GlobeMed at Boston College partners with CCC-UNSCH in Ayacucho, Peru to support access to health for the community's older adults.
GlobeMed at Boston College + CCC-UNSCH
Chapter
GlobeMed at Boston College | Boston, Massachusetts
Partner
Centro de Capacitación de Campesino de la Universidad Nacional San Cristobal de Huamanga (CCC-UNSCH)| Ayacucho, Peru
Key Fact
The average monthly income per working member of a family is only $66.5 and only 34% of the population has access to medical care.
“Our responsibility as human beings is… to educate… to volunteer… to never give up hope.”
– BC students on World Day of Social Justice 2011
About the Partnership
CCC-UNSCH has been working for over 30 years to support older adults in the communities of Ayacucho, Peru. CCC-UNSCH works by mobilizing groups of adults to discuss community health issues and develop projects with innovative solutions. Older adults serve a vital role in the Ayacucho community, often caring for grandchildren while parents search for work elsewhere. Despite their crucial role as caregivers, breadwinners, and leaders in the community, many lack access to their basic needs and adequate health care for either themselves or their grandchildren.
CCC-UNSCH provides a forum for discussing problems and brainstorming projects to address community issues. For example, CCC-UNSCH is tackling malnutrition by collaborating with a team of older adults to cultivate a small garden and raise cuy (guinea pigs) to supplement their food supply. The results of such projects permeate throughout the community, as grandparents are better able to care for their grandchildren and for themselves. Since 2010, GlobeMed at Boston College has raised over $5,000 to support CCC-UNSCH’s nutrition program and income generation projects in Ayacucho, Peru.
Project
This year GlobeMed at Boston College will support two income generation projects for their partner, CCC-UNSCH, in the communities of Huamanguilla and Yanama, Peru. In Huamanguilla, they will provide animals and seeds to bolster the agricultural endeavors of the elderly in that community, who often live alone and must support themselves. In Yanama, they will provide wool and other supplies for the older adults living there to make clothing and jewelry to sell.
Impact
Through these income generation projects, the older adults of the Ayacucho region will be better able to take care of themselves and their grandchildren, whose parents must often leave in order to find work.
Get Involved
Read GlobeMed at Boston College’s annual report and donate to their cause. Interested in joining the chapter? Contact bc@globemed.org.
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