Update Timeline

I knew it had been a long time since I had posted an update on my blog, but I have been so busy with major family changes I didn’t realize that it had been over six months.  So much has happened in that time I don’t know how I will be able to fill you all in, but here is my attempt to present a timeline of the most important events:

March: New Monitoring and Evaluation System

My co-worker, Fredy, and I worked on finalizing the new monitoring and evaluation plan for FH Peru.  FH Peru has never before had a system for evaluating the results of their ministry here.  It has been a challenge to create a system that incorporates not only quantitative data collection, but also gives staff opportunity to reflect on their work in communities, and capture qualitative stories of change.  Our goal with this new monitoring and evaluation tool is to enable the information gathered to inform donors about the progress of different projects and the improvement and transformation occurring in the communities where we serve.  Additionally, this information would be used by staff to learn from our experiences and make adjustments to activities.  We have been using and improving this new evaluation process for about six months, and it seems to be working well.  Please continue to pray our analysis of our projects will enlighten both staff and donors.

April:  All Staff Retreat

Staff from all three Peruvian regions (Lima, Pucallpa and Huancavelica) came together outside of Lima for an all-staff retreat.  The focus of the retreat was team building and learning different strategies for dealing with stress.  What a great time of sharing, encouragement, and growing together! At the retreat, Fredy and I presented the new evaluation system to the staff. 
                    

May:  FH Peru hosted the FH Latin American Annual Regional Retreat

Over thirty visitors came from 7 different countries for about two weeks.  I was responsible for organizing the logistics for many of those travelers.  (organizing transportation pick up to and from the airport, hotel reservations, meal reservations, etc.). 

June:  Community Based Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Training

For the last year or so I have been part of an FH working group from all over the world who have been collaborating in the creation of new training materials that FH will use to help communities become better prepared for disasters.  In June the coordinator/ leader of this working group (my friend Sara Sywulka from the Washington, DC FH office) came to Peru to train our staff in using these new materials that contain new community planning tools  I organized the logistics of the training sessions and also assisted Sara.

The best part of the week was getting a chance to work in the field helping some community leaders put disaster preparedness into practice.  It was great to see how these new tools helped community leaders analyze the disaster risks facing their communities and begin to think about the ways they can plan to mitigate these risks.  I really enjoyed working in the communities again (it has been a long time since I have had a chance to do this).  The female community leaders were also excited to see my pregnant belly and share with me their advice for being a new mother (a great sharing opportunity).  It is a blessing that God has enabled me to use my gifts of computer skills and organization to indirectly assist others in their call to minister to the poor here in Lima in my time of new motherhood, but I still have a heart for working directly with the people here.  I trust the Lord to know what is best for this time. 

Practicing Disaster Preparedness Tool in Community

One of the Disaster Preparedenss Tools - Community Risk Mapping

Practicing Disaster Preparedness Tool in Community

FH Staff who participated in the training

June: Farewell to FH Peru Director, Ryan Smedes

After almost 4 years of service, our country Director stepped down to take on a new role in the FH office in Washington DC.  It was really sad to say good bye to Ryan and his family (I have especially been missing my friend Angela, his wife), but we are excited to see how God uses Ryan in his new role as the FH Director of Livelihoods and Economic Development.  The search is still on for a new Director, but in the mean time, Noemi Gamonal (FH program manager and my boss) has taken on the role of interim director.  Until August, I was also helping Noemi by providing support in the 2013 budget process, and our plans for expanding work into new communities in 2013. 

July: Praise the Lord for your new home!

Cristian and I became home owners in July, when the apartment we purchased back in September of 2011 was finally finished and the builders handed us the keys.  At the end of the month, my parents came to visit and they were a huge blessing helping us with getting the apartment ready to move in (painting, installing appliances, and other tasks). Our apartment is located in front of a huge park, and in the mornings and evenings the trees fill with birds chirping and singing.  It is a great blessing to be close to God’s natural creation in the midst of the huge, bustling city of Lima. 

our new living room under construction

Our new apartment building

August:  Cristian and I became Parents!

