Amistad International

Hundreds of Girls Escape Mutilation

2012-01-09T20:17:00.002-05:00

Published on 22/12/2011

By Nick Oluoch and Patrick Muthuri

Over five hundred girls will be forced to spend their Christmas in rescue camps after being forced to hide, to avoid being forced to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Iscah Aoro, the chairperson of Migori Community Negative Traditional Practices Mitigation Organization (MICONTRAP) said the girls, drawn from both Kuria East and West districts, were forced to escape to the camps in November.

"They are still unable to go home because the exercise is still ongoing," said Mrs Aoro, adding that, 290 girls are camping at St Mary Mabera Secondary School, 116 at Komotobo rescue centre, while another group of about 150 are at St Joseph School Ntimaru.

She called for joint effort by all those involved in the fight against the vice, saying some of the girls at the centre were still vulnerable to being forced to undergo FGM on leaving the camps.

Aoro was speaking during a workshop held in Migori town to look into reasons why the vice had not stopped, despite legislation having been passed to put a halt to it.

She cited Kenya Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2010, which was enacted into law recently by Parliament. The Act prescribes tough penalties of a jail term not exceeding seven years or a fine not exceeding Sh500, 000 or both for people found guilty of the offence.

The act also provides for life imprisonment for a person who causes death to another in the process of performing FGM.

Speaking at the same forum, Benta Adhiambo, the Coordinator of the Pan African Women Association (PAWA), an organisation based in Norway, said there is great need to conduct civic education and enlighten the locals about the dangers of FGM.

Elsewhere, residents of Tigania East, West and Igembe†in Meru County have been urged to be vigilant and report incidents of female circumcision.

The retrogressive exercise is still being practised in the area and is conducted in secret at night.

Speaking during a ceremony to mark the end of a week-long alternative rite of passage at St Cyprian Boys’ Secondary School, Community Initiative for Rural Development (CIFORD), Kenya Coordinator, Margaret Ikiara said over 300 girls have been rescued from FGM in Meru North.

"We have rescued over 300 girls from female genital mutilation in Igembe and Tigania where we have put them through the Alternative rite of passage. Due to increased campaign and FGM being outlawed, the circumcisers have gone underground and collude with parents to circumcise girls at night," Ms Ikiara said.

She noted that the forums have been emphasising on exposing the myths traditionally attached to female circumcision that have been used to lure some girls into undergoing the cut.

Ms Ikiara urged the community to concentrate on educating girls rather than taking them through rites that sabotage their future, adding that times have changed.

Ikiara said if girls are informed about the facts on the dangers of FGM they should be able to resist pressure from their parents to undergo the rite.

Ikiara said the organisation holds free Alternative rite of passage workshops during the holidays for girls aged between 12-15 because they are most vulnerable.

From Sweden to India with love.

2011-11-30T17:55:00.016-05:00

Tack (thanks!) to the 29 students of Ostteg Elementary School,Umea, Sweden and their teacher Christer Rosenqvist for holding a successful flea market and bake sale which raised $1,000 for Buddha's Smile school. Thank you, students, for caring so much about the BSS children in Varanasi.

Brooklyn, NY artist Erica Harris and friends help middle school scholarships at BSS

2011-11-30T17:51:00.015-05:00

We want to give a shout of thanks to Brooklyn, NY artist Erica Harris (now in India and soon to visit BSS) who created a small tsunami of energy around her city raising funds for scholarships for BSS graduates attending middle school. Erica and her fantastic friends raised nearly $8,000. Be sure to check out Erica's fascinating global art on her website. http://www.ericaharris.org/

A special thanks to the Brooklyn Commune cafe for holding a sale of Erica's prints raising $800, enough for one scholarship and a lot of fresh food for BSS kids. Check out their website http://www.brooklyncommune.com/ and enjoy dining on fresh regionally grown food when in Brooklyn. (That’s the Brooklyn Commune gang in the photo.)

Thanks to Erica, Shannon Holman and other Brooklyn friends, Paro, Vishal, Ravi, Khusboo, Rekha, Sunita, Brijesh, and Pooja now have scholarships to middle school. They were previously holding down full-time jobs, garbage collectors and recyclers on the streets of Varanasi. Now these kids are full time students in middle school and their heads are full of dreams. The cost of one year in middle school is $550. This includes tuition, books, uniforms, food, transportation and tutoring. A small investment for a big return!

Joseph Mbugua and G-BIACK

2010-10-26T15:31:00.013-04:00

Pathfinder Academy gets books for new library

2010-10-26T14:52:00.007-04:00

Tuxpan breakfast program

2010-10-26T14:17:00.003-04:00

The New Tecolote Kitchen

2010-10-17T14:25:00.012-04:00

Letter from Pathfinder Academy: Thanks to all who helped!

2010-06-21T14:13:00.001-04:00

Common Ground Program

PO Box 2487

Kitale 30200

18^th June 2010

Dear Karen,

RE: COMPLETION OF THE GROUND FLOOR.

On behalf of Common Ground Program and Pathfinder Academy fraternity, may I sincerely thank you for the all effort that you have put in place to ensure that the infrastructure at Pathfinder Academy is improved. This demands denial and self sacrifice on your part.

