Norma

Norma is 23 years old. She lives in Huambalo, a small town just outside of Ambato in central Ecuador. She discovered she had a brain tumor at the age of 12. Due to the location of the tumor, only about 70 percent could be removed.

I met Norma this year when I joined a group of assistive technology professionals who were volunteering in Ecuador through the CITTI Project (cittiproject.org), a fiscal project that FSD has sponsored for the last several years. 10+ years later, Norma is a success story simply by being alive. However, she continues to have lasting effects from her tumor--her mobility is very impaired; she walks slowly with a cane. Her hand movements are labored and she remains quite stiff. She experiences dizzy spells, stomach aches, backaches and more. Yet, in spite of all this, she possesses such a positive attitude and is so passionate about life and learning, everyone around her is drawn to her...including me.

I was so incredibly impressed by Norma, that it became almost an obsession to do whatever I could to help her. Recently, she managed to enroll in a distance learning program in Ambato and once a week she goes to town to a school there--she is currently in the first year of high school there. She happened to be going to Ambato on a Wednesday when I was going to be in Ambato as well, so Gladys, FSD's program director, picked her up from school and we brought her to see a neurologist to get an opinion on what could be done.

While some medical care is free in Ecuador, the reality is that most medical things have costs. Norma couldn't afford to see a specialist and her family hasn't been all that supportive of her. She is one of 12 children and the impression I've gotten from her is that a sister is her primary caregiver and is really the only one looking out for her. The neurologist was moderately optimistic and said that fact that she is alive after 10+ years means that the surgery was successful. Her main needs are physical therapy and a new MRI to see what is going on with the part of the tumor that remains as well as examine the current situation of the stunt that was put in her at the time of her surgery.

We scheduled a new MRI for her for the following wednesday and are in discussion with both the organization in Huambalo that offers physical therapy as well as an organizatio in Ambato that might offer her more options. Money was raised for her last year, by the CITTI group, to help with the costs of such things, and I'm committed to helping her, as I'm sure many in the CITTI group are, when that money runs out.

It's hard to explain in words the spirit of this young woman. When I was in a taxi later that day with someone from FSD's site team in Ambato, that person turned to me and asked, 'why her...I mean, there must be thousands of people like this in and around Ambato alone'. This is a true statement. There are probably thousands of people in the area with similiar disabilities, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, around the world. Many of these people have the support of their families. Many do not. Many are incredibly poor and will never have the resources to adequately address the problems they have and will encounter because of their disabilities.

I know that I can't help all of them and I know the CITTI project will only reach a tiny fraction of them. I can't help but think of the starfish story, of the man who would walk down the beach and throw as many stafish as he could back into the water...someone asked him why he bothered when there were countless ones on the beach. He responded, as he threw one back into the ocean, 'well it matters to this one!' I know it matters to Norma. She is so appreciative of the support that is offered to her. She has remained optimistic despite her very real challenges and her ongoing pain. She is engaging and full of life and is committed to living her life to the fullest. Everyone that she meets is touched and I know many that are committed to making sure she has as many opportunities open to her as possible. For if anyone deserves the best that life has to offer, it is Norma.

eco paradise in ecuador

Greetings from Ecuador...I'm winding down my latest trip abroad by spending two nights in an ecolodge called black sheep inn. It's about 5 hours from quito and ambato, in western ecuador high in the andes. It's at about 10,000 feet in elevation. RIght now I'm on internet looking at the mountains in the background and a dog on a picnic table outside...

They are very animal friendly--they have numerous dogs, chickens, a cat, alpaca, and black sheep of course! They serve vegetarian meals and dinner and breakfast are included. It's a beautiful setting. I'll post some pictures shortly.

I'll do a couple posts of my time here in ecuador, going backwards. I didn't have much time to post, so when I return to the states I'll post some summaries of the work I did here in Ecuador.

More soon!
Alicia

ANIMALS!

I've arrived home safely. Ending my trip with a two night safari was a great move...it was a wonderful hotel with beautiful grounds, great food, hot showers, and a clean bathroom...the little things in life!!

