, an academic anthropologist who runs a venerable climate and forest NGO (GCF Task Force) funded in part by Norway and which partners with the UN. Read more
Connections
/0 Comments/in Blog, COVID-19 /by AdminToday, January 31, Perú re-enters a period of quarantine and inmovilizaciones sociales obligatorias. For the next two weeks, significant parts of the country will be under lock-down orders.
There will be nothing easy about these new restrictions. For many, the simple fact of their lives is this – theres is a need to be out-and-about to make the money they need to feed themselves and their families. For others, the struggle of the pandemic has pushed nerves to the point of breaking. For everyone, this will not be easy.
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January 28
/0 Comments/in COVID-19 /by AdminOn January 27th, the Peruvian government announced a new tiered approach to increased inmovilizaciones sociales obligatorias throughout the country. The new measures (see graphics above) will take effect on Sunday, 31 January and are scheduled to last until 14 February. What these measures will mean for the areas designated as “extreme level” is a return to many of the quarantine restrictions of early 2020. We are working with our team on the ground to appropriately plan with the communities and people we serve to have access to the food, medications, and resources they will need throughout the expanded quarantine. We will keep you posted to changes and updates.
Fruits of the Labor
/0 Comments/in Blog /by AdminThere are, however, those times when we can see some degree of immediate results. A few years back, we planted trees at the Casa Girasoles Kusi, outside of the community of Yungay in the central highlands of the province of Huaraz. With the help of a volunteer agronomist, we selected plants and trees that fit a high-altitude environment’s challenges. Over three days, we planted a bunch. Then we left. I always wondered what happened to the plants in the back of my mind, but things got busy, and I did not hear back from anyone. That was until a few days ago.
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January 20, 2021
/0 Comments/in COVID-19 /by AdminThe U.S. inaugurated a new president, and Perú finds itself struggling to come to terms with a second wave of COVID infections. In spite of a forecasted second wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections for past 3-4 months, Perú is in the midst of rapidly escalating cases and a faltering healthcare infrastructure. Starting on Tuesday, 19 January the union representing all the physicians working at EsSalud run hospitals and clinics are around Perú, announced that doctors will be going on a hunger strike to protest the lack of government investment in responding to the pandemic. Perú, like a number of other Latin American countries, were devastated by the first wave of the virus in early 2020. The second wave is forecasted to have equally damaging impact on communities and healthcare infrastructure. With much of the world moving toward the first phase of vaccination, Perú lags behind due to a number of complex issues. The Perú government is currently in negotiations to purchase 1 million doses from the Chinese pharmaceutical company, SinoPharm. Its hard to imagine these 1-million does will have much impact in a county of over 32-million with with expanding social, economic and infrastructure challenges.