Page 12 - FoC 2024 Summer Newsletter
P. 12

A Cambio Puente Update- 2024


                  United Together = Great Transformations




                                                                                   clear,  the  people  being  served  by  our
                                                                                   team are not looking for a handout, but
                                                                                   for someone to walk with them as they
                                                                                   try to pull themselves out of poverty.
                                                                                   It  is  the  interactions  our  team  is
                                                                                   participating in directly that are making
                                                                                   a difference, but also the ones we are
                                                                                   facilitating for community members to
                                                                                   have with each other.

                                                                                   One such success was the Mother’s Day
                                                                                   Volleyball  tournament!    The  pictures
                                                                                   of  the  park  being  used  for  recreation
                                                                                   and  fellowship  tell  the  story.    When
                                                                                   we  look  at  the  faces  of  people  being
      Upper Cambio Puente is a different place today because of FoC                treated as human beings with the same
      and ACAF’s partnership with the people who live there.  From   hopes, dreams and fears of all mothers we see community
      the tremendously successful water project, the completion of   development at work.  There is a sincere hope for a better life
      the learning center and staffing it with volunteers from the   for their children and to be treated with dignity themselves.
      local university, the soon to be constructed kindergarten to   There are so many good things happening in Cambio Puente
      be staffed by ACAF, the fully operational daycare that provides   through  our  community  development,  perhaps  the  biggest
      working mothers with a safe place for their young children,   is breaking down isolation and helping to breathe dignity in
      the community kitchen that provides food to over 50 families,   people’s lives that have had little reason to celebrate!
      the park at the center of the city, and 52 homes that have
      been built, there is new sense of hope for a better future.   It is difficult to express enough gratitude to all of those that
                                                               are supporting these efforts.  It is truly miraculous to see the
      The people of Cambio Puente now feel a part of a community   changes taking place on a community and individual level.
      with  a  future.    There  are  now  individuals  with  a    genuine
      sense of agency for their future.  This feeling is
      palpable and visible in the interactions that are
      taking place.

      The  new  social  workers  offices  that  have  been
      built  adjacent  to  the  park  and  other  areas
      of  infrastructure  described  above  host  our
      community  development  services  which  have
      broken down barriers of isolation that accompany
      severe poverty.

      In  March,  when  we  inaugurated  our  social
      workers  offices,  there  were  several  people
      waiting to meet with the social workers as the
      celebratory ribbon cutting ceremony took place.
      Our social workers act as counselors for families,
      and in addition connect families with resources
      that  are  available  through  the  government.  In
      order  to  make  this  happen,  the  social  workers
      need  a  safe  place  to  meet  with  families  and
      listen.    Often  mothers  with  small  children  are
      meeting to discuss issues with domestic violence
      and there is a need to have privacy away from
      their  homes  to  conduct  such  meetings.    To  be


       PAGE 12                                                                                       friendsofchimbote.org
   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17