Wrapping Up and Ramping Up - Wayne Centrone

It's already December?! Where did the 2017 go?
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As we wrap up the year, we are ever mindful to the projects and programs looming in the very near future that is 2018. In fact, we have a full January planned for HBI and our partners.

One of the very first projects of the new year is very close to home for me. My wife and I are taking our seven year old daughter (Alexandra - named after Fr. Alex) to Perú. Alex is a lego freak. She absolutely loves to build legos. A few months back we were planning a family trip over the Holiday break. We tossed a number of ideas around and asked Alex where she wanted to go. She said, "I want to go to Perú and teach all the kids in the homes (the Union Biblica Casa Girasoles) how to build legos." Well - its a bit hard to deny this opportunity. So, at the end of this month we are taking Alex and a few big bags* filled with legos for a trip of a lifetime. We will visit a few of the Casa Girasoles and spend time with Father Alex. Our little Alex has planned a whole "curriculum" of teaching legos and play. It is going to be a fantastic experience for our whole family. *As a side note - if you would like to donate legos to this project, please contact HBI at: info@hbint.org

Directly on the heels of the "Lego Adventure" trip (immediately after my wife and our daughter return home), the HBI team will  welcome faculty, students and a medical team from St. Olaf College for a three week service learning trip. We will be working with the St. Olaf group on projects in the Sacred Valley of Cusco and the Alto Cayma communities of Arequipa. We'll be posting updates throughout the three week service learning adventure - so stay tuned.

Finally, we have our ongoing projects - and Nurse Karen will be facilitating another training of the volunteer firefighter "Master Trainers" participating in our emergency response pilot project and Dr. Bob will be all over the country training trainers for our NRP project.

Yep - its going to be a big year for HBI and we are kicking off 2018 with a very busy (and productive) January.

Thanks for all of the continued support. Please stay connected to our website and social media for updates.

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