The game drives resulted in viewings of many lions, elephants, buffalo, hippo, and much much more. This photo should give you a good idea of our sightings!
:)
A

Kenya Adventures

Greetings from Kenya...

After a long flight to London and another long flight to Nairobi, I arrived in Kenya. I spent the day in Nairobi visiting an NGO called Mapendo, that does refugee and human rights work in Kenya. I returned to the airport pretty exhausted...I ended up sleeping at a table in the airport waiting for my flight to Kisumu. I woke up to a song from Mama Mia, by ABBA, on the loudspeaker. It was all pretty surreal.

The flight to Kisumu was short and we arrived in the rain. We met up with Lillian and Annette, who are the PCs in Kakamega. I arrived with Agarn, who is one of our mombasa team members...we were all heading to kakamega for a one week training. It was dark and raining and we loaded up the car with all our bags. About halfway to kakamega the car broke down and we were in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring rain, wondering if we were ever going to make it. Another car was sent from Kisumu and we ended up arriving in Kakamega a couple hours later than planned. After a quick dinner and a long shower, I finally got to bed after two days of travel.

Kakamega was fantastic. We met up with the Uganda team and the Kakamega team, along with me and Agarn. We spent two days going over FSD materials and then the next two doing site visits to our partner organizations and grant projects. It was all pretty inspiring.

We went to kakamega forest on the 5th day for a debriefing and sunday morning we went our separate ways. Agarn, Salwa (from the SF office), and I flew to mombasa. The contrast was striking. mombasa is on the coast and it was hot and humid...kakamega was higher up, much cooler, and very rainy.

We arrived on Sunday. We again spent two days training with the mombasa staff. On wednesday the first summer group arrived and we had orienation with them, along with many logistical errands needed for the site team. It's been mostly work and no play, but tomorrow salwa and I are done here and we are heading back to Nairobi to do a two day safari at Masai Mara...the most famous park in Kenya. We're very excited to see the animals and have four game drives scheduled. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures. I haven't done a safari since ngorogoro crater in tz many years ago. we worked really hard the last two weeks, so we're happy to have a couple days off before heading back to the states.

we got in a morning of shopping today, so yes, you can be expecting lots of presents from africa!

Karibu!!
Alicia

greetings from london

It is all a bit too familiar here at heathrow, where I spent a good 10 hours back in January on my way to India. My layover is shorter now, but I'm sitting in my 'regular' spot at the internet cafe. I have a long flight to Nairobi and then another flight to Kisumu, then an hour car ride to Kakamega.

I'm off to meet up with our Uganda and Kakamega teams, along with one person from our Mombasa team...we are going to spend the next week in Kakamega in an intense FSD training. In addition to several workshops, we'll be doing NGO visits, visiting projects that were funded from our grant competition, and visiting some interns that are currently in the field.

This will be the first time such a big group of FSD staff have gotten together since our Ecuador meeting several years ago. It's all pretty exciting!

It will be mostly work, but we hope to go to the kakamega forest one day. After my time in mombasa, I hope to go to a reserve on a day trip as well if there is time. Then, I'll be back here in London on my way back to San Francisco...busy/packed trip this time.

Okay, that's all for now. I'll write from Kenya.
:)
A

udaipur....and maya

I want you to meet Maya. I met her as part of a service project we are doing with Sadhna, a women's cooperative that was created by seva mandir in upaipur. Our project consists of detailing the histories of women working with this cooperative and creating a booklet with their photos and stories, as well as a powerpoint presentation that outlines their lives and involvement with Sadhna.

Maya is about 32 years old. She is married with 4 children. She can sign her name, but has basically had no education. She has been working with the cooperative for more than 12 years and says it is an important source of income for her family and allows her family to eat sufficiently, for her kids to go to school, and for her family to live a simple life.

