Medical, Dental and Social Outreach

Health Bridges International, Inc. is an organization that was founded to create collaboration and cooperation for the betterment of marginalized people in developing nations. HBI works to connect communities and underserved people to resources and organizations.  The work of HBI is grounded in sustainability and cultural competency.  The focus of HBI is planning and implementing programs and projects that support community based development. To this end, HBI has invested in the development of a few, carefully selected projects that build bridges to Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)’s that work for social justice and community enhancement.

Background: A wonderful way to create change is to promote excellence in currently operating programs.  HBI collaborates with a variety of in-country organizations to promote and extend their on-going efforts.  HBI works to complement currently operating care systems by providing medical and social service professionals to work in desperately poor areas.

Our Peru Outreach trips are designed around two program operations:  Work with Union Biblica (an organization that provides outreach to homeless boys) and a clinic at the Alto Cayma Center (run by a Catholic missionary, Father Alex). The clinics are designed in “two parts” - (A) Union Biblical preventive medical clinics in impoverished schools south of Lima (oftentimes the clinic expands to include people from the surrounding communities); (B) Medical and healthcare outreach from the missionary clinic.  This includes “house calls” into the poorest communities, mobile clinics (utilizing a medical van donated to the church from a German mission organization), and an outreach clinic in the Andes mountains (at over 4400 meters) at an old mining community.  To learn more about the HBI Team Peru Outreach – please see the following document.

Why do we do clinics in public schools?  If we are ever going to make a meaningful impact in the lives of homeless youth, we must start our interventions before children become abandoned to the streets.  Our school based clinics are designed at reaching into the poorest communities – areas where families are at greatest risk of breaking down, areas where the children who live on the streets of Lima come from.  Our school-based clinic program works to identify youth who are at greatest risk for homelessness – and to connect these children with outreach workers.  The social workers then build trust and relationship with the family unit to provide a broad range of services that are designed at keeping the family from fracturing.  Essentially, our school-based programs are designed to offer a “front line” level of public health intervention.