"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." - Mother Theresa
The first time we held an orphaned baby, it transformed us. We first visited the JAVA orphanage in Ayacucho Peru in 2013 for our Roman Catholic confirmation. At 12 and 10 years of age the archbishop of Ayacucho, Msgr. Salvador Piñeiro, prepared us by introducing us to people that dedicate their life to helping others in this isolated part of the Andes. At an orphanage we played ball with little kids who loved the attention and we met baby Doris who suffered seizures. The psychologist told us she had never seen Doris smile, but it was as simple as a game of peek-a-boo. We found help for her medical care and it worked. We realized how little it took from us to have an impact and to help these children be happier. We spoke and spent time with elderly women and men that had amazing stories at a retirement home. Most of them lived through the horrors of the Shining Path terrorist group (Sendero Luminoso) and yet what they most appreciate is just kind company.
We wanted to help more. In 4th grade our school had us work on a project called " Children help our World" which taught us the basic process of how to create an organization to help in the world. We applied its lessons to create Hands for the Andes.
Our friends Kasey Callanan, Brianna Moglianesi, Andrew Moglanesi, Sophie Nourbakhsh and Dara Nourbakash had great ideas for helping, some so simple and powerful. Profoundly changed by their own visits to the children, elderly and caretakers in Ayacucho, they engaged their family and friends from different parts of the world to help. This is how more medical support, educational aid and ideas are being generously sourced.