John Green in Peru: "We have to reduce the empathy gap".

John Green, author of young adult novels such as Under the Same Star and The Katherine Theorem, visited Lima from April 22 to 24 with Socios En Salud (SES), the Peruvian branch of Partners In Health. Their visit to the northern districts of the city coincided with field activities to learn about community health initiatives in HIV, tuberculosis, mental health and noncommunicable diseases. The visit was also an opportunity to meet with people accompanied by the organization and reinforce its health justice message.

“I think we solve the problems we pay attention to, and too often we haven’t paid attention to the TB crisis or diseases linked to injustice,” Green said. “I was made to pay attention to these issues because of the work that Partners In Health is doing around the world, and that’s why I think I care so much about global health today.”

For three days, Green held meetings with health teams, visited homes of people affected by various diseases and participated in meetings with community leaders. On Monday 22, his day began at the Policlínico de Socios En Salud, in La Molina, where he learned about the comprehensive care services for HIV, PEP, PrEP and infectious diseases, as well as the interventions scaled together with the Ministry of Health (MINSA).

Later, in the historic center of Lima, she visited the safe house for trans women living with HIV, where she heard testimonies about comprehensive accompaniment and advocacy in highly vulnerable contexts. That same afternoon, in San Isidro, she participated in a session of the PASEO project, where young people with HIV shared their experience of transition from the pediatric to the adult system.

The following day, the author traveled to Carabayllo to join an active search campaign for tuberculosis cases led by MINSA with technical support from SES. In the upper part of the district, he witnessed community accompaniment during a home visit to a person being treated for TB. He also toured the organization’s laboratory and pharmacy to learn about the processes of analysis and delivery of medicines.

Reflecting on his time in Lima, John Green said, “It has been an incredible experience. I am very grateful to all the people who work at Socios En Salud for welcoming me and allowing me to see their work up close, and also to all the people we met in this great city. I have never been in a place like Lima. It is exciting and wonderful.”

Commitment to the most vulnerable people

On Wednesday 24, his last day on the ground, was marked by a visit to programs focused on non-communicable diseases and mental health. At the Centro Materno Infantil Mexico, in San Martin de Porres, John Green learned about the comprehensive care module for people with diabetes, a model that SES promotes together with MINSA to achieve better adherence to treatment based on community accompaniment.

Later, in Carabayllo, he visited the home of a beneficiary of the Mental Health program, who shared his story of recovery thanks to the support of a community team. At the Ricardo Palma Stadium, Green attended a business fair organized by people living with schizophrenia. An occupational therapy demonstration class was also held there and educational materials developed by SES and MINSA for community mental health centers were handed out.

In the afternoon, she closed her visit in Ventanilla by attending a session of the CASITA project of the Maternal, Infant and Adolescent Health program, which promotes early childhood development and the empowerment of caregivers through accompaniment and guidance sessions by community agents.

Consulted on why he believes it is important to get more people interested in global health, Green replied, “We have to bridge the empathy gap. There is a distance between how I feel about my life and how I feel about other people’s lives. And the more distance there is between us and suffering, between us and injustice, the harder it will be to solve those problems together.”

The author of Everything Is Tuberculosis also stressed that global health problems must be faced collectively. “We have to work together to address the needs of the most vulnerable among us. And we must also work together to solve the big problems we share, including global health and equity.”

The writer’s visit to Peru not only reaffirmed his commitment to health justice, but also strengthened the bond between Socios En Salud and international allies. His presence helped to make visible, with empathy and respect, the community work being done in some of the most difficult contexts in Lima, and to remind us that sustainable change requires both political will and human closeness.

Be part of the change. Receive in your inbox our actions, stories and opportunities to transform lives. Subscribe here and join our movement for health!