The ground floor of the building is now complete- hosting a library and six seven classrooms, which are all in use. The library is easily accessed by all students and the staff.

We no longer have congestion in our classes since the new classrooms are specious enough with two students occupying a desk. It is very unusual in most Kenyan schools to have two students on a desk. At most, a desk is occupied by three to five students and even some sit on the floor for lack of desk. Thanks for such a wonderful gesture.

Due to your efforts, our school was selected by the Ministry of Education as Center of Excellent and E-Learning Center for Primary schools. This gives us an edge over other schools as news ideas/methods are first tested at our school before spreading to other primary schools in the district. This is greatly improving our academic standards and extra-curricular activities.

I am confident that the new classrooms and library at Pathfinder Academy will enable us remain among the top performing schools in our region in national examinations. Our only greatest challenge now is to find more books for the library.

It is the first time ever to have an official library time instituted in any Primary school. Pathfinder Academy is the first school in the region to have official library time approved by School Management Committee. Thanks for your efforts.

You have made the lives of many students in this school to change positively. They used to feel rejected but now the have fit in the society. Praise be unto God.

You deserve a credit for all that you have done for Pathfinder Academy and the community at large.

Once again, may I thank you and well-wishers for tirelessly denying yourself for the sake of our orphan and vulnerable students. You will ever remain in our minds and may the Almighty God shower his blessings upon you.

Your sincerely,

Joshua Amwai Machinga.

Valentines for Zimbabwe

2010-02-21T19:17:00.004-05:00

On February 13 the Toledo First Seventh-day Adventist Church held its third annual benefit banquet, this time for Amistad’s Murwira Orphanage project in Zimbabwe. The featured speaker was Carl Wilkens, nephew of Murwira director Paula Leen. Wilkens was the only American relief worker who chose to stay in Rwanda during that country’s hundred day genocide in 1994.

Volunteer chef Ray Riley and his lovely wife Judy prepared a special meal for the 100+ guests in attendance, complete with red velvet lace-embossed cupcakes. In recent years the Toledo First Church has put service and issues of social justice at the forefront of its mission, reflected in events such as the annual Valentine’s banquet. Community guests came away deeply moved by the stories Wilkens told about Paula’s work in Zimbabwe and the plight her children face each day. Although figures are still being tallied, the church estimates that approximately $3500 was raised for Murwira Orphanage.

To give to Scott's team

2010-02-02T12:57:00.004-05:00

To donate to Scott's team, please go to our PayPal donation page and click the yellow "donate" button.

Update from Scott Nelson, from his weblog

2010-02-02T12:36:00.004-05:00

Friday, January 29, 2010

Port au Prince – The Initial Days

To see more images click here (some may be graphic)

Perhaps this disaster represents the greatest accumulation of orthopaedic injuries to ever occur in one place at one time. Here in Santo Domingo it felt just like another California earthquake, but soon word arrived that it was far worse. Having made 19 previous trips to operate in Haiti over recent years we were able to rapidly prepare our armamentarium and make plans to mobilize to Port au Prince, 160 miles to the west. By the time we departed on Thursday afternoon less than 48 hours after the earthquake, the chaos of early response teams was just beginning. We lifted off without knowing if we would be able to land in PAP or if there would be anyone to receive us. It was like going into a black hole as we had no information aside from what we were all seeing on CNN. We were prepared with food and water to survive for 2 days and no return ticket.

Team members were:

Steve Bostian – Executive Director CURE DR
Dielika Charlier MD – Pediatrician
Lucia Hernandez RN
Scott Nelson MD - Orthopaedic Surgery
Susan Beemer RN – anesthetist

Dielika grew up in PAP and was able to get a single text message through to Johnny Boulos a friend of her brother. After circling the airstrip 20 times we were able to get clearance to land the plane for 3 minutes. We made a steep descent and dumped our equipment onto the airfield and our pilot quickly returned to the air. Fortunately, Johnny had waited for us all afternoon and was there to greet us. To make a long story short we are indebted to the entire Boulos family for their hospitality and generosity in facilitating everything that we were able to accomplish during the last 2 weeks.

We initially made some brief visits to assess the operating facilities at approximately 6 different hospitals. 48-72 hours after the quake there was still not a single operation going on at any of the hospitals that we visited except for Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti where the innovative local medical director had created an operating room tent out of surgical drapes and was performing life saving amputations in front of the hospital. His nurse in the yellow short sleeve dress had just returned to work. She had been comforting her 10 year old son for who was trapped under a cement girder for 36 hours after the quake. A UN crane finally had come to free him and as the heavy cement girder was lifted it slipped from the grip of the crane… Another worker was at the hospital looking for 8 body bags for her family members. At every facility there were hundreds of languishing patients, most of whom were laying outside due to fear of aftershocks. Many of them were developing gangrene, some dying, and others already dead. It was utter chaos and no help was in sight. Where should we start…

With promises to return and help Dr. Archer, the medical director at Adventist Hospital, I returned to the Hopital de la Communaute Haitien where our team had already begun setting up. Here we had earlier discovered two operating rooms with electricity, running, water and even air conditioning a luxury in Haiti under normal circumstances. Due to our timely arrival and preparedness we were able to establish a leadership role at this facility and coordinate subsequent surgical teams who arrived to help. I began operating on Friday afternoon – 3 days had now passed since the quake. For the first several days operations consisted of life saving amputations and debridements. Injuries were far worse than they appeared due to the extensive soft tissue damage from crush injuries. This caused compartment syndromes (uncontrolled swelling which leads to vascular compromise) and then to gangrene. Patients were dehydrated, decompensated, and anemic. There was no mechanism or time to get labs, nor anything we could do differently had we been able to accurately assess their status. Patients were dying in the hallway outside the OR while waiting for surgery. Some who were operated died as well, as they were already too critical to save. This presented another difficulty in deciding whether to operate the most serious patients first or concentrate on slightly less critical patients who had a better chance of survival.

