The Corazones con Esperanza (Hearts with Hope) Foundation recently wrapped up its third annual trip to Arequipa, Peru, where they spent over three weeks providing free medical care to children.
Founded by Dr. Juan Alejos, associate professor of pediatric cardiology at the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, the nonprofit foundation raises money to send medical experts to Latin America, where they help local hospitals and orphanages screen, diagnose and treat children for cardiac and dental problems.
In addition to providing medical care, the program also organizes donations received in its Los Angeles office to suit the ages and needs of children in the orphanages as well as those of patients in the hospital and in areas around Arequipa.
Alejos, whose parents are originally from Peru, said he originally visited the capital city of Lima to experience what his father had gone through in his own medical training in Peru.
“My dad was a very strong proponent about never forgetting your family roots,” Alejos said.
However, Alejos discovered that the second-largest city in Peru, Arequipa, was in more need of assistance than the capital because it had fewer medical programs than Lima did.
After starting Corazones con Esperanza, he began a five-year commitment to work with the city to establish medical programs.
Alejos led a group of 55 volunteers consisting of participants from UCLA and around the country, spending this past September in Arequipa.
Swati Patel, a pediatric anesthesiologist at the Mattel Hospital, said the group was made up of roughly 70 percent medical and 30 percent humanitarian personnel.
Patel also said that the group’s schedule was already set before they arrived in Peru, allowing them to use their time more efficiently and to treat as many patients as possible.
“The first time we got there we really didn’t have a sense of what we were going to do on a day-to-day basis. This time we were better able to hit the ground running,” Patel said.
The volunteers worked with local doctors and organizations. Some patients from previous years also came to visit the volunteers and help out with various tasks.
Patel said that a teenage girl, a patient from the group’s first trip, had translated for the volunteers and comforted children waiting for treatment.
Many of the participants on the trip are returnees, and some even pay for their own expenses.
Alejos said the volunteers willingly give up their vacation times and leave their families for weeks at a time.
“Most of the people don’t have any ties to Latin America, let alone Peru, but they become very passionate about it, and it’s very heartwarming to see,” Alejos said.
Despite the program’s commitment to Arequipa, the Peruvian government has already asked the group to expand to other cities.
The foundation has also received requests to volunteer in other countries, such as Bolivia and Ecuador.
Andrea Boddicker, director of fundaising and volunteer services for Corazones con Esperanza, said that the experience of going is certainly a life-changing one.
“It’s definitely an experience that makes you very, very grateful for what you have and makes you understand there’s so much need out there. And while you can’t do everything, you can certainly do something,” Boddicker said.