New Mentors and Community of Excellence Training
New Mentors at the Puericultorio
We're excited to share that two new mentors will start volunteering at the Puericultorio Pérez Araníbar! Both of the mentors participated in the Trauma Competent Caregiver training we held at the Christian Missionary Alliance church in Breña and have been interviewed by Paths of Hope, a psychologist and staff at the Puericultorio. They recently went on a tour of the facility and the final step will be for the Puericultorio staff to pair them with a teenager at the home. They will start meeting with their mentees during the next month.
We appreciate your prayers for Isaac and Leidy as they begin serving as mentors!
Community of Excellence Training
Billy recently traveled with the Community of Excellence team to help lead two days of in-person training at three children's homes.
The Community of Excellence (CoE) training that we are developing with our partners, Health Bridges International, started with Phase 1 way back in 2021 with weekly Zoom meetings with the staff at the Girasoles homes in Ica and Urubamba. The weekly 90-minute meetings over the course of the year provided a strong base of knowledge about trauma and working with children from difficult pasts.
Since wrapping the weekly meetings in 2022, the CoE team has developed a second phase of the program and launched it at the homes. Phase 2 focuses on awareness (being aware of how I feel in the present moment), connection (recognizing the power and importance of relationship) and empowerment (reinforcing knowledge and skills and applying them with caregiving plans). It also touches on self-care and how by providing space for and practicing their own self-care, the staff can improve their relationships with the children and teens in the home and the quality of care they provide.
Instead of weekly Zoom meetings like Phase 1, this second step of the training is based on in-person intensives, virtual check-ins and the designation of an ambassador at each home. The ambassador serves as a bridge between the CoE team and the staff. The ambassadors assist us with facilitating conversations and activities to help reinforce the training, while also helping guide the staff as they take what they have learned and now put it into practice.
Also new to Phase 2 is the addition of Hope House, a girls home on the outskirts of Lima, to the training program.
On this trip, the team spent two days at each of the three homes going over the material and answering questions that arose. It was great to connect with the staff through conversations while encouraging them as they walk alongside the children and teens in their care.
Join us in praying for the staff as they lead and provide care for the children at the three homes.
