📌 Edition #21
📆 May 2022

🌎 Copán Ruinas, Honduras

 

📸 This month’s Snaps 🎪

 

Inner Circle 🎪

Over the past 3 weeks, we have informed you of the traumatic event that occurred with a group of our staff and youth on May 27th. You can find those past communications in this link.

Today, we highlight our response to the needs of the victims and our team in general over the last couple weeks. The compassion and care of our staff can be seen in the small details of their day-to-day activities.

Some of the actions that have been taken since Friday, May 27th are listed below:

In the first days after the event we felt it was critical to spend time together as a community (the whole organization), and make sure everyone understood what happened, as we were all concerned for the safety and wellbeing of our coworkers. We welcomed the group to the UPH offices with family and friends, being attentive, listening, joining in prayers, and fellowship.

May 30th
Hit PAUSE: Gather together; listen and just BE together

All normal activities were postponed on Monday, and we shared an initial time to listen as the group present in SPS shared their thoughts, concerns and some recounted what happened, as well as their gratitude and hope about the future.

May 30th
Formation of our support plan for victims

We met as a small group specifically with the youth and staff present on the trip, to listen and better understand what they felt they needed from us [the larger support network of UP]. Those conversations sparked a series of actions and initiatives that became our support plan moving forward.

June 1st
Support for families of victims

A meeting with the families was conducted to go over the details of our response plan and address any questions they had. The participants had a strong sense of unity, support, and love. One of the parents approached one of our leaders and said:

"Don't you worry, Londin. We are aware of UPH's positive impact on our youth and children; don't let these bad-intentioned actions break your spirit."

June 2nd
Trauma Response Workshop: Being equipped by outside experts

Our youth and staff were led by Siomara Wedderburn from UrbanPromise Camden and received follow-up techniques to help heal and recover in the aftermath of traumatic events.

June 3rd
Rest and Decompress: Team time in nature

Every Friday we participate in a leadership workshop and afterwards share a meal together as a staff team, but this time we switched things up and got outside—trekking through the mountains and arriving at a retreat center to spend the afternoon relaxing and enjoying fellowship together as a team.

 
 

June 7th
Moving forward and looking to the future

Our leadership team further developed the response plan to be implemented within the organization. Additions and modifications were informed by what we had learned throughout the week in our conversations with advisors, mentors, and internal team evaluations. Some specific components we were happy to see included:

We are encouraged by the leadership shown by everyone at UPH and UPLAM through this process. 

  • All victims have been assigned a “check-in partner”; where they have optional access to touch base as needed with someone they know and trust

  • Counseling services have been made available to everyone, both as individuals and to help process as a group

  • Music - Writing - Breathing - Movement - Yoga - Art - are some of the activities that will be included in various group reflections that we organize over the coming months

You are a crucial part of this community and we enjoy keeping you updated on how we are moving forward. You are not physically present with us, but we feel your support in so many ways. Thank you for your prayers, emails, comments, and gifts that we shared amongst all the staff and youth involved in this event.

“Both UPH and UPLAM have been an example that people are more essential than programs or goals. The ability to "pause" agendas in order to give priority to people has had a significant influence on me. As well as noticing how the Board of Directors reacted quickly to the incident, accompanying us and looking for methods to assist us. Wow!!! I DON'T FEEL ALONE, to tell you the truth. And that has given me the confidence to keep moving forward in my personal healing.” - Carolina Botello