This past Tuesday we heard from Joe Goebels, a rotarian based in Alberta, who has spent many years in Peru, and Abigail Jiminez Acevedo, a math professor from Chincha Baja, Peru. Joe is a retired adult educator who now spends a large part of his time working with the Friends Forever NGO based in Peru and also with Rainbow of Hope for Children, based in Wainright, Alberta. Joe has been going back and forth to Peru for seven years now, helping them with many different projects. He helps to raise funds from Rotary groups in Alberta, and then also helps to organise the various projects in Chincha Baja, Peru.
Chinch Baja is comprised of fifty-seven rural communities, most of whose people work as farmers or laborers for farmers. One project involved helping the people in Chincha Baja recover from a deadly earthquake in 2007, that destroyed many homes and public buildings. Rotarians helped to supply a large container of clothing. We also supplied building materials and expertise to teach the local people how to build wooden structures that would provide shelter and also could be expanded in future. This project also included temporary classrooms.
His largest project has been to build a school for adult education in Chincha Baja, that would provide four years of high school education and also provide technical skills training in six different areas. They are proud to announce the first sixteen graduates from their high school finished this year. This school is a new concept for the area because it provides both a high school diploma and a technical certification upon graduation and is soon to become a model for adult education in other parts of Peru.
Joe’s most recent project was to provide medical care for a young girl who was crippled, by raising the funds and organising her treatment. Joe let us know that he makes sure the recipients of our generosity, understand that this is money we have worked to acquire and have given freely to help them. Joe says that he feels it is important to stay in touch with the Rotary groups that have supported his projects to let them know what their funds have been used for. In closing, he thanked us for the many contributions we have made towards projects in Chincha Baja and hopes that we will continue to do so in the future.
