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Peru – In the words of Donald Trump…”You’re Fired”

November 10, 2007 - Peru

by Steve Henrichon

Wow…its been a while since I have written in the blog. Quite a bit has happened since the last time I wrote. I always intend to write but it is difficult to find the time. From the moment I wake up at 7am until the moment I go to bed at midnight (sometimes 3am) I am 100% focused on this project. Sometimes it is hard to squeeze in time for writing. The more experiences we have, the more there is to write about, the harder it is to build up the motivation to write it all down. Anyways, here is my next dump of stories.

First thing’s first. ACER…our Peruvian partner in crime…is no longer our partner in crime. After a few inefficient meetings with ACER, René and I came to the realization that we would not feel comfortable leaving the clinic in their hands when we leave Perú. They are good people and I think they have good intentions, but their organizational skills are lacking and I feel they do not have the resources to really do an effective job. So…we approached ACER and politely told them that we are moving in a different direction with the project and we will be looking for a new organization to partner with.

We began shopping for a partner once again. After a couple days of networking, we were introduced to a group of Dominican Sisters in San Clemente who live in a convent. If I understand this correctly, the Dominicans are somewhat of an elite group of Catholics… kind of like the Jesuits. They are ultra-catholics. And when I refer to the “Sisters”, I am not referring to “sisters” in the familial sense, but rather in the religious sense…kind of how we call a nun “Mother,” or a priest “Father.” Anyways, the Dominican Sisters seem to be at the top of the food chain in the local Catholic system. They are closely associated with the local Catholic parish in San Clemente and since the majority of the people are Catholic, a partnership with them opens up a lot of doors. In addition, if we were to partner with the Sisters, we would also be aligning ourselves with Caritas, an international humanitarian organization who has a huge presence in Pisco regarding relief work. Not only are the sisters very pleasant people, but they are quite savvy administrators as well. One of the Sisters will be the Director for a new 1200 person school which the Sisters are building in San Clemente. They are the type of people we would feel comfortable leaving the clinic responsibilities with. We know they will do a thorough and effective job of overseeing its operation.

Nothing is official with the Sister’s yet, however. We have had a series of meetings with one Sister, Niña Zully. Niña Zully reminds me of the Oracle from the Matrix. A very kind, wise, and patient woman. Although I have trouble speaking with her verbally, I can see that her eyes are filled with compassion and she always seems to be smiling. She actually used to be a pharmacist for 25 years before she became a Dominican Sister. She has been meeting with us on behalf of the other Sisters and she seems to be quite supportive of our project. Its up to her to communicate our intentions to the other Sisters. She is meeting with her superiors in Cusco this weekend, and she will be discussing with them our project in great detail. Hopefully, we will have a positive outcome next week.

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