On August 18 at 8:40 in the morning, after more than 18 hours of active labor, we welcomed to our family Caleb Aurelio Alegre Woodside.  Here is what my mom wrote about the birth:

“Caleb has been a huge blessing in our lives, and we are completely in love with our little man.”

About a week before Caleb was born

September – November and beyond:  

As we learn to be Mommy and Daddy the last few months, I have been blessed to have maternity leave and vacation in order to spend time with Caleb.  Cristian was able to take a couple of weeks off when Caleb was born and then had to go back to work.  We are both adjusting to our new roles as parents and figuring out new routines and schedules.  We have also been blessed to have some help at home – Maria is a wonderful Christian woman who comes several times a week to help me with cleaning and other household errands. 

In December, I will be returning part-time to ministry with FH.  I am hoping to work out a schedule which allows fewer hours in the office and do the rest of my work from home, since much of my duties involve writing reports, translations, and doing research.  Maria will also help us care for Caleb (along with Cristian’s mom) when I return to work at FH.  Getting to know Maria has been a huge answer to prayer; both ours and hers, as she had been looking for full time work to help support her family (she is a mother of 6 – 2 grown and 4 school aged).  Please continue to pray for us as I transition back into ministry with FH and we continue to learn what it means to be parents.  We know that this is the hardest job either of us will have and we will need God’s love and grace to do it well. 

Blessings to you all,

Lauren, Cristian, and Caleb

Celebrating Transformation

When I first came to Peru, I worked in the Health and Nutrition Education Project that Food for the Hungry was carrying out in Lima. One of the main activities of the project was training and mentoring volunteer community health promoters; that is how I met Suzy. She had started as a health promoter around the same time I started working with the project.

I remember working alongside Suzy doing home visits to families in her neighborhood. At first she was really shy about knocking on the doors of her neighboors and sharing with them about different health messages or are asking to check their water containers for mosquito larva. But little by little she began to gain confidence in her abilities to serve her community as a health promoter.

One day in particular I got to see the fruit of this work. Early in the afternoon I had accompanied Suzy on about 15 home visits to teach families about the prevention of Dengue, check for mosquito larva and take samples if any to the community health center. Suzy was still a bit nervous about going door to door by herself, but as I had to go to another meeting she agreed to visit the last few homes on her list alone. Later, as I was leaving my meeting, going down the community stairs to meet up with the FH truck and go home for the day, I ran into Suzy also headed down the stairs. I asked her how things had gone, and she replied back with a huge smile "Im going down to the health center to turn in my work." When I saw Suzy´s smile, and the joy she had in sharing with me that she had completed this important service for her community, I realized that the real fruit of the work of FH. It is not just about the teaching of a public health topic, or providing leadership training, or starting a community savings group, or carrying out violence prevention activities, but the real fruit of the work of FH is the transformation of people´s lives.

So I have to say that it was a huge joy to see Suzy´s story of transformation on the FH website today. Here is a link to the story published there:

http://www.fh.org/learn/newsletter/april-2012#story2

Praise God for his transformative work in Suzy´s life.

From grumpy to grateful

A woman with an attitude finds grace and purpose

Susy, left, teaches women in her community about health.

Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. What can happen when people are shown the fruit of the Spirit?

Ask Susy Marlene Cabello, a young mother and wife from Peru, and she might say “a change of character.”

Interestingly, Susy and her family live in a community called Nueva Imagen, which means “new image.” The area is overpopulated and deep in poverty. Families don’t feel safe. Job opportunities are few.

Susy wasn’t a happy camper either. She studied to be a technical nurse, but had to stop because money was tight. This frustrated her. She coped by directing her anger toward her daughter. Neighbors say she was a difficult person.

But her heart was about to change.

One day, Susy’s mother learned about the work of Food for the Hungry in the community. Through givers like you, FH had started a child sponsorship outreach. A key component of the program was educating families and volunteers about health and disease prevention.

FH staff met with families to teach them about being healthy, loving parents, how to keep their children healthy, and how to grow closer to God.