After 24 hours of operating, a team from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City arrived. They had flown down on the Synthes plane fully loaded with an extensive array of donated implants and materials. Their expertise and equipment combined with the momentum we had already established allowed us to continue operating in both rooms day and night for the next 3 days catching only a couple hours of sleep here and there. We are deeply indebted to the Synthes company and the timely arrival of this team which allowed us to salvage many severe injuries that would have otherwise been amputated. It was an operative marathon like none other and as the hours passed periods of daylight and nighttime melted into one long day. Emotions were high and fatigue was intense. I worked day and night for 6 days until I felt like I was starting to loose my focus and was able to escape the hospital and get a full 6 hours of sleep.

During the first few days the situation went from bad to worse. The many injured patients were developing infections and gangrenous limbs faster than we could operate. A couple days after we began operating the stench of death strengthened and permeated the hallways and courtyards of the hospital. Dead limbs still attached to patients, dead bodies, and amputated parts all contributed. Slowly we were able to overcome this and each day the hospital seemed to metamorphose. Patients were operated, volunteers showed up with bleach, halls were cleaned and chaos was organized little by little. An entire hospital infrastructure was to be created in the ensuing days. Masking tape was used on the foreheads of the victims to delineate OR 1 – emergent cases, or OR 2 – operative but less emergent cases. The first 4 days were spent operating only on OR 1’s which consisted of open fractures, compartment syndromes, and treating severe open wounds and infections.

Wednesday morning one week after the quake the 6.1 aftershock hit and all the patients rapidly cleared the hospital building. We took advantage of the situation by mopping the halls and slowly bringing all the patients back in to the building one by one in an organized fashion. Luckily we had arisen 15 minutes before the shock as part of the cement wall above our heads had collapsed where we had been lying.

Over a period of one week we were able to convert several adjacent rooms into operating rooms and the 2 room OR suite became a 6 room operating facility where we coordinated surgical volunteers from all over the US, Sweden, Jamaica, and Korea and other countries. The arrival of the Dallas team on a chartered 737 with several tons of equipment was a great boost our dwindling operating room supplies and fatigued OR crew. We had to stop surgery for several hours to organize, but in short order we were almost equipped like an American style operating room. During the subsequent 24 hours we treated more than a dozen femur fractures using the SIGN intramedulary nail system. The SIGN nail is a state of the art implant system design for use in resource challenged environments where intraoperative x-ray is not available. We were privileged to be operating with the founder and inventor of the system, Dr. Lew Zirkle who had previously treated a record number of 5 patients in a single day using the implant. In most cases these severely injured patients with femur fractures could immediately begin unrestricted ambulation.

We continue in collaboration with the Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti where the situation is very similar to the Hopital de la Communaute Haitien. The arrival of Dr. Brad Walters from Georgia and Andrew Haglund from Loma Linda University established coordination efforts at that facility. Initial plans are being made to create a large scale ongoing project to treat the generations of people that will be affected with orthopaedic needs for years to come at this facility.

It did become necessary to place armed security at the entrance of the hospital and other strategic locations to provide crowd control and resolve some looting that began to take place as food and supplies arrived on site. However, I personally never felt unsafe and would dare to say that with the additional military and NGO presence, most parts of Port au Prince may be more secure now than they have been in a long time. Of course many render my opinions on security as worthless as they consider me to have a lack of risk aversion.

It was a trip of physical endurance, emotional intensity, and spiritual contemplation. It brought my mind back to a scene several years ago of one of our Haitian patients who fell asleep with her Bible open to Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Ps 46:1-3

On January 25 I returned to Santo Domingo for several days to be with family and attend to my responsibilities. On Saturday January 30 Marni and I will be driving back to Port au Prince to continue the work and relieve those that are on the scene at the moment. We are living day by day and will focus our efforts where we are most needed during the ensuing months.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our team members not mentioned above who were also working day and night to support the efficiency of our operation both in Port au Prince and around the world. These in include my wife Marni in Santo Domingo, Robbie Jackson - Cure DR, Erin Card - Cure US, Jeff Douglas and Andrew Haglund in Port au Prince and the many other medical personnel who rapidly activated the delivery of their expertise and medical supplies.

