Staff Training in Trauma Care Begins for one of the Oldest Children's Homes in Lima

Last Tuesday, Billy Greenman walked through the doors of the Puericultorio Pérez Araníbar children's home in Lima to begin training their staff in Trauma Competent Care. The Puericultorio, which opened in 1930, is home to 250 children from newborn to 18 years old.

After much discussion, planning, and prayer, we recently signed a partnership agreement with the Puericultorio to train the administrative staff and caregivers in how to handle the children in their care through the lens of trauma. At the same home we will also launch the Caminando Juntos (Walking Together) mentoring program, where our Paths of Hope volunteers will initiate an intentional relationship with the teenage residents and walk with them as they prepare for adulthood and life beyond the home.

We’re happy to share that this week we started a 10-week Trauma Competent Caregiver training with 17 staff members at the home. We invite you to watch this short video about the first session:

Billy signs partnership agreement with Andrea Harman, the director of the Puericultorio Pérez Araníbar

The staff will meet weekly over the next nine weeks to cover the material and become trauma-informed caregivers. The goal is to develop safe adults who have a general understanding of the profound effects of childhood trauma and help them respond to the child’s needs with competence and empathy instead of getting caught up in cycles of reacting to difficult behaviors.

At the same time, we are launching our Caminando Juntos (Walking Together) program with some of the teenagers at the Puericultorio. We are starting to identify mentors from the 35 people who have participated in our Trauma Competent Caregiver training this year. The mentors will be paired with teenagers from the Puericultorio to walk alongside them as they continue to live at the home and then transition to life afterward.

Please join us in praying for the Lord to bless our relationship with the staff and youth at the Puericultorio as well as our relationship with the volunteers in our mentoring program and the churches to which they belong.