Thoughts on Collaboration

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about collaboration and partnerships. 
 
Last night we signed a historic agreement with Union Biblica del Perú. Over the next five years, HBI will take over the administration and operation of the Casa Girasoles homes for formerly abandoned boys in the city of Ica and the Sacred Valley of Cusco.
 
What makes this agreement so profound is the history that  informed our partnership with Union Biblica. Dating back over 20-years, HBI and Union Biblica have been building a solid relationship through our shared commitment to service.
 
And, because we've had a two-plus decade partnership, when it came time to move to the next level of our relationship - HBI taking over two of the Casa Girasoles - the project moved forward seamlessly. I think relationship is the key to any good partnership. Relationships take time to develop and evolve. They take people connecting with people.

​This connection component of our work is especially evident in the Anemia Prevention and Treatment Project. Our team spends countless hours connecting with community members, meeting with partners, aligning collaborations. Why? Because complex public health challenges like anemia prevention and treatment in resource constrained environments requires complex solutions built from solid partnerships and relationships.

​It can be very tempting to think the key to addressing some of the biggest challenges in global health is through one focal project, a single solution. Any big challenge has a web of causation and a multitude of overlapping elements. This is especially true for anemia. Anemia as a public health challenge is just a symptom of a much bigger set of biological, cultural, social and economic challenges. And, because there is so much complexity in the causation of anemia - no one organization can address the multitude of factors. A holistic response is required that leverages collaboration and partnerships. That's what we are doing.

We're building holistic responses to some of the biggest public health and global health challenges facing the world today. We're building relationships that draw on the resources, talents, knowledge and capacities of a number of different partners and collaborators. This is by no stretch of the imagination an easy proposition. It's a lot of hard work. We, however, think it is the only way to build sustainable solutions.

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