To see more images click here (some may be graphic)

Posted by Scott Nelson at 1:12 PM
Labels: Haiti, scott nelson

More on Scott Nelson in Haiti

2010-01-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

Doctor commits to crushing task
The work of Dr. Scott Nelson is crushing. It’s crushing in the numbers of people he’s treating in Haiti since the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country was leveled by a magnitude-7 earthquake on Jan. 12.
The wounds he’s seeing are crushing in nature, the horrific result of humans caught in flimsy construction when the quake hit.
And the scope of the tragedy is taking its own crushing, psychic toll on those who have gone to the island nation to help repair the torn and mashed bodies of men, women and children.
•••
Scott Nelson, the son of Peter and Suzanne Nelson, moved to San Luis Obispo in 1970 when he was a week old. In retrospect, it’s safe to say he had medical missionary blood running through his veins: His grandfather, Dr. Olavi Rouhe, served for more than 25 years at a mission in what was then the Belgian Congo. Nelson has said that after having visited his grandfather’s African hospital, church and compound when he was 8, he decided to go into medicine.
That decision, as well as an international outlook, was probably reinforced when he joined his father, a San Luis Obispo dentist, on travels to 25 countries around the world where Peter would work at dental clinics.
•••
Nelson, 39, is a devoted Christian who has followed a family tradition in attending the Seventh-day Adventist Loma Linda University in Southern California. Indeed, his great-grandfather was the president of the university at one time. Nelson graduated from Loma Linda in 1996 in orthopedic surgery with an emphasis on children. He thrives in what he does, says his father, and that enthusiasm has led him to be one of the top surgeons in his field.
As it turns out, Nelson’s Christian ethic and professional skills dovetailed nicely with a nonprofit organization called CURE International. It’s a nondenominational organization that specializes in childhood bone deformities in developing countries.
So he joined forces with CURE and packed up wife Marni and sons Chad and Alex five years ago and headed to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for a five-year medical and faith-based mission.
The work is a challenge on every level. The pay, for example, is $20,000 a year and requires that he return stateside to practice one week every three months at Riverside County Hospital to help make ends meet.
And there’s physical menace attached to his Dominican practice: Each of the 22 times he’s traveled to Haiti to perform surgery on that island nation’s club-footed children, he’s had to be on the lookout for kidnappers who have been known to return at least one abductee without an arm because he could only raise half his ransom.
But Scott Nelson loves what he does and whom he does it for. He takes deep satisfaction in being able to mend a child’s orthopedic deformity, which, really, is somewhat of a miracle that can make all the difference in how that child can make his or her way in life. It’s that fulfillment that his father says led him to say at one time: “The best payment I ever got was two mangoes and a hug.”
•••
When word came that parts of Haiti had been devastated on the other end of Hispaniola from Santo Domingo, Nelson quickly put together a team and chartered a plane for the 160-mile flight to Port-au-Prince.
As we now know, confusion, uncertainty and disorder was already reigning at the Port-au-Prince airport. Who was allowed to land was as much of a panicked mystery as to who was allowed to take off.
After circling for an hour, Nelson, according to the plane’s pilot, “sweet-talked” ground control into letting the plane land for three minutes.
“I got him on the ground,” the pilot later related, “but I don’t know what happened to him.” What happened was Scott Nelson and team immediately went to work.
•••
Peter Nelson has been in sporadic touch with his son; last week, Scott Nelson told his father in a phone call: “ ‘Dad, I get about two to three hours of sleep a night. I’ve had about 90 surgeries so far (as of Jan. 19), with another 20 patients lined up and another 100 left outside. I can’t go outside because they’ll mob me (for help).’ ”
“Are you doing lots of plates and rods?” the senior Nelson asked his son.
“ ‘No, because of the crush wounds, it’s not reconstructive surgery. I’ve literally been cleaning maggots out of wounds. There’s terrible infection and gangrene. Once we get them healing up, then I can go back and do the reconstructive work.’ ”
When Peter Nelson asked his son how he was holding up, he replied:
“ ‘I’m doing good right now, but two days ago I thought I was falling apart. But I’m doing better.’ ”
He told his father that the trauma surgeons who had come to Haiti to help him “ ‘just fell apart and started crying; they couldn’t do it anymore. They’ve left now; couldn’t take it. The psychological coping of the situation was overwhelming to them.’
“I know they’ve got a lot of physicians on the ground working, but they’re all going to leave in two weeks because of their practices,” Peter Nelson said. “There’s going to be a need for a lot of long-term care, and he’s committed himself to being there for the next six months. He’s going to need long-term support.”

“Thoughts and prayers in his behalf are just as important as money,” Peter Nelson said. “He’s our front man, but we’re all part of the team.”
Bill Morem can be reached at bmorem@thetribunenews.com or at 781-7852.

© 2010 San Luis Obispo Tribune and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com
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Haiti

2010-01-14T23:30:00.001-05:00

Webpage of this email: http://amistadinternational1.blogspot.com/

January, 2010

An update from Karen on our Amistad project in Haiti:

Scott Nelson has been working with Amistad for a number of years - since he was a little boy and came with his parents, Peter and Suzanne Nelson, on Amistad mission trips to do dental clinics. Now he's a surgeon and an Amistad partner, who spends a lot of time operating in the Dominican Republic. Here's an update I just received from Scott, who was working in Santo Domingo at the time of the quake:

"I felt the quake fairly strong here in Santo Domingo. It did not hit with a hard jolt or shake windows as we have all felt in California. I just suddenly felt like I had vertigo and then noticed the furniture rocking back and forth and it went on for about 20-30 seconds. We are about 160 miles from Port au Prince. I have been there multiple times, but the city where I usually work is Cap Haitien about 80 miles to the north.

