June 2023

United Nations 2030 Sustainable Goal 4: QUALITY EDUCATION

According to the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, if all students in low-income countries left school with elementary reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty. In other words, such basic action could result in a 12% cut in global poverty.

What a full year it has been putting into action our mission to provide meaningful outreach to resource-poor communities in Paraguay and to assist in the development of mutual respect and friendship between the people of Paraguay and the United States. Activities culminated during our annual trip in June 2023. For one month, directors and host country representatives traveled to communities where OutreachPARAGUAY has been active as well as to new communities.  One of the highlights of the trip was visiting schools in Yuty and surrounding areas (Department of Caazapá) to promote early childhood literacy and a passion for reading. Participating schools were asked to creatively demonstrate an understanding of a book students had read utilizing local resources. Presentations surpassed our expectations! Each school received educational materials, including packets of books to “grow” libraries, along with either didactical material, maps, globes, and refurbished computers and projectors. Host country representatives include retired teachers who have been educated on the importance of early childhood literacy and strategies for developing early readers. They continue the work throughout the year sharing their expertise, time, and commitment to the children within their own communities.

October 2022

We are preparing for our 10 year Anniversary Even to be held in November. It is hard to believe we have been an “official” not-for-profit organization for 10 years! We have so many to thank for their continued support of the organization. Over the past year we have been more intentional in our efforts to support early childhood literacy. In June we, along with a group of retired educators from Paraguay, offered a workshop to 40+ teachers and supervisors on the importance of literacy and reading. We then traveled school to school demonstrating reading circles. We provided schools with books to get started as well as some teaching materials. We will continue to support the schools by further “growing” the libraries and providing didactical materials. Thanks to the donations we received we were able to provide a number of schools with computers, photocopiers, printers, projectors, and sound systems. We donated many items to a local nursing home and local health posts and provided medical providers with needed medications.

Throughout the year we shipped hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of donated items, including wheelchairs, walkers, canes, crutches, soccer gear, clothing, medical supplies.

Partners!

We are beyond grateful to our many individual donors and partners! We are also grateful for our community partners including GIFTS THAT GIVE HOPE LANCASTER, PA: AN ALTERNATIVE GIFT FAIR, FRIENDS OF PARAGUAY, ADORERS OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, COLUMBIA: CHARITABLE GIVING COMMITTEE, AND PENN MEDICINE/LGHealth. We could not continue with our work without each of you.

June-July 2021

We have been busy throughout the year sending materials to resource-poor areas in Paraguay by ship and through our in-country contacts and supporters.

We were unable to travel to Paraguay in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Milner and I did travel this year, but by ourselves, without a group of volunteers. Traveling as a group of two allowed us more flexibility and mobility. This year we made our way with donations to Caazapá, Yuty, Ana Reta’i, Tiri San Antoni, San Joaquin, Cecilia Baez, Pastoreo, Reptriacion, and Caaguazú.

The Covid 19 pandemic highlights the profound disparities in healthcare that exist throughout the world. The burden of disease can be devastating in countries, like Paraguay, that already struggle to provide basic healthcare to its citizens. Limited resources and dollars have been internally diverted from public health programs to implement and sustain Covid 19 mitigation efforts.

Throughout our travels we encountered overwhelming need. Patients and their families were left to search for needed medicines and diagnostic studies outside of the public hospitals and health posts. We met with family members outside of the hospital where they made camp under tarps waiting for word on their loved ones. They gathered around charcoal grills to prepare food (for themselves and those in the hospital) and to stay warm. While families waited, searching for medicines and preparing food, they lost income, could not attend to their farms, and for some, were separated from their children who remained at home. Healthcare staff felt helpless, often without any resources to offer other than compassion.

We also met with teachers doing their best to offer class over the local radio station since school doors were closed. Teachers traveled miles to make copies of assignments and then delivered them to their students house by house. Computers and printers are few and far between. Some prepared bags of food for students and their families.

Stories of heartbreak and glimpses of hope are too numerous to mention here but they do exist. The breadth and depth of Covid’s impact is immense.

