Story of Refuge of Hope  

 
You may remember the director of The Refuge of Hope, Victor Izquierda, who started this school for the disabled children and underserved people of Pucallpa. Victor shared how he started the school by quitting his full-time job in business following an interaction with another individual, who was disabled, at a bus stop in Pucallpa. The individual stepped off the bus and saw Victor standing there in his work attire and noticed that he also had limited functional ability in one side of his body from Polio. He looked directly at Victor and told him that he was “one of the lucky ones” having had the opportunity to go to college. That comment at a bus stop around Pucallpa stirred up a deep conviction to help those individuals who are also disabled (physical, mentally).

At this point in his life, he was engaged to be married to Anita (his wife now) and had a steady job with a decent income. After much prayer and consideration, he decided that he wanted to quit his job and open a school for children with disabilities (both physical and mental) so that they might also have the opportunity to be educated and later to support themselves and their families. Everyone thought he was crazy for leaving a great job with no real way of knowing how he would support his own family once he and Anita were married. Victor said, “not only did everyone know that I had physical handicaps, but now they wondering if I also was mentally handicap as well.” His job gave him five years severance pay (which is rather generous) and told him if the school did not work out within the year, he could have his original job back.

He then went to request a piece of property to use from some farmers he knew in the Pucallpa area. They said they would loan him some land to build the school on and if the school did not work after two years, they would just start farming the land again. Victor then borrowed a motorcycle, and with two other friends from the community, also disabled from Polio, strapped themselves to the motorcycle and with machetes in hand the three of them began traveling out to the property to begin clearing the field. During one of their commutes to the property, they were stopped by a policeman and asked to explain what three men were doing strapped to the back of a motorcycle and were asked to step away from the bike, but Victor replied to the policeman that the two passengers would not be able to stand if he undid the strap from the motorcycle. That did not satisfy the policeman’s demand. So, when Victor released the strap, both of the passengers fell to the ground. The policeman then believed the previous story that the men were building a school for children with disabilities and began helping the two men back onto the motorcycle and let them go. That was the last time he was stopped by the police. Victor also told us, that the same policeman that stopped them had a son with disablities who later attended the Refuge of Hope.

After two years of struggling to start the school, Victor sought the assistance of Food for the Hungry, who stepped in and started the initial building projects for the school which are still there today. Victor explained that his desire was to serve first the Lord and then the children who did not have the same opportunities because of their disabilities whether physical or mental. This was in 1987 and today there are approximately 400 students who attend the Refuge of Hope to learn not only the subjects of math, science, history, ect., but also learn about God’s love for them and their inherent worth because they are children of the Lord. The Izquierdas are incredible people with incredible faith, who have a heart to serve the Lord. They also have great senses of humor.