"The lack of infrastructure and grinding poverty in Port au Prince under normal circumstances is appalling. It is difficult to imagine decimation, suffering, and chaos that is going on at the moment. By land Port au Prince is about a 5 hour drive. We are standing by to help and will likely mobilize as soon as it is possible to travel with the security and infrastructure of an organization.

"Obviously they need our prayers and help. I am leaving the Dominican Republic for Haiti as soon as possible, with a small team."

Karen adds:

By now, Scott is on his way to Haiti, or en route. He wrote again to say that they are preparing their equipment for amputations (this is the most likely scenario - possibly even amputating people out of where they're trapped.) We are collecting money for his team right now. He will be coming back to gather a larger team, so at that time they'll need money for more medicines. (Fortunately, they just got a big donation of medicines yesterday from an agency, that they can take with them right now!)

If you want to send a donation for Dr. Scott Nelson, we have a special Amistad fund set aside for his surgery team. The easiest way is to follow this link, and click on the yellow "Donate" button. Make sure you mark it for Haiti. Call me if you have questions!

Gratefully,

.........................................................................................................................................................

Contact information:
To telephone Amistad International: 650-328-1737
To send a check: Amistad International, PO Box 455, Palo Alto, CA 94302
To e-mail executive director Karen Kotoske: tomamistad@aol.com
Our website: http://www.amistadinternational.org/
Our blog: http://amistadinternational1.blogspot.com/
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A note from Dr. Scott Nelson

2010-01-13T21:47:00.002-05:00

I felt the quake fairly strong here in Santo Domingo. It did not hit with a
hard jolt or shake windows as we have all felt in California. I just
suddenly felt like I had vertigo and then noticed the furniture rocking back
and forth and it went on for about 20-30 seconds. We are about 160 mi from
Port au Prince, I have been there multiple times, but the city where I
usually work is Cap Haitian about 80 mi to the north.

The lack of infrastructure and grinding poverty in Port au Prince under
normal circumstances is appalling. It is difficult to imagine decimation,
suffering, and chaos that is going on at the moment. By land Port au Prince
is about a 5 hour drive. We are standing by to help and will likely
mobilize as soon as it is possible to travel with the security and
infrastructure of an organization.

Obviously they need our prayers and help.

Scott

Karen adds:

Dr Scott Nelson is leaving tomorrow for Haiti with a small surgery team (anesthetist and nurse) , preparing their equipment today for very probable amputations (the most likely scenario for them.) We don't have time to get funds to them for this first trip. But he'll be coming back and going again and taking a larger team, so at that time they'll need donations for medical aid. They just got a big donation of medicines today from an agency so they can take them along tomorrow!

If anyone wants to send a donation for Dr. Scott Nelson (who is an orthopedic surgeon in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) Amistad will hold them until Dr. Nelson goes on the next relief trip to Haiti.

A note Sweet Home Orphanage, one of our projects

2009-12-31T12:46:00.005-05:00

Dear Friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your special interest in Sweet Home. God has been good to us and we have seen and experienced his wonderful love. We are very greatfull to you for all your support. We wish you God's manifold blessings.

With love from Sweet Home Family,
Lilly Kaligithi

Wishing you a Blessed Holiday Season

2009-12-24T21:05:00.001-05:00

Webpage of this email: http://amistadinternational1.blogspot.com/

Christmas 2009

Dear Amistad friend,

I didn't want to miss this opportunity to thank all of you for your generosity in 2009. Most of you are not only participants in Amistad's work, but dear personal friends who encourage us with notes and emails, positive thoughts, prayers and gifts. We want to make sure you know that we don't take any of these kindnesses for granted.

I made a short list of some of the things you've accomplished this year through Amistad International.

At Paula Leen's Murwira Orphans' Home (MOH) in Marenge, Zimbabwe you've provided a loving home and education for 40 children, not to mention food for over 2,000 in the community. In the past 12 months, you've helped us deliver over 50 tons of food for distribution to the ill, widows and elderly in the area around Marenge, and also at the hospital in Mutare, and at Des Paul's outreach to the poor in Harare. The orphanage is the only employer in the area, providing work for 80 persons.
You've given over 3,000 meals per month for the 150 children who attend Amri School in Kenya. The students receive a hot nourishing meal each day which includes bread, beans, rice, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, fruit and milk. You've also provided salaries for 12 teachers, principal, cook and guard and rent of school house.
In Mexico's Western Sierra Huichol you've supplied the following services: 24 emergency medical flights, 84,000 hot meals served to 210 Huichol Indian children at three schools: Tecolote, San Miguel and Tuxpan, 250 ill or injured were transported to hospitals and 12,360 lbs. of food and clothing distributed. Five dental teams served 220 patients, and two opthomology teams fitted 150 pairs of donated glasses.
You've helped Pathfinder Academy in Kitale, Kenya, complete their dining hall/kitchen complex. Amistad donors are currently helping to build seven greatly needed classrooms which will be completed in 2010. The Worthington, Ohio, Adventist Church provided new chairs and tables for the dining hall.
You've provided 24 scholarships so that Buddha's Smile School's 5th grade graduates could go on to middle school. Your gifts bought tuition, books, food, uniforms and afternoon tutoring at BSS, located in Varanasi, India. You've provided monthly overhead expenses (salaries, books, uniforms) for BSS. This year many of you dug deeper into your pockets, providing a prosthetic leg and medical expenses for Sukdev Saini, husband of school founder Rajan Kaur, after he suffered the loss of his leg following an accident in June.

