Hands on Peru is a nonprofit organization 501(c) 3 ; headquartered in Peru and US and co-founded by two global health advocates, Katie Baric, MPH, from North Carolina and Rosa Sanchez-Brem, RN from Trujillo, Peru. Hands on Peru was founded in 2013 as a response to the deep inequities in access to medical care among the rural poor of Peru and the societal structures that actively or passively sustained this injustice.
(2014) We started working in favor of local health and education, collaborating with local governmental and health agencies to host medical campaigns in the highlands and coastal regions of the department La Libertad, which allowed us to widen our vision and recognize the health needs of vulnerable communities in these areas.
(2015) We aimed our volunteer program to combat, at the core, the many problems that stagnate community development and deepen local poverty, referencing the concept of multidimensional poverty, where poverty is not simply a lack of income, but also a lack in education, health, work, social security, housing, and quality of life.
(2016) By July 2016, we had impacted a total of over 2,000 patients in health campaigns, disease screenings, english classes and had hosted over 140 international volunteers. Building on this momentum, Hands on Peru decided to create a more sustainable solution to the problems we had encountered through the years; to take a leap of faith to fully fundraise and build our own public health clinic, CESAPU, located in a marginalized peri-urban community called Villa Los Angeles in Huanchaquito Alto.
(2017) Our first full functioning year working in CESAPU that included conducting a community needs assessment and designing appropriate community programs. This year was focused on building trust with the community and introducing a new and innovative solution to health care. We thank the community for acting as their own agents of change through their active participation in these programs. We started the following community programs: Niños Felices, Chicas Bonitas, Madre Cesapu.
(2018) Establishing partnerships with local and international professionals, and the continuous support of our international volunteers and donors have allowed us to build upon and improve our community based programs, allowing CESAPU, and all of its participants, to flourish. This year we are part of the Young Leaders of Americas Initiative Network, The Pollination Project based in Berkeley, and Premio Protagonistas del Cambio in Lima, Peru. We started the program CREZCO, focused on maternal & child health & nutrition education, thanks to the Rotary Club International.
(2019) Building our international relations, we hosted over 70 volunteers this year from Wingate PA school, Basel University in Switzerland, INSA Lyon University in France. We built 6 bathrooms from scratch, benefitting over 60 people. Dental & Chiropractic offices implemented to serve over 3,500 people.
(2020) COVID 19 pandemic hit and shifted our work into disaster relief, and economic impact for women. This year we re-branded and re-structured CHIMUK, #knittingabetterfuture, earning $2,000 sales through our first collection ‘Chan Chan’.
(2021) As the pandemic stretched into 2021, we kept focus on CHIMUK, creating an economic engine in the community, earning over $20,000 in sales and releasing our second collection known as ‘Rebirth’. We also re-implemented dental care this year.
(2022) This year brought rapid expansion of healthcare services. We hired a new health director, primary care physician, receptionist & nutritionist, serving a total of 1775 patients. In December 2022, we implemented physical therapy services. 2022 was also the year we collaborated with YALE University through their Health Equity Fellowship, re-instating our maternal & child health program known as “Lady Lunes” post-pandemic. We hosted MPH practicum students from Yale & Purdue University this year, as well as the Morehead Cain Scholarship program of University of North Carolina.
(2023) CESAPU community clinic services continue to expand and stabilize, including services of: general medicine, ultrasound, dental, physical therapy & eye exams. Re-instated kids program Niños Felices and continued to work with Yale University, Quinnipiac University medical school, Rush University, and Morehead Cain program at UNC for public health programs like nutrition education, sexual & reproductive health education, and child development. Chimuk continues to expand and flourish with new designer: Jose Vilca.