RGHA Retreat and BBQ

RGHA members gathered last Sunday for a group organizational meeting that involved discussion about future projects, partnerships, and goals. Here are some of the highlights:

- For next year's trip, RGHA is considering going to Peru during the summer, rather than during spring break. This will allow our group to stay in the country longer and explore other communities.

- The RGHA website is underway!

- RGHA will host a number of different community outreach and fundraising efforts, including a museum event, a trivia night, guest lectures, and restaurant profit shares.

- RGHA is looking to partner with people from diverse professional backgrounds, including law, dentistry, education, accounting, nutrition, computer science, business administration, and marketing.

- RGHA will continue to work with and improve upon established projects (derm, women's health, greenhouse, joint pain, crafts, clinic) with the help of returning undergraduate student leaders.

After business was complete, RGHA members enjoyed great food, company, and spring weather at the annual post-trip BBQ.

Sid on grill duty

Our young supporters ready for cake

Beautiful and delicious RGHA cake (made by Kakealicious)

Lively dinner discussion


Stay tuned for more RGHA updates!

Arrived in Peru!!!

(David excited about the bus ride while everyone sleeps)

After a long plane ride with a short stop in Bogota to switch planes, we arrived at Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima, Peru where we were greeted by our favorite dentists - Sandra and Erika - and our favorite doctor - Paula.

We met Clemente - our driver this year and highly recommended by Gustavo (our driver of our previous trips) and started the long process of loading our bags to the roof of the bus.

We are traveling tightly this year with all seats taken. There are 18 of us from the USA, our 2 dentists - Sandra and Erika, a translator - Adela (younger sister to Carla - our translator last year), and a five member band - Motif. The band will be doing a music workshop with the kids in pampas and its exciting to share music tastes with them. (Antonio - the lead singer - and I bonded over our love for Dispatch and I shared some live albums I have!).

(The sleeping students.)

After a long trip from 3 am to 11:30 am, we made it Huaraz! Checking in, lunch at a familiar restauarant, some opted to sleep, but most went for exploring. We checked in at Cafe Andino and enjoyed coffees and local Huaraz microbrews and followed our beverage break with a visit to the Regional Archaeology Museum of Ancash which has an impressive collection of ancient stone sculptures.

Right now, we are resting in the hotel and getting ready to head to dinner. We can feel the altitude here at 8000 feet so some acclimatization is already needed. We'll meet over dinner to finish prep on our projects and then break for the night. Tomorrow we face a 5 hour climb to Pampas Grande. The true distance is very short but the roads make the trip long.

We will post some pictures tonight!

Sid Dante
M4, VCU School of Medicine
Vice-Chair, Richmond Global Health Alliance

Project Update

Thank you to all who attended our event, Experiences in Peru: Medicine, Education and Life in the Andes. We were so excited to showcase our work and experience the Achachis y Bordados exhibit with our friends and family.

Here are some photos taken at the event:

Michael, Ari, and Colin greeting guests as they enter the Achachis y Bordados Exhibit in the Lora Robins Gallery at the University of Richmond

Guests looking through the Achachis

Dr. Sean speaking to our guests about who we are and what we do

In other news, we are excited to announce the addition of a new, great group of University of Richmond students to our trip to Pampas Grande in March. These students are UR stand-outs, and we are thrilled to have them working with us on our projects as we plan for Pampas.

Additionally, thanks to Dr. Paula Tamashiro, we now have a comprehensive figure describing our services in Pampas Grande last year. We are using this data to help shape our projects for the trip this spring and for our long-term efforts. Thanks, Dr. Paula!



Experiences in Peru: Medicine, Education and Life in the Andes

Our upcoming fundraising event, Experiences in Peru: Medicine, Education and Life in the Andes, will be held on Saturday, November 12 from 6 to 8pm at the Lora Robins Gallery (next to Boatwright Memorial Library) on the University of Richmond campus. Come and enjoy light refreshments along with a brief lecture from pediatrician Dr. Sean McKenna (top vote-getter for Richmond Magazine's Top Docs of 2011) and a gallery of beautifully embroidered Peruvian tapestries (achachis) and breath-taking photographs of our adventures in Peru. Donations are greatly appreciated, and checks can be made payable to the Richmond Global Health Alliance.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Our Projects in Pampas Grande in the Spirit of the Girl Effect

The Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect places its focus on the potential of young women to transform the developing world. The Girl Effect presents strong evidence that investing in a young girl will not only help break the cycle of poverty, but will give her the chance to dictate her own future.

Just watch one of the Girl Effect’s videos, and you will be moved by this organization’s message—that girls are the most powerful force of change in the world.

RGHA too believes in the power of young women to have significant positive impacts on their communities. Three years ago in Pampas Grande, University of Richmond students saw leadership qualities in Leidi, a high school student. The students met Leidi when she performed songs to welcome and thank RGHA for visiting Pampas Grande. Later in the week, during UR student-led discussions in the Pampas Grande high school, Leidi courageously voiced her concerns about her community and how it could be improved. A year later, in a UR student-led interview, Leidi expressed her desire to go to college to study music, and then return to Pampas Grande to be a teacher and a leader in her community.

Led by 2011 University of Richmond graduate MaryGrace Apostoli, RGHA raised enough funds to pay for Leidi's tuition at Jose Maria Arguedas' National Superior School of Folklore in Huaraz, Peru, to which she is expected to apply upon her high school graduation in December. If accepted to the program, Leidi will be the first person in her family to leave Pampas Grande to pursue higher education.

RGHA is looking to continue its investments in girls' potential to create positive outcomes for themselves and their communities. Projects involving microcredit loans and other entrepreneurial aid for women are in the works, so keep an eye out for updates.

Note: Although RGHA believes in the transformative power of young women, it is not officially involved with the Girl Effect or the Nike Foundation.