This has been one of the hardest economic years for many of us in our lifetimes. But still, our faithful partners came through to keep a great many of our Amistad projects going strong, and we thank you.

I believe that kindnesses done for others don't just disappear: they return to us in blessings of many kinds. And so our holiday prayer for you is that this season, and this coming year, will be a year of many blessings.

Gratefully, and with affection,

PS: The year isn't quite over, and if you've been intending to give a tax-deductible gift to Amistad International, you can still do so. The easiest way is to give to Amistad via PayPal: the gift comes to us instantly, and you can use your credit card, too, in case you're building up travel points.

Just follow this link, and click on the yellow "Donate" button.

Photo above: Tom and Karen Kotoske, founders of Amistad International

.........................................................................................................................................................

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Praise for eNotas

2009-11-22T20:14:00.001-05:00

I just read eNotas, and also went to your website. The website is gorgeous - it's so full of pictures and stories. So many different projects, all of them so touching. Your web designer is a genius. And eNotas, too, is such a wonderful report. Your graphics and design are outstanding. I loved the stories there, too.

Bravo, dear friend!

Love,

Sandra Margidian

_______________________________________

THANK YOU SO MUCH, KAREN!!

I've already been emailing this around to a few friends and will send to more. I LOVE these communications and am always filled with pride, awe, inspiration and joy at the amazing work that Amistad is doing, powered in large part by the management skills of YOU!!

Susie King

_______________________________________

Karen, I'm not internet connected - or savvy - to be able to see your web. I feel frustrated not being able to help these wonderful projects, but now I know what I'll do with the small gifts I got after Elwood went to his rest on Sept. 6.

Three weeks later I managed to trip on a friend's doorstep and break my left hip. Recovering okay.

We'll be in touch.

Esther McCluskey

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Hi Karen~I always enjoy reading your e.notas! Noticed Dale Twomley in it!! Inspiring stories as well! We're off to Michigan for Thanksgiving, short trip up and back. Hope all is well with you guys! just returned from a trip out west-southern california, very nice to enjoy the sun and watch the waves!

Diane McDermott

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Hi Karen - Your newsletter is awesome....so inspiring.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ann Down

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Dearest Karen:

Very well done!! A great web site with meaningful stories for each project. I hold you in my highest esteem for the amazing compassion and kindness you share with the poor and disenfranchised.

I keep praying for special blessings for each of your worthy projects.

I still remember the refreshing salt sea air we breathed in at Asilomar.

Countless blessings this thanksgiving. I am privileged to count you as a friend.

Love and hugs!!

Rainbow Iris (Landa)

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News from Amistad International

2009-11-22T20:10:00.001-05:00

Webpage of this email: http://amistadinternational1.blogspot.com/

November 2009

Dear Friends of Amistad,

With this issue of eNotas, we're proud to introduce to you a new Amistad International website.

The website's new look is thanks to volunteers Lauren and Val Smith. The Smiths are owners of Lauren Smith Communications Design, a well-known Silicon Valley design firm that's earned numerous national and international awards.

Lauren and Val, I'm pleased to say, are dear friends of Amistad International, and have helped us with many design projects through the years, including the beautiful year-end Notas newsletter that you've received in past years. They created our first website, and have now updated it with a new look and new content. If you like it, send Lauren and Val a thank you!

As you take stock of your blessings this Thanksgiving season, please remember our Amistad projects, and all the people they benefit.

With deep appreciation,

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Johannesburg, South Africa:
Lambano Sanctuary creates hospice for HIV+ babies:

One of our saddest, but most rewarding projects has been Lambano Sanctuary, a home in Johannesburg, South Africa for young children and babies with HIV+ status

We have recently learned that Lambano has received funds from the Luxembourg Government for purchase and renovation of a home which is being made into a hospice for children in need of this special care. We mourn that there is need for a hospice for babies, yet we are grateful for the compassionate mothering staff of Lambano who cares so tenderly for these children. We thank Maree Noble and Elizabeth Stumpf Memorial Foundation, Diane and Bob OBrien, Alan and Tasha Latta, Karen Bezuidenhout and Sarah Reddy for their assistance to Lambano Sanctuary.

Many Lambano children live full lives with the help of anti-retroviral drugs. Lambano staff writes about one 8-year-old HIV+ girl who arrived with bronchiectasis, an obstructive lung disease caused by starting anti-retroviral drugs too late. She was on full-time oxygen, and was the size of a 4-year-old when she arrived.

A private pulmunologist could do nothing for her, but the Lambano staff began a regime of physiotherapy three times a day day, including steroids, oxygen and antibiotics. Now they've been able to take her off her oxygen, to the amazement of the pulmunologist.

With love, proper care and basic medicines, it is amazing what good things happen at Lambano Sanctuary.

