That Train a Comin’

There is a strange feeling in the air. It’s more than just the change of seasons. It feels ominous – like a train barreling down the tracks.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a dramatization. Perhaps. However, we are looking toward a change in seasons that will bring change on a number of levels, not just the global pandemic. For many underserved and under-resourced communities, this change will bring more challenges.

All of this means we have gone into planning mode. We’re planning for several scenarios and considering a variety of options. In Perú, spring has arrived and summer is not far in the future – and with the government moving into Phase IV of the reopening, more people will be out and about.

This means planning for the families in our Ines Project – considering how to keep them safe and supplied with the resources they need. It means building a plan to give the boys in the Casa Girasoles a chance to get out and enjoy the sunshine, without increasing their risk of infection. It means considering how we will continue to build on a Home Learning plan – and give the boys the opportunity for a summer break . . . and fun.

​It means planning online trainings – for our emergency medicine, NRP, and the Center of Excellence programs. More than anything else, it means planning for prevention – and, heeding the sound of the racing train by planning for many different scenarios. It means making certain we are proactively (and actively) engaging the communities we serve to find solutions to the challenges facing their day-to-day lives. It means listening to the struggles so many people are facing – and working with them to identify solutions.

Change is coming. It is a core function of all life. Our goal, our role, is to be engaged and attentive to the change. Because  in the words of the late great singer songwriter Johnny Cash – “I hear the train a comin’, it’s rollin’ ’round the bend and I ain’t seen the sunshine since, I don’t know when…”