“We didn’t have anywhere to evacuate to or any means of removing the water.”

When Cyclone Yaku caused flooding across José Leonardo Ortiz, in northern Peru, students and alumni of Centro Santa Angela’s Leadership School took action. In the urban community of José Francisco Cabrera, Walter Cabrera helped organize his neighbours and assess the situation. With nobody else to help them out, they devised an ingenious way of draining away the water.

Walter is a Leadership School alumni and now sits on the school’s citizen watchdog committee COVAG.

Watch the video to learn more.

Guests at the AGM, held last May 26, heard from our two co-chairs and our treasurer. We learned that, thanks to the generosity of our donors, Heart-Links sent almost $140,000 to Peru last year in support of 12 different community development projects. Heart-Links is on course to continue working in solidarity with the people of northern Peru for many years to come.

(You can read about the activities of our different committees and about the community development projects we support in Peru in our 2018 annual report.)

A replenished board, introduced at the meeting, draws on both the energy and innovation of newcomers and the experience and wisdom of veterans. Many new committee members attended as well. We are very grateful to see so many people interested in contributing their time and talents to this little organization with the big heart.

In addition to welcoming new volunteers, we had to say good-bye to some long-term board and committee members. Gordon Price stepped down as co-chair but will still lead the Peru Project Committee together with Shannon Theriault. Lina Bowden, who was a signatory when Heart-Links first incorporated, has resigned from the Solidarity Trip Committee. We wish them and everybody else who has connected with Heart-Links over the years the very best.

The highlight of the afternoon was—without doubt—the premiere of a video our partner organization ACIES made especially for the occasion. We were moved and humbled to see the commitment, creativity and love these volunteers have brought to this project (and to everything they do). Words cannot describe it, so you’ll just have to see for yourself (below!).

We hope you continue to follow and support Heart-Links’ work in 2019. And next year, we’d love to see you at our AGM. There is always something amazing in store.

—Ruth Taylor, Operations Coordinator, Heart-Links Lazos de Corazón

• • Messages from our Co-Chairs and Treasurer
  • Introduction to our 2019 Board of Directors
  • Reception with light refreshments

When: Sunday, May 26, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London

RSVP to 226-884-2845 or info@heartlinks.org or here

Featuring a silent auction, complimentary Peruvian refreshments, a cash bar, and music by El Sistema Aeolian’s Concertino Quartet and Shout Sister Choir, this free-admission fundraiser is a great way to spend a chilly Thursday night.

Plus, you’ll here about the amazing programs and projects Heart-Links’ partners in Peru carried out in 2018.

Monies raised will go to support community development initiatives in northern Peru in 2019.

When: Thursday, February 7 from 7 pm to 9 pm

Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, ON

7:00pm Doors Open, Silent Auction Starts
7:15pm  Welcome Message from Louise Vandenbosch, Co-Chair
7:30pm El Sistema Aeolian’s Concertino Quartet
7:50pm Peru Projects Video & Words from Gordon Price, Co-Chair
8:10pm Shout Sister Choir
8:30pm Final Bidding
8:45pm Silent Auction Closes

These gems—and many more—are up for grabs in our silent auction:

• golf packages from Ingersoll Golf Club, Sunningdale Golf & Country Club, and Caradoc Sands Golf Club
• an original oil painting by Jeremy Price
• a certificate from London Police Services to ride-along in a police cruiser
• 2 passes for a boat tour of Niagara Falls by Hornblower Niagara Cruises
• party packages for Palasad bowling and Ctrl V virtual reality arcade
• passes to Modo Yoga and Goodlife Fitness
• a celebration tree from Reforest London

There’s something for everyone. So don’t miss out! RSVP here

During Heart-Links’ last monitoring trip, in September 2017, we asked our Peruvian friends and partners these very questions. And they responded with some very inspiring answers:

To me the word solidarity is more than anything else, a feeling. That feeling that’s inside everybody but is perhaps more developed in some than others. Because sometimes solidarity is confused with friendship. And solidarity is much more than that. It’s what you give, often without expecting any return, any compensation. There’s a sense of empathy, that we feel comfortable coming closer as brothers and sisters. That this strengthens us, and this strength enables us to do many more things, knowing that this is a shared effort, that we are accepted, accompanied, that we are brothers and sisters. For me, personally, that fills me, that satisfies me.

—Delicia Romero, Zaña team

Solidarity has to do with the common good. I mean, this principle revolves around the idea that I am not alone in the world, and that what is mine is not mine but everyone else’s. There is a connection: that there is a principle greater than individualism, greater than oneself as a person. So always remember to think that together we are more and that there is a greater principle at work than my economic stability or self-benefit. We should always be thinking about others, about a common good, a good that is common, that belongs to many. What is mine is not only mine but everyone’s, belongs not even just to my family, but to all humanity. It is like a common principle. I think it’s very much related to solidarity.

— Nathalia Quintero, volunteer with Rural Libraries Network

We also asked Flor Reaño and María Elena Zapata, of Latidos:

Because of time constraints, we were not able to interview all our partners, but we have put together a short film (15 min) that shows some of the work these committed men and women do and the kind of life-changing initiatives Heart-Links supports.