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Kenya:
Meru tribe girls benefit from anti-circumcision program
Amistad grants have educated 62 girls in the "Save a Girl Club"

CIFORD, the Community Initiatives for Rural Development, is a wonderful grassroots community organization in Kenya which helps women learn to grow more food, teaches them how to avoid HIV/AIDS, and works to stop female genital mutilation as a rite of passage for young girls. CIFORD participants are members of the Meru tribe which lives on the north-eastern side of Mt. Kenya.

Two years ago Amistad gave CIFORD a grant to help stop the illegal and barbaric rite of female genital mutilation of young Meru girls. Those who suffer this operation generally drop out of school and get married very young, with many health complications.

62 girls have gone through a new healthy alternative rite of passage, which includes a course in what womanhood, marriage and motherhood can mean to a young woman who completes her schooling, as well as HIV/AIDS awareness. The graduates have formed a group they call "Save A Girl Club."

Kalayu, a girl who took the CIFORD course, says, "CIFORD has made us see life in a different perspective, because we thought life was about being circumcised and getting married. For women to prosper we need to work hard in school. I want to be a child rights activist in the future."

Student Ann Nkatha, leader of the Save A Girl Club, says "This course is what has made me what I am now: a respected woman in the community. Next year I am starting university. Our people should appreciate that success does not come from circumcision."

Writes Margaret Ikiara, founder/director CIFORD, "We thank Amistad for the part you have had in our development. It was the encouraging words, and financial/material support, which enabled us achieve all this. We say a big thank you!

(Photo by Ryan Eggers)

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Cap Haitien, Haiti:
Amistad Doctor Scott Nelson and his Orthopaedic Team
Scott writes about his 18th trip to Haiti

"Chantale is a 6 year old girl was badly burned last year when she sat on a kerosene lantern. Our hearts were saddened when we saw her for the first time last February. Due to scarring she was unable to stand up, separate her legs or move her right shoulder and elbow. Her caring mother brought her again in June. I promised that I would do something when I returned in September, not knowing if I would have the help I needed to do the case. Fortunately we were joined by Dr. Duncan Miles, a plastic surgeon from Loma Linda University. After 5 hours of surgery we were able to excise the scars around the hip joints and rotate some normal tissue into place, allowing her once again the freedom to stand up.

"The following morning I asked her how she felt and from under her mosquito net she replied, 'Sa va bien, et toi monsieur?' 'It's going well sir, and you?'

"In one of our future trips we will plan to release her shoulder and elbow contractures, allowing her the use of her right hand.

"We were joined on this trip by Dr. Brian Yost. one of my orthopaedic surgery partners from Riverside County Regional Medical Center RCRMC). He also brought with him Louise O'Rourke, RN, director of operative services and Dr. Sagoo 2, one of our excellent ortho residents training at RCRMC. Their expertise, help and donations greatly added to our efficiency, quality of care, and international comraderie."

Go to http://curecaribe.blogspot.com/ to learn more about Dr. Nelson's project.

Photo: Dr. Duncan Miles with Haitian burn patient Chantale

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From Amistad director Karen Kotoske:
Special Thanks to Our Friends!

Thank you, Peter and Suzanne Nelson, Alan and Tasha Latta, Kay and Steve Prins, Lindy and Roland Thomason, Patricia Kovalski, Bobby and Bettye Roberts, and the Orvek Family for your tremendous help which keeps aloft the Wings of Love flying clinic for the Huichol Indians. Thanks, too, to Yvonne and Rich Macias and Chris and Bill McClure for their help with our Huichol project.

We thank Murwira Orphanage super volunteers Diane and Bruce Hamberger and Jenna and Josh Schaa for their amazing variety of tasks them completed at Murwira orphanage. We also thank Greta Schuler (Washington DC), Magali Schroll, (Belgium - in photo), Cesar Plaza (Los Angeles) and Kourtni Knobel (Colorado) who volunteered this year to work with Paula Leen. We also thank Carol and Russ Johnson, (Haines, Oregon) who are now at Murwira Orphanage volunteering. Cesar was a huge help in getting orphanage vehicles back in service. We also thank Carol and Russ Johnson of Haines, Oregon who are at Murwira Orphanage now helping Paula Leen.

Thank you, Donna and Larry Peters, for donating the funds to purchase new uniforms and toys for the students at Buddha's Smile School for untouchable caste children in Varanasi, India.

Thank you Shadhika foundation and founders Juthica and Peter Stangl for your grant to Buddha's Smile school for scholarships which are enabling ten BSS graduates to attend middle school this year in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Huge thanks to Judith Steiner, Betsy and George Bechtel, Carol and Mahlon Hubenthal, Jacqui and Blair Stewart , Sharleen Fiddaman, Kathie and Jerry Underdal, and Jack Harrison who put on a fundraiser in Palo Alto, CA, for Buddha's Smile School. This great group of boosters provided eight scholarships for BSS middle school students.

We also thank newlyweds Lisa and Phillip Schneider (Sausalito, CA) who suggested to their September wedding that instead of gifts that they would prefer donations be made to Buddha's Smile School. Their generous spirit raised $4010 for crucial needs at BSS. Lisa and Phillip also had an inspirational visit to BSS on their honeymoon in India.