Now, Susy enjoys a healthy relationship with her daughter and husband.

Susy decided to attend these meetings and was touched by the staff’s warm, loving welcome. They treated her with respect and patiently guided her into discovering her potential.

Soon, Susy became actively involved in promoting good health in her community.And as she continued to participate in various trainings, her self-confidence, knowledge about health, and awareness of God increased. Her relationship with her husband, daughter and neighbors improved.

Today, Susy is passionate about community development. Point to any successful project – library, soccer field, community center – and people will say she had a hand in it.

New Beginnings for 2012

It seems that I am always starting my updates by apologizing for having taken so long to send an update. Again I must say that it has been too long. So here is a long overdue update on our lives and my ministry with Food for the Hungry.

Our Family

For Christmas and the first part of January, Cristian and I were blessed to be able to travel to the states to spend some time with my parents, sister and her family. We had an wonderful time visiting family and friends, playing in the snow and just hanging out. We also found out some exciting news during the holidays about some new beginnings for our family; Cristian and I are expecting our first child in August. This was definitely the best gift we could have received for Christmas.

Cristian had to return to Peru and work in early January, but I was able to stay on in the states through to the end of the month. While it is always hard to be apart, I am so glad that I was able to stay and connect with so many friends and supporters during that time. The month included lots of opportunities to share about my ministry with Food for the Hungry in Peru, with home groups, a retirees group, and even in Florida with the church I grew up in.

New Beginnings for Food for the Hungry Peru

In February I returned to my work with Food for the Hungry Peru, and these last few months have also been a time of new beginnings for our ministry.

Upon returning to the office I was joined by a new work partner. Fredy Vargas, who has worked for FH in Pucallpa (the Jungle) for the last 6 years, was promoted to work alongside me in the area of monitoring and evaluation. I am really excited to have someone to work with in this area, and we have already started to see how God will be able to use each of us as a complement to the other. Fredy is excited by this new challenge, and eager to learn new things. I too, am already learning a lot from Fredy's experience working as a community facilitator, and health project coordinator.

January also marked the beginning of Food for the Hungry's work in a new region of Peru, Huancavelica, in the southern mountains. Currently God has opened the door to work in 5 communities in this area with possibilities of expanding to other communities in the next year or so. Huancavelica primarily a rural area with more than 60% of the population living in poverty. The high altitude there makes for a harsh environment - extreme cold, and short growing seasons.

A typical day for a child in this area is to wake up early and eat a bit of bread and cheese, some tea, and then go to school. In the afternoon kids help their parents with their subsistence farming endeavors like pasturing sheep and goats or helping work in the field. In the evening kids share a meal with their families of soup, potatoes, cheese or other products their family grows. With the extreme weather, calorie needs are great, but food is not always plentiful, and the right kinds of food - protein, fresh fruits and vegetables are rare. Chronic malnutrition is a real problem that affects many children in this area, and limits their growth and development towards their God-given potential. But FH hopes to begin working in these communities to change this. Currently we are working with local community leaders to determine which areas FH can best support children, families, churches and leaders in the development of the community so that their children can grow up happy and healthy. As FH works through this diagnostic process with leaders, we are also beginning the AMO educational program with the children. This is an after school kids club type activities that children will attend twice a week and learn about God and his love and plan for their lives through literature, crafts, music and bible stories.

This month, March, FH is also starting the same AMO program in communities in Lima, Pucallpa and Chincha. Please be praying for the facilitators who will be teaching these classes and for the children who will be attending.

March brings the culmination of the long planning phase of the violence prevention program. Currently I have been helping to review the first module of the violence prevention curriculum to be used with kids and parents. When the revisions are done, the curriculum will be published. But the end of this phase of planning and preparation marks the beginning of the training phase (hopefully to start in April) with kids, teens, and parents. Please be praying that these materials and the training sessions will have a transformative impact in the lives of families in Lima, and Pucallpa.

Thank you so much for your support, prayers. May the Lord bless you and any new beginnings in your lives as well.

Lauren