Her husband is a mason and makes about 125 rupee a day, when there is work. That is about $3 a day. Maya works about 5-6 hours a day for Sadhna--she does handstich work for clothing sold by Sadhna, which sells to distributors such as Fabindia in India and Global Exchange in San Francisco. She can embroider about one Kurta (a long shirt that women and men wear) a day in those hours and receives about 28 rupee (just over 50 cents) for her efforts. That Kurta will sell for 450 rupeee at Fabindia (about $10).

The low amount she received was surprising to me and quite disturbing for the students also doing interviews, but she actually sounded somewhat content with the work for Sadhna, though she said a better wage would certainly help her family. In a good month she earns about 800-1000 rupee, in a bad month about 500 (just over $10).

Her biggest challenge is trying to accumlate assets with her low salary and the family's current debts. She owes about 3000 rupee to her self help fund and about 20,000 rupee to her father in-law, who lent them money to build a room on land that he owns.

She shares her one room with her husband and four children. Her father and mother in-law live in an adjoining room, as do two of her husband's brother's and their wives and children. Between all of them they share one latrine. There is no running water on their property and they must walk to a nearby water pump in the rainy season and about 1K to another water pump in the dry season. Her family has no assets to speak of--no animals, no land, and really not even the house/room where her family lives.

She is from a middle level caste and her water container is not allowed to touch those belonging to the higher castes, yet she admitted those in lower castes were not allowed to let their containers touch hers.

She found it odd that I was married but had no children and she wondered if I could help them improve their living conditions with latrines and better wages. As we rode the bus back to Udpaipur, my students and I were already forming a plan to help women start their own cooperative where they could earn higher wages and be part of community development efforts to help their village.

It's been wonderful to be back in Udaipur. There is water this year, after the monsoon. Last time I was here, it was during a bad drought and you could actually walk to the lake palace. Now, water surrounds the palace like you see in all the pictures. It is a beautiful city. I'm staying with Namrata, one of our indian staff and her family has welcomed both michael (the other professor) and I into their lovely home.

I'm eagerly waiting for Mark's arrival this sunday and we'll spend some time traveling around the area before heading to Mumbai to see In Defence of Animals.
We are wrapping up the class mid-week and they all head back to San Francisco.

That's about it for now! Today was a very special day--my interview with Maya opened my eyes to the realities of rural women in India and her story touched my heart. I hope I can get actively involved with helping to create a new women's cooperative here in Udaipur.

gravis, service project, and ranakpur

We had a great time in Jodphur...we went on a field visit with Gravis and learned about mining in India and the plight of mineworkers...we visited a mining community and an actual mine and talked with the workers. It was really interesting, though quite tragic, as many people are dying from various diseases from working in the mines for decades.

We completed a two day service project in a rural community outside of Jodphur at a local school. We did a health camp, which included vision tests and dental work, as well as building a large cement platform for the school where they can hold events and meetings...everyone worked really hard and the community was very involved the whole time. It was pretty rewarding.

We then went to Ranakpur, a wildlife reserve and visited an amazing jain temple as well as an important forte in the region. I have a lot of great photos--it was all very beautiful. Next we're off to Udaipur, where we'll finish up our class.

15 hour train rides and more

We made it to Jodphur....after a 15 hour train ride. Wow, that was long. Luckily (?) I was sick and had taken something that put me to sleep for nearly half the trip. The students are amazing--real troupers. They don't complain at all and just take whatever we throw at them. It really has made this a great trip.

We visited Agra and saw the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Fatepur Sikri...it was a nice intro into the history and culture of India. We are now in Jodphur and just completed our first field visit. We went out with Pratham, an environmental NGO that works in the urban slums. It was quite an experience to visit their schools/libraries in the slums and meet all the kids and families. They were all really excited to see us (their first foreign visitors). We got some great photos and learned alot about their work in literacy training and health education. They have a great staff who showed us around.

Tomorrow we are off to visit Gravis, an NGO that works with the mineworkers of Rajasthan. Then we are doing service projects at two schools.

So far so good. We all have head colds, but nobody is too sick and everyone has a great attitude. We are staying at the very neat mandore guesthouse, which has beautiful grounds and a wonderful staff.

Namaste!
A