Milner and I, as representatives of OutreachPARAGUAY, are filled with gratitude for our donors and supporters. We believe we have been good stewards of your donations. Much more needs to be done and our efforts, with your help, will continue.

Impact during the Pandemic

We gather and ship donations throughout the year. A group of volunteers and OutreachPARAGUAY staff travel to Paraguay on an annual basis. As a result of the pandemic we were not able to travel this year.

We may not have been able to travel in June but shipments continue to arrive and are being distributed to resource-poor areas thanks to our friends and family in Paraguay.

Our current pandemic highlights the profound disparities in healthcare that exist throughout the world. The burden of disease (Covid-19) is tremendous in countries, like Paraguay, that already struggle to provide basic healthcare to its citizens.  Limited resources and dollars have been internally diverted from public health programs to implement and sustain Covid-19 mitigation efforts and to obtain supplies, including PPE, mechanical ventilators, test kits, medicines, and other medical supplies.

Over the past year OutreachPARAGUAY has shipped greater than $5,000 of largely donated items to resource-poor areas of Paraguay. Among these items are:

·         Durable Medical Equipment: Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, shower chairs

·         500 hospital gowns

·         Dental hygiene supplies

·         Personal hygiene supplies

·         Medical supplies

·         Educational resources

·         Classroom fans

·         Clothing

Our work continues with the support of our freinds, family, and local community.

OutreachPARAGUAY 2019

June 14-26, 2019: Public Health students from Austin College in Texas and PENN State University, along with healthcare professionals from Harrisburg and Lancaster, PA joined OutreachPARAGUAY Directors and staff for an unforgettable experience. We are beyond grateful for everything that has happened over the past 2 weeks, from sunny, unseasonably warm weather, to the unmatched hospitality of our Paraguayan hosts!! Days of service projects were full. Days of learning and engaging were equally full. Our hope is that everyone who participated in our annual trip to Paraguay returns home changed... Rohayhu Paraguay!!!

(Participants cover 100% of their expenses.)

Annual Fundraiser

NOVEMBER 9, 2018: Thanks to all who came out, on a cold and rainy night in Lancaster, to show their support of OutreachPARAGUAY!! I was a great night! It was our chance to “thank you” for all you have done and share with you our hopes and plans for 2019. It is also our chance to share with you stories of all that is PARAGUAY!!

June 2018

June 8-22, 2018 Directors of OutreachPARAGUAY, along with Public Health students from Austin College and Medical University of South Carolina, traveled to Paraguay where they engaged in service-learning projects. They also had the opportunity to spend time with local community members and experience life in rural Paraguay.  While in Paraguay we were able to further distribute donations shipped throughout the year including:

--donations of clothing and soccer gear to local communities

--donations of medications and medical equipment to a local hospital and rural health posts

--donations of over 1,000 toothbrushes and toothpaste to school age children

---donations of health education materials

We were also able to:

--donate a photocopier and school supplies to a rural school

--equip a mobile health clinic with a dental compressor, EKG machine, nebulizer, 2 pulse oximeters, 2 air conditioners for procedure areas

--donate books to rural school libraries

--repair windows in rural school

We travel to Paraguay once a year but our work is year round thanks to the continued support of friends and community members here at home! Those who travel to Paraguay cover 100% of their own costs.  

 

 

June 2017

 Our most recent trip took place June 9-22, 2017.  We traveled with an incredible group of people, including medical professionals and educators, and we were met by our equally incredible friends, family, and colleagues in Paraguay. So much happened in a very short amount of time. Thanks to many generous friends at home we were able to provide material resources, more than ever before, to our friends in Paraguay. We collaborated with MAP International to bring a supply of many medications and we collaborated with the Reach Out And Read program to bring many, many books and advocate for early childhood literacy in rural areas of Paraguay.  We met countless wonderful people along the way that will be forever be remembered and held close in our hearts. Our work continues; we are already gathering supplies for our next shipment to Paraguay.