We believe that any action – political, social, or pastoral – to be good and fruitful should place families at the center. This is the approach of human promotion and integral development of people and societies we want to adopt: providing support and tools, join forces, and the skills and experiences to support families and encourage them to live their mission.
This vision has inspired, since 1986, our social action in the outskirts of Lima, which has promoted numerous initiatives in favor of families and their members and has addressed different topics and issues, including health, education, vocational training, and food assistance.
Ongoing Projects
The Polyclinic La Trinidad: Quality Medical Care To Alleviate Any Kind Of Suffering
The Polyclinic La Trinidad was established in 1988 in the district of Villa Maria del Triunfo, in a particularly disadvantaged area where a high percentage of Peruvian people live without proper access to national or private health assistance. The Polyclinic offers both basic and specialist health care services, even free of charge to the most deprived people, serving around 2,500 patients per month.
In 2012 the Polyclinic, thanks to the high quality of service provided, was recognized and classified as a “polyclinic” by the Peruvian Ministry of Health, increasing its importance as a local health facility serving.
Among the services the Polyclinic has been offering for over thirty years there are:
- specialist services of various types, including internal medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, cardiology, gynecology, obstetrics, speech therapy, learning support, psychology for children, adults and couples, nutrition, pediatrics, ultrasound service, and analysis laboratory;
- distribution of medicines through the facility’s pharmacy. This is a fundamental service which allows low-income people to access medicines, medical supplies, treatments and therapies;
- awareness-raising activities among the population through the promotion and organization of prevention campaigns in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Nursery Schools: For The Well-Being Of Children And Their Families
In the area where we live and operate, many parents are enrolled all day in informal jobs, working outside for many hours, away from home and their children. Younger children are thus often left in the custody of their older brothers and sisters, who, to help their parents, can not regularly attend school in order to take care of their little siblings, neglecting their own growth and learning.
A solution the Community has adopted to address this problem is the creation of nursery schools. So far we are managing three schools (Virgen Inmaculada, Jardín la Trinidad and Jardín M. Misionera) which every day welcome around 200 boys and girls ages 3 to 5, giving relief to their parents busy at work.
In addition to the ordinary educational activities, psycho-pedagogical, medical and physiotherapy services are provided at the Virgen Inmaculada school, providing support to children with mental and/or physical set-backs.
At Virgen Inmaculada there are:
- Classrooms for teaching and learning;
- A room used for psychophysic activities;
- A speech therapy clinic;
- A psychology study;
- An outdoor play area.
The children who attend our preschools can enjoy beautiful, clean, and safe spaces where they can grow, play, learn and develop their intellectual abilities with the hope that, through them, it will be possible to contribute to the development of a better society and a most prosperous country.
A Center For Technical And Productive Education – Villaregia (CETPRO): Training Young Actors Of Change
During the recent decades, the huge metropolis of Lima has increased its population due to an exceptional phenomenon of internal migration from the countryside, which has led to the creation of new settlements around the capital. A great challenge of these “pueblos jóvenes” (literally, young peoples) is, as the name says, how to deal with a great number of youth. Thousands of young people do not have the economic possibility to continue their studies after secondary school. Many have no better solutions than to do “cachuelos”, poor sporadic jobs for which they receive a minimum wage.
Having to deal with the lack of opportunities and family breakdown, many young people join the so-called “pandillas”, gangs of adolescents and young people who, not engaged in study or work activities, clash with each other for the control over the surrounding areas, spending time in illegal activities such as drug sales and other dangerous gimmicks. These situation generate a cycle of poverty and violence that seems to never end. In this context, our community, which has always had a great love for the youth, can not be indifferent to the needs of these young people who are often marginalized and despised.
For this reason, CETPRO activities were launched in 2005. CETPRO is a center offering various professional training courses to contribute to the formation and training, also from the human point of view, of young people, facilitating their access to work opportunities, supporting their civil education and capacity to live in a society, as well as strengthening their family ties.
CETPRO has been recognized by the Ministry of Education as the second most important vocational training center in Peru. Some aspects which have allowed this recognition are the attempt to combine both technical-professional and human formation, the quality of the service provided and the high requests for registration.
About 350 young people are enrolled every year. Among the professional training courses offered, studies are offered in:
- computer technology;
- electronics;
- electrotechnics;
- cosmetology;
- courses for health professionals;
- “Hosteleria” (hotel services), a course that offers the possibility of specializing in baking, pastry, and the preparation of buffets and refreshments.
Other Projects
Popular kitchens are a very common practice in the Peruvian context: they are a sort of shared kitchen, where groups of women cook together as a sign of solidarity, communion and fraternity. For years we have supported – through the donation of food surpluses – 14 of these kitchens active on the territory of our mission. Of these, one is managed directly by the community and two in collaboration with the parish La Trinidad and local volunteers.
The center is managed by the parish La Trinidad – whose care and management is entrusted to our community – and offers various types of educational initiatives throughout the year. During the school period, the center welcomes children ages 6 to 11 to involve them in recreational activities, school reinforcement lessons, and sports. During the last few years, the center has also organized a summer initiative for children, boys and girls ages 6 to 15, with the aim of offering a space where children can play and learn to live and grow together during the summer months.
Peru has been one of the countries most effected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused an unprecedented socio-economic crisis. It has been estimated that at least 1.5 million households classified as “not poor, but vulnerable” have relapsed into poverty conditions. In collaboration with the diocesan Caritas program, we have reached hundreds of families with baskets of food and basic necessities, continuing to provide health care assistance through medical visits and medicines distributions at the La Trinidad Polyclinic.
