What is Vive Peru?
"Vive Peru is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering understanding of Latin American and Peruvian culture and providing much-needed aid to Peruvian communities. We work to promote cultural understanding and implement innovative and self-sustainable programs in the areas of health, education, social work and engineering."
For more information, watch the following below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iADm0ObnxYI
What community outreach programs does Vive Peru have to offer?
Parasite Prevention Program
Disease Prevention and Treatment
Health Education and Training
Internet Installation and Computing
After School Enrichment Programs
English Language Enrichment Programs
What is the Parasite Prevention Program?
The project focuses on community education to change habits which cause recurring parasite infection. Lab exams are realized for members of the community to identify which parasites are most common within the community and in order to design the program to target the parasites that are most prevalent there.
The program has three components:
Lab testing and distribution of medication
Health education workshops for mothers and their families
Home visits and recommendations
Health Education Programs focus on these important topics:
Maintaining a clean water supply
Hand washing technique and importance
The importance of wearing shoes
What does Disease Prevention and Treatment focus on?
"Since our founding in 2011, Vive Peru has reached 2,607 patients with medical consultations and treatment through medical campaigns. Medical campaigns are all-day events where we bring medical staff and medication to a community and set up temporary clinics in the community wherever we can. Sometimes, this means bringing medication to a preexisting health post. Other times, we set up camp at a local school, in the park, or in the house of a community leader. The goal is to provide medical treatment to those who otherwise do not go to the doctor due to financial difficulty, lack of proper documentation, or negligence.
Thanks to our staff, American, and Peruvian volunteers, through the medical campaigns, our programs work to bring medical aid to the least served areas in Peru, including some areas that have never before been served by non-profit aid. We currently put on 10+ medical campaigns each year, in and around the cities of Trujillo, Otuzco and Pacasmayo."
What does Health Education & Training focus on?
"Our health education and training programs focus on teaching community members the importance of basic hygiene in preventing disease. Although a medicine and doctor's treatment will keep community members healthy for a time, these healthy habits and lifestyle changes are what will preserve their family's health for the long run.
Our workshops focus on the importance of hand washing, teeth brushing, kitchen hygiene, and wearing shoes among others. These practices help to prevent many diseases, but we especially focus on respiratory infections, parasites and diarrhea, as those are the most common illnesses in the communities where we work. This education is especially important as many of the community members we work with are illiterate or have a very low level of reading comprehension.
With the help of our staff and volunteers, Vive Peru has educated more than 840 community members in various communities in Trujillo, Otuzco and Pacasmayo about health education and prevention, empowering them to take their health into their own hands."
What is Internet Installation & Computing?
"Vive Peru's Internet installation and computing program focuses on bringing internet to small towns that have no internet using wireless internet technology and teaching community members basic computing skills.
Although many areas of Peru boast the modern commodities of life that we often take for granted such as running water, electricity and internet, other areas have been completely untouched by the progress and development that other areas of the country have experienced. Large companies simply do not invest in bringing services like internet to small towns outside of the city, simply because the return on investment would not be profitable for them.
What are the After School Enrichment Programs?
"In 2011, Vive Peru volunteers started working with the kids from Mercado El Progreso just on the outskirts of Trujillo at a couple of small workshops that provided them with a time to share fun moments and expose them to different and healthier alternatives after school. Kids were enthusiastic and eager to participate and get to know the volunteers, appreciating the time they were spending with them and the positive attention they were getting from a total stranger. During the health campaigns, kids looked for the volunteers they had already met to continue playing and working on activities such as drawing and making friendship bracelets.
What are the English Language Enrichment Programs?
"Our English language enrichment programs allow Peruvian students at public schools the rare opportunity to interact with native speakers of the English language. We partner with public schools in Trujillo to provide language classes for students and teachers alike.
As of December 2013, we have brought English classes to 278 students at Colegio Antonio Torres Araujo in Trujillo."
Information taken in part and provided by Vive Peru. For more information on Vive Peru, visit http://www.viveperu.org/
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