Changes For New Hope

Photo by Carmen, age 12 who wants to be a photographer

In a creative moment, Carmen arranges the children and Jim, our president, to pose for a shot during an art class. 

Photo by Maria Soccorro

Jim and his new friend

Photo by Jhon

Anti-parasite medicines are given to the children every three months. To combat the effects of malnutrition, this is one way to arrest the problem. Proper nutritional food is necessary and at the time of this writing, still lacking. We have supplimented their diets with donated vitamins and milk. Another project we are working on involves the growing of Chia Salvia-L which will be added to their foods to super fortify it. We are the first test program in South America to attempt this through our partners in the U.S. overseeing it.

Photo by Jim

Carmen and Eliana. These two girls, ages 11 and 12 have been instrumental in organizing, co-ordinating and making sure the smaller children stay focussed. Recognizing this talent, I encouraged them further by making them junior leaders. This gave me the opportunity to teach them leadership skills which helped their self esteem to grow and the project run smoothly.

Photo by Jim

Cash donations continue to be scarce, however Elias, a local fruit vendor, has made generous fruit and vegetable donations to Changes for New Hope, (formerly,Esperanza de Cambio.) In exchange, our way of saying thank you was to give him free English lessons. It is important to reciprocate whenever possible. It is a lesson of integrity we teach the children.

Photo by Jhon

Secsapampa, a village close to Huaraz, has many poor children. After hearing of our success in the Rio Seco area, the families have asked us to develop a project of Changes for New Hope with them. We were met with 23 eager children who are just incredible. A year later, the local mayor has arranged to give us access to the community center which will allow us to add more children into our group there.  

Photo by Jim

 But first you have to get to the place where we meet the children. That entails a trail that goes steeply up and at some points, as shown in the photo, a narrow footpath, with a 200 foot drop to the road below. Rainy season makes this trail even more treacherous.

Photo by Choco

By the kindness of Maria Ines of Lima Peru we were able to obtain much needed books and clothing materials. Here the children receive and show the books that have been donated. It will assist them in an education which is a key factor to breaking out of poverty and its despair.

Photo by Jim

Dra. Karin, a local dentist, donated her time and services to treat every child of Changes for New Hope,(formerly, Esperanza de Cambio.) She gave each child a new toothbrush and instructions on proper dental hygiene. Follow up appointments will be necessary. Many of the children have never seen a dentist before.

Photo by Eliana

Our mission in Changes for New Hope,(formerly,Esperanza de Cambio) is to reach those in the community that need our help, whatever that help may be. In a heartbreaking situation a mother of two teenaged daughters who are bedridden with polio, need medicines and blankets for combating the cold Andean nights. Gedeon, from Lima Peru, responded to my request and generously sent a box of blankets and clothing.  

Photo by Jim

 If you have ever had bad shoes, you will relate to the fact that it affects your whole body. When I observed the shoes the children and parents wore everyday I knew something had to be done. Through the kind donations of Skyline Adventures (skyline-adventures.com) and Mark Foo, we have been able to buy new shoes for many of our children and their parents. If you see the old shoes as well as the new pair, you will see why we ask for financial assistance and why I refuse to take a salary.

Photo by Jim

Photgraphy has captured the interest of the children and here I try to illustrate some of the different ways to take pictures.

Photo by Jim

This is a pair of shoes one of our boys wore daily, Thanks to Skyline Aventures in Huaraz and Mark Foo, today he wears new shoes and treats them like gold.

Photo by Eliana

These are two of our youngest children, Paola and Doris. Their biggest concern in life this day was picking the prettiest flowers on the mountainside during our paseo. I hope to instill solutions into their young lives before the harshness of real life of Peruvian poverty overwhelms them.

Jim Killon

Would there be enough players? Would there be enough sponsors? Where are we going to find all the materials we needed to make the First Annual Huaraz Benefit Chess Tournament a success? What began as an idea, became a vision, a goal and then a passion because everytime I listened to the poor children, they needed more than I could give them. We had to develop funds in a much larger way and this was it. It all came together beautifully with the help of some like minded dedicated people who loved the game, were concerned about the welfare of the children and believed in the project I began over a year ago using my own time and money. The next day after the tournament, I was distributing food to the families of the children, house by house. Upon my return to Huaraz, I was thanking every sponsor I came across one by one. -Jim Killon 

Jimmy Sykes

The First Annual Huaraz Benefit Chess Tournament runners up and Champions. For the benefit of the poor children of Huaraz that are cared for by Cambios para una Nueva Esperanza, Changes for New Hope, The tournament created funds to accomplish many of our goals, raised awareness of the plight of poor children within the Huaraz community and developed continuing sponsors, donors and supporters for the NGO, Cambios para una Nueva Esperanza, Changes for New Hope, that is determined to continue in its mission for the education and welfare of the poor children and by extension, their families. Our window will NEVER have a "No Hay Vacantes" sign hanging in it.

Jimmy Skykes

The champions of the First Annual Huaraz Benefit Chess Tournament won certificates, cash prizes and a trophy. The real winners of the Tournament were the children, some seen here with their mother, who participated in the presentation of awards and expressed the depth of their gratitude for what was being done on their behalf. All proceeds went to the direct benefit of the children.  

Photo by Jim

When people ask me why I am so adamant about doing all that can be done to help the poor children, this picture expresses what I am talking about. Helping these children with their homework and calling it a day doesn't make a "volunteer" a humanitarian any more than signing up for a 10k race would make them a track star. Our project goes much deeper than most and as a result, lives are changed in ways that had been previously incomprehendable. 

Photo by Choco

The First Annual Huaraz Benefit Chess Tournament is going to be held at Mi Chef Kristof's and Cafe Andino on August 30-31, 2010 for the benefit of the children of Changes for New Hope, Cambios para una Nueva Esperanza (formerly Esperanza de Cambio.) All proceeds will go to the direct benefit of the children. There will be 2 catagories Under 12 and 12 and over. Prizes will be awarded for the top 3 winners in each catagory. A 20 soles entrance fee for each player is required. Donations from companies and corporate sponsors are also being solicited and will be named as such in our promotional materials. If you can not join us but would like to support our poor children here in Huaraz please send your donation directly through the Omprakash Foundation here on this website. Thank you for your kindness and generousity.

Photo by Jim killon

Imagination, some aluminum foil and a face and you have a work of art, an aluminum mask

The newest group of children of Changes for New Hope. now we are able to begin expanding in many new ways thanks to the dedication, support and tenacity of volunteers and supporters who would not allow a child to continue in poverty if there was a way to prevent it.

photo by Jim Killon

"Gringo Bingo"  It teaches the children math skills and English as well as a sense of fair play. When ALL the kids won a game, we checked their cards and found just one winner. Lesson learned? Cheaters never win.  

Photo by Jim Killon

A magnifying glass caused a huge stir among the children who had never actually seen or used one before. Stimulating their imagination to learn more, see things from an all new perspective and sharing new ideas is all part of the adventure. Our thanks to Amanda and her son Edward who brought us many such new items that has opened worlds to these children.