Humanitarian Mission - Overview

February 12, 2017

We are based in the Peruvian Area Office for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  About 100 full-time church employees and volunteer missionaries work along with us in this beautiful (and air conditioned) facility on the eastern edge of the city in the La Molina suburb. We work in the office and arrange humanitarian projects when we are not out working on actual projects somewhere in the Peruvian countryside.

Church Area Office, Lima, Peru (our home-base for project operations)

Our area covers the five countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (although we work just in Peru).  Like us, other sets of full-time volunteer humanitarian missionaries are assigned to each country.

We arrived in Peru just in time to replace the couple who preceded us (the Merrills from Washington state). They, like us, were on an 18-month mission. We only had 1-1/2 days of overlap with the Merrills before they went home.  Thank goodness we have two full-time Peruvian church employees (Area Humanitarian Welfare Manager and a Welfare Specialist) who work with us to guide in the projects we are carrying on.  Here is a shot of the going-away cake for the Merrills on their last full day with us.

Farewell for the Merrills, our predecessors.
(L to R) Moroni Torres, Area Humanitarian Manager;
Rob & Mary Merrill, departing Humanitarian Missionaries;
Alex Principe, Area Humanitarian Specialist

Current Disaster Response - Floods & Mudslides

Just before we arrived, many places around Peru were hit with rain (a rare phenomenon in our super arid coastal regions).  Whole villages were wiped out due to the floods and mudslides that ravaged many areas.

Map of Peru showing major centers of floods and mudslides that have recently damaged or destroyed villages.

News photo showing damage from Peruvian flood disasters

Most of the humanitarian staff have worked over the past few weeks in distributing food, water, medicines, mattresses, and other emergency supplies to the most-affected areas all around Peru. The majority of the disaster relief is now under control, but we will be deeply involved during the next disaster, likely to be relief activities associated with an earthquake (which happens here frequently).

Humanitarian Activities - Summary

We have about 30 projects underway throughout Peru in the following areas:

• Wheelchair Projects - We have donated over 3,500 wheelchairs to the poor over the past 8 years with 1,000 more wheelchairs due in to arrive in Peru this month.
• Vision Projects - We provide free vision correction and cataract surgery for the poor. We serve as in-country coordinators for upcoming projects when doctors arrive from the USA.
• Clean Water Initiatives - Wells and water systems are provided to very poor villages with about 20 wells currently in various phases of installation, mainly in jungle regions.
• Maternal Care and Neo-Natal Resuscitation - We have upcoming projects to provide training and equipment in hospitals and clinics all around Peru to save lives of mothers and newborns.
• Vaccination Campaigns - We provide supplies and volunteers to support major vaccination campaigns.
• Emergency Response -  Similar to the flood disaster relief mentioned above, we work with local communities in providing food, water and other supplies during disasters that frequently occur here.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? This is going to be a very busy mission for us!