Compassionate aid that took on challenges and embraced lessons during the last two years.
The Wiese Foundation has been committed to the country for over 60 years, and has been working, through its five programs, to promote the common good, particularly of the most vulnerable Peruvians.
One of its most active initiatives during the past five years has been the Humanitarian Aid Program. Following the appearance and spread of COVID-19 – a virus that to this day we still don’t fully understand – the Wiese Foundation has taken on challenges and embraced valuable lessons in its effort to contribute to relieving the suffering of the most vulnerable, facing the unexpected turns and grave consequences of the pandemic.
Let us remember together, through this account, the activities carried out through the Humanitarian Aid Program from the arrival of COVID-19 to the present day.
2020, start of the pandemic
In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had arrived in the country, and the Government imposed a strict quarantine. During these times, everyday activities such as going to work, shopping at the market, or going to the doctor for the prevention or treatment of any illness not related to the new virus, were completely affected; thousands of people began to be infected each day, and, since then, nothing has gone back to how it was before.
Immediate attention for the most vulnerable
In that context, the Wiese Foundation, recognizing the grave impact the fight against COVID-19 would have on the most vulnerable of the Peruvian population, channeled its aid efforts through various campaigns and donations, focused on bringing them immediate relief.
Through the direct delivery of food, masks, and/or cash transfers, the institution reached close to 5,500 very vulnerable families in the coastal, mountain, and jungle regions of Peru. Approximately 25,000 people who live in a situation of poverty or extreme poverty received help and hope, in the face of the sudden disappearance of their habitual means of subsistence, in the first months of the crisis.
At the same time, the institution carried out campaigns for testing, prevention, and treatment of non-complex cases of coronavirus, in various areas that showed high rates of infection. Through the campaign, “We are working together against COVID-19”, it attended to more than 2,250 people, with tests, evaluations, and medical consultations, counselling to prevent infection, and referral of the most complicated positive cases.
Contribution to the front line of the battle
Along with the work carried out to attend directly to vulnerable populations, it was necessary to work together with medical staff on the front lines of service. Almost immediately after the declaration of the national state of emergency, the Foundation donated $100,000 for the purchase of mechanical ventilators, and directly donated various instruments needed by EsSalud, for the implementation of its specialized facilities for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 cases; the first donation of pulse oximeters, sphygmomanometers, and stethoscopes arrived at the hands of the medical director of the Villa Panamericana on March 31, 2020.
At the same time, the institution also donated 8,125 units of personal protective equipment, including suits, half face respirators, rubber boots, face shields, and 20,000 3M and KN95 masks; all of this was done in direct coordination with representatives from MINSA and EsSalud, attending specifically to the most urgent needs of our doctors and health technicians in the ICUs and COVID-19 zones, implemented in various hospitals at the national level, as well as to protect the workers of the SAMU ambulances, charged with transporting the most critical cases.
The Marine Corps of Peru, for its part, sought the aid of the Wiese Foundation to implement an adequate space where its troops, infected with COVID-19 in the fulfillment of their duty, could carry out their quarantine. The Foundation contributed to this cause with the donation of 185 mattresses.
2021, remaining firm in front of the cannon
Wayrachis and oxygen flow calibrators, a powerful weapon to face COVID-19
2021 started with the donation of 100 Wayrachis to the EsSalud network. This equipment, which provides a high flow of oxygen, developed by Mercedes Benz and the prestigious UCL university of the United Kingdom, were made in Peru and sent to various hospitals, relieving the high demand for ICU beds and contributing directly to saving hundreds of human lives during the second wave.
To date, the Wayrachi has been demonstrated to be one of the most effective medical strategies implemented in Peru for the successful treatment of complicated cases of COVID-19, up till now in the pandemic.
After the successful delivery of the Wayrachis, the next step was to optimize the efficiency of the strategy. In this respect, the Wiese Foundation donated oxygen flow calibrators, better known as FiO2 machines (inspired fraction of oxygen meters).
These machines allow for the exact measurement of the quantity and concentration of oxygen that each patient receives, optimizing the use of this valuable resource and improving the results of treatment. In total, 13 devices were donated by the Wiese Foundation, which were each delivered to a hospital in the EsSalud network, including the Rebagliati Hospital, the Guillermo Almenara Hospital, and the Villa Mongrut.
Oxygen plant for Cañete and Yauyos, sowing optimism
This year, the city of Cañete could count on its own medicinal oxygen plant thanks to the support of the Wiese Foundation, in collaboration with other private institutions and the local civil society.
This support benefitted not only the residents of Cañete, but also their neighbors in Yauyos, who now have closer at hand the medicinal oxygen needed for the attention of patients affected by COVID-19.
The Cañete oxygen plan allows for the generation of 96 cylinders per day, thanks to its two generators that produce 20 m3 per hour. In the post-pandemic landscape, this will still be useful for the population, because it will be able to supply medicinal oxygen to the local hospital.
“We Are Working Together for Your Wellbeing” in La Libertad
In 2021, one of the most beautiful campaigns of Humanitarian Aid that the Wiese Foundation has led and executed, carried out in the region of La Libertad, ended: “We Are Working Together for Your Wellbeing”.
This initiative offered aid to hundreds of very vulnerable households, previously selected and sponsored, as well as other inhabitants of the principal pockets of poverty of the eight districts of the province of Ascope. This was possible thanks to the cooperative work of the Wiese Foundation, the Montpelier Foundation, ADRA Peru, and the Red Sum Association.
At least 5,000 beneficiaries, belonging to the 1,000 most vulnerable households of the target areas, received food assistance, through the direct delivery of non-perishable food items, sufficient to feed them for 14 days with an adequate caloric intake.
Through four stationary medical campaigns and two travelling brigades, a team of 30 health professionals and technicians, along with a team of trained volunteers, provided attention to more than 1,100 beneficiaries, offering them evaluations and medical consultations in the specializations of general medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics, as well as medicine and counselling for the prevention of COVID-19 and integral health care; all of this was offered completely free of charge.
And when, due to their vulnerable state, people could not travel to receive attention, the Wiese Foundation came to their precarious homes, taking them the food assistance and health services that they so needed.
All of this work done for the benefit of the most vulnerable, affected by the pandemic, is the product of the efforts of many good-hearted people, who contribute to the purpose of the Wiese Foundation, generously and determinedly, through their work, knowledge, and/or economic resources.
These people sometimes act independently, or sometimes as representatives of the institutions they work for or direct; there are so many of them that it would be impossible to mention them all. However, the Wiese Foundation greatly values that relationship that it has with each and every one of them, and thanks them deeply for their commitment to Peru.
Let us keep working together to transform our country into a nation forged by better citizens! Learn more about our Humanitarian Aid Program here: https://www.fundacionwiese.org/en/solidarity-fund/humanitarian-aid
