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THIS SUMMER ON THE AMAZON (Again)
Join our team of volunteers this June, 2005 when we build a much needed dormitory at APECA’s base camp, ‘El Fundo’, on the upper Amazon River in Peru. This dormitory will provide lodging for medical teams from abroad as well as for people from remote villages who are in training at El Fundo. This adventure is open to everyone as long as there are spaces available (limit of 12). Building experience is not required, only the willingness to work. There is no hotel at El Fundo. We will share the basic existing facilities which include beds with mosquito netting, showers and flush toilets. We depart on June 18th. For those who can only spend two weeks, we have included a weekend in Iquitos and 2 days in Lima where there is plenty to do and see. For those who can spend an additional week, we are offering a tour of Cusco/Sacred Valley/ Machu Picchu. This is an exciting opportunity to see Peru and give back at the same time. If you are unable to go this time, let us know that you are interested in a future trip. For further information, contact Bill Owen at (818)348-6614 or wmowen@apecaperu.org. VISIT APECA’S NEW WEBSITEOur new website has been completely redesigned making it easier to navigate and update. You will find that articles and information are more current, making it easier to keep track of our activities. A special thanks to board member Vicki Ringer our webmaster who has spent hundreds of hours constructing this website for us. The contents consist of copies of newsletters, the Guideposts article, and updates of our Rotary/APECA water project and all our programs. It is also now possible to donate through the website. If there is something else that you would like to see on there, send Vicki an e-mail at: vickiringer@apecaperu.org. WHAT DID WE DO LAST YEAR?The Program calendar in Peru includes activities for villagers,
Peruvian professionals, international university students and enthusiastic
donor volunteers. Support our programs in Peru or the USA. Attend a
fundraiser or better yet, schedule one of your own.
GINA LOW FEATURED IN GUIDEPOSTS MAGAZINE
We are proud that Guideposts magazine, with a circulation of millions of readers, featured Gina Low and her work with APECA in the January 2005 issue of the magazine. The magazine is a monthly inspirational, interfaith, nonprofit publication written about people from all walks of life. And Gina’s story is very fitting for the magazine. The story tells how Gina celebrated her 50th birthday by visiting the Peruvian rain forest because of her love of native art and culture. Once Gina was immersed in the lush rain forest of the Amazon River, she found herself confronted with poverty, disease and suffering which she could not ignore. She had to do something and she did. She left her comfortable suburban life in Connecticut and she returned to the Peruvian jungle, bought an old river taxi and converted it into a floating first aid clinic. That was twelve years ago when APECA was founded. We are proud that Gina was featured in this magazine that is read by so many people in the U.S. and around the world. 2005 APECA/MOH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
The Amazon region that APECA serves is considered among the poorest in the world, according to the international scales of poverty. Recognizing the need for social stability, the Peruvian Ministry of Health, along with the assistance of APECA, has worked since 2002 to provide Leadership Training Programs that seek to strengthen families and stabilize communities through the training of their most valuable resource: their youth. Background: The project was initially developed by the Peruvian Ministry of Health as an attempt to address the mass exodus from villages in the mountain region of Peru caused during the time of terrorism in the 1980?s. Here in the Amazonian region of Loreto, the youth are leaving the area due to the lack economic opportunity. As a result, there is a lack of leadership. Also, the most basic features of social structure are not present in these communities, which puts them at a disadvantage in terms of health and education so they might learn to improve their economic status. Social concepts such as personal and community responsibility which we take for granted in our developed world, are lost to Amazonian village life. In 2002 APECA became aware of this Leadership Program and convinced the Peruvian Ministry of Health of the need for such a program in the Amazon River village communities. Unfortunately the Ministry of Health had neither the means nor the relationship with the villagers to implement the program. However APECA has developed a positive relationship with the villagers and has a history of facilitating programs for medical and dental care and conservation programs such as clean drinking water. The involvement of APECA in the youth leadership program is helpful to the Ministry of Health because its participation provides the major part of the costs and draws the student participants on a favorable basis. APECA provides the training facilities at El Fundo, meeting rooms, dining facilities, dormitories and transportation. APECA coordinates the program recruitment by making contact with the village schools and the parents. The MOH provides the teachers & curriculum . The first program was held in 2002. We train approximately 25-40 students of high school age per year. Working with the youth is an opportunity to reach the future generations to help them become positive influences in their communities. We educate them to be leaders in conservation of their rain forest for the sake of future generations. The efforts of today will determine their successes and their future. MATCHING GRANT DOUBLES YOUR DONATIONA generous benefactor has offered to donate matching funds up to $500 per month for the next three months. Please send your donation today so APECA doesn’t miss this golden opportunity. As our partners, we share with you a sense of having been able to be a part of the building of APECA Peru and the accomplishments in the remote villages of the Amazon rain forest. Together we have accomplished what might seem an impossible task—to provide education and services to people who have for too long been ignored. For those of you who have been part of this mission, thank you for helping to make our work possible. For those of you who are new to APECA, we invite you to share our mission. How can you help?
Invite APECA to give a presentation to your group or club. Contact Bill Owen (818)348-6614 to reserve a date for the fall speaking tour when Regina Low or others will be making presentations. Email address for speaker schedule apecaperu@apecaperu.org. The address for donations to APECA is:
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| Gas Powered Weed Whacker to cut the grass short to keep the snakes away. | $500 |
| 2 Chain Saws for maintenance at El Fundo | $400 ea. |
| Table Saw for maintenance at El Fundo | $800 |
| Generator | $1200 |
| Solar Cells | $1500 |
To accomplish its mission APECA collaborates with private and government agencies to deliver services to remote villages, and works with villagers on leadership development and training in practical agriculture, nutrition, and public health. APECA initiates work in a village, but in every case it is the villagers themselves who assess the needs of their community and determine how they will proceed.
For Example: In the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, government healthcare services are only available in the larger towns. For the isolated villages, where there is no electricity or phones, there is little or no access to such care. Villagers must either walk through the jungle or travel the rivers by canoe and distances becomes an overwhelming obstacle. In fact, most villagers will never travel beyond their neighboring village during their entire lives.
Cultural differences make communication and delivery of western medicine a difficult task for the employees of a government health system that is restricted financially. APECA, which has earned both the villagers’ and the government’s trust, facilitates the delivery of the vaccines by setting up clinic sites in these remote communities bringing the preventative medications to the children who are the future. APECA makes things Happen
PABLO'S WISH LIST