Changes for New Hope -- Mission Accomplished
                                                                              What is Next?
 
We are proud to announce that Changes for New Hope has accomplished what we set out to do in 2009. Our latest and last campaign was in the high Andes at San Marcos, Peru for 300 children in December 2019 just before the school hiatus and the Peruvian government issued lockdown orders due to the Covid-19 outbreak. 2020 and now into 2021 we continue to be in quarantine restriction mode which does not allow large groups to gather yet.
 
Therefore what will the future of Changes for New Hope look like? 

  I have re-evaluated our effectiveness over the ten years that our project has been working. Through trial and error I found out what works and what doesn't. Every situation is unique, every village has their special issues. In the beginning there were so many needs that I attempted to be all "Wal-Mart" by trying to provide all things for all villages. Then we fine tuned our efforts to provide specific aid and determine what would be the most effective impact with the limited resources we had available to us. We found that anti-parasite medicine, vitamin A for eyesight health, school supplies and shoes were most needed. As other materials were available, we would distribute them as well. This streamlined our programs.

I looked at the effectiveness of young international volunteers as objectively as possible and frankly, with 20/20 hindsight, most should have stayed home. The teachers in local schools that I go to are dedicated, well trained and have a vested interest in the children in their classes. We accomplished more in a week with them than what I could in two months carrying a team of delicate 20-somethings who were glued to their phones, and resisted rising before the crack of 9am. Our partnership with government agencies had also proven to tremendously advance our mutual objectives. 
 
  I also re-evaluated the donors who support us. Obviously, anyone who shares their resources with us must have a degree of altruism and compassion for the less fortunate in the world. My deepest gratitude goes out to those who have given selflessly over the years whether as a one time gift or on a continuing basis. Donations however, were never consistant month to month so we had no idea how to best plan projects past the next week. We stretched out every dollar as far as it could possibly go and when funds just weren't there, we had to regress from some pueblos with apologies to the children. Even so, we were able to be creative with what we had for as many as we could reach and in our ten years over 6000 children received aid and support from this project. As you will read below, we no longer request donations. 
 
  Then I re-evaluated myself. I arrived in Peru completely unaware of what I was walking into. I did not speak Spanish, did not understand the culture and customs which makes for some very funny stories now but at the time, it was surreal. The adjustment to apartments without heat, hot water, carpeting, eating food I couldn't identify, and constant, loud construction all around me was nerve racking. However, if my vision was a Must and not "just a good idea", I had to learn what I needed to learn, do what I had to do and go with the flow.
As a result, I became a minimalist, eating one meal a day initially to save money, now because it is healthier. For years I slept in one room on a mattress on the floor. I never complained because I saw this as part of the adventure I stepped into voluntarily. I used my life savings to create, develop and build the project because no one else initially would. Money not used for daily needs or the benefit of our Human Family was just dirty paper being hoarded. I was completely unaware that I would face resistance to my humanitarian project at the hands of extortionists, grifters and those who promised what they had no intention of doing. I referred to it as a reverse Julius Ceasar, "I came, I saw, I ran like hell." It was all part of the adventure I told myself.
 
Against all odds, Changes for New Hope grew from one group of 15 children to several groups numbering over 200 and then continuous visits to over 50 neighboring villages throughout Ancash to reach the 6000 I mentioned earlier. The whole experience, every challenge, the good and not so good, developed me as a more profound man, as a more aware human being, as a person of deeper compassion and love than I could have ever imagined. I failed more than I succeeded as any person who attempted the impossible has done. I made mistakes that taught me better ways to accomplish goals, who to trust, what worked and what didn't. I learned that if I wanted to see the impossible accomplished, I had to attempt the impossible. I learned how to become limitless.

  I was so filled up with a sense of awareness that I wrote my first e-book, "A Gringo in Peru-A Story of Compassion in Action" in 2013. Nine more books followed, we held eight art exhibitions and one virtual exhibition. Two chess tournaments, distributed over nine tons of school supplies and other materials, vitamin A to save eyesight, albendozole to combat parasite infection to thousands. Our "Do the Right Thing" campaign was city-wide.
 
During this pandemic, I was unable to go anywhere so I began studying books about Eastern philosophy. The Tao Te Ching, Zen living, minimalism, earthing/grounding, Qigong, personal development and healthy eating habits. I was amazed that much of what I read I was doing already, so I just adjusted my meditation and mindfulness to a more structured path. Instead of becoming "great" as a result of so many accomplishments, I have become,"No-Thing." I have no title, no position, no egocentric identity. There is no one to impress nor to be impressed by. I have become the emptiness of a bowl. Why? Because it is where the soup goes that feeds the hungry. I have become the holes in a wall. Why? Because they become the doors and windows for people to walk through and see out of. Think about it. When you no longer are attached to a persona to defend and declare, you allow yourself to become all things and experience life without walls, borders, limitations or self imposed regulations. 
 
For years I thought it was important to present myself as a larger than life leader of a successful project so people would see it, follow our footsteps and perhaps also lead their own humanitarian project. I wanted people to know what we were doing so they would not hesitate to support us. Ironically, becoming No-Thing, the emptiness of a bowl, is how we get filled, internally then outwardly. If no one else ever becomes a humanitarian, if no one else ever supports this or any other project, that is upon them. The only thing that will outlast our physical presence on this earth is our contribution toward making the world a better place. Those who selflessly realize this are the ones who actually lived and did not just exist to earn a living, accumulate possessions, pay taxes and die one day. 

The future of post-pandemic Changes for New Hope, will reach into the hearts of people who care to learn and grow from the inside out. I will teach mindfulness, meditation and personal development so people can help themselves in the future. I will teach people, as I have learned, to flow like water, take the form of the environs and adapt, roll smoothly and effortlessly around rocks and obstacles in their lives. I have become aware that people are suffering from depressions and anxieties and this is making them sick. It is ill-affecting every aspect of their lives. If we would change our thinking, we can change our lives. We can accomplish this virtually, or in retreat settings without needing donations or volunteers.  My latest book available on Amazon about this is "Mindfulness, Meditation and Motivation" the link is below.
  As new funding and community co-operation avails itself, we plan on providing Fog Collector systems in desert communities that have no way of accessing drinkable water. One such unit erected can provide water to a community of hundreds of residents for up to ten years absolutely free. Compassion in action!
What a beautiful world my friends.... and now onto our next adventure!