Thank you Dale and Connie Twomley and Chris and Bill McClure for enabling us to help persons living with AIDS and HIV+ to start small businesses in Kenya. Your gifts also is providing food, school fees and clothing for AIDS orphans among the Meru tribe.

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Zimbabwe:
Paula Leen continues to inspire

We've told you about retired church secretary Paula Leen, who operates a private orphanage in the AIDS ravaged nation of Zimbabwe. Food shortages, political unrest and collapsing health and educational systems are part of every-day life. Yet Paula, in her mid-70s, rescues orphans and keeps nearly 2,000 people alive with food from her gardens and orchards, and help from donors worldwide. She works tirelessly despite government instability and surrounding violence. An impossible situation, but she keeps at it and, in the process, is saving thousands.

"We pray for miracles," she says. Read her story, as written here by Merikay McCleod, and be inspired to take some helpful action of your own.

Amistad wishes to extend deep gratitude to those who have so generously helped Paula Leen and those around her as they work tirelessly to help the people of Zimbabwe survive, heal, and live. In particular we want to thank volunteers Diana and Bruce Hamberger, Jenna and Joshua Schaa, Cesar Plaza, and Yvonne Wyer for their lengthy stays and contributions of strategic (even heroic) help.

Paula welcomes mature, qualified volunteers. If you wish information about volunteering, contact Sandy Schultz, our volunteer coordinator, at rifenbark@aol.com.

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Varanasi, India:
Good news from Buddha's Smile School

Donna Peters has donated 220 brand new dolls and stuffed animals to each of the children at Buddha's Smile School in Varanasi India. Donna and her husband Larry, of Verona, Wisconsin, are long time strong boosters to BSS. This year they have also purchased a DVD recorder so that the teachers can play natural sciences and history DVDs to the students. The Peters also provided uniforms for the students this year. Thank you, Donna and Larry!

We would also like to thank Dr. Reena Bhargava and her teenage children, Nikhil and Zoe, who have donated a new computer to Buddha's Smile School. They have also created a series of science and geography lessons which they deliver via SKYPE, linking from their home in Palo Alto, California to BSS in Varanasi, India. Even though it means they must do so typically at 4AM in order to coordinate with BSS, it is working well and the BSS kids are thrilled.

Other good news is that the husband of BSS founder/director Rajan Kaur, Sukdev Saini, is doing well with his prosthetic leg. Sukdev was struck by a car in June and his right leg had to be amputated. He is now back running his small Sarnath Cafe, which is adjacent to Buddha's Smile School. We cheer Sukdev on!

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Sierra Huichol, Mexico:
Innocencia's new leg

In June, a young Huichol woman was bit by a poisonous snake on her leg. Innocencia Lopez's wound became badly infected and part of her leg had to be amputated. In the ensuing weeks 26 year old Innocencia became despondent about her handicap: a young woman living in the rough terrain of the mountains, where a wheelchair is almost useless. Sadly, Innocencia tried to take her own life.

After her suicide attempt our Huichol outreach pilot/director, Dagoberto Cirilo, flew Innocencia to Guadalajara for psychological counseling, which seemed to help a bit, though Innocencia was still
very sad. How could she move around the mountainous, uneven terrain of the Sierra Huichol? Dagoberto spoke to the owner of the small prosthetic business in Guadalajara, telling the man about Innocencia's plight.

The business owner, Francisco Ortiz, told Dagoberto he'd be willing to help Innocencia. In fact he'd be willing to donate a prosthetic limb to her! A few weeks ago Innocencia was fitted with her new prosthesis and she has returned to her life in the Sierras with a smile on her face.

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2009-11-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

Michael Freed, 12, gave a solo violin concert in his hometown of Columbus, Indiana on August 22 raising $435 for Tarahumara Indian outreach in Mexico.

Michael has been studying the violin since he was four and a half with teacher, Khin Yee Lo, who accompanied Michael for the concert. The program included Bach, Vivaldi, Pachelbel and Andrew Lloyd Webber. We are told that the music was so beautiful that many were moved to tears.

During the concert intermission, Michael’s sister, Jennifer Freed, played a slide show of her ‘08 mission trip to help the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico, traveling with Amistad Amistad volunteers Elidia Walker and Diane McDermott.

Thank you Michael, teacher Khin Yee Lo, Michael’s mother, Michele Freed, and sister Jennifer for your wonderful event blessing the people of the Sierra Tarahumara.

A letter from Paula Leen at Murwira Orphanage

2009-09-10T15:16:00.002-04:00

A letter from Paula Leen at Murwira Orphanage:

9-10-09

Dear Karen

To my dismay, yesterday morning when I arrived I was informed that our 14 wells have insufficient water collectively for drinking, dishes and laundry, and no water at all for keeping vegetables and fruit trees alive. When I arrived at the flat here at the orphanage there were so many ants- not by the thousands, but the millions. I had to kill them with Shumba, and sweep them up by the dustpan full. This is a sign of a very severe drought. In fact, it is so bad that I ended up washing my hands with milk, that I had brought!. The little rural hospital here is out of water so doing deliveries is risky, as well as trying to treat festering wounds, etc. The Lord must have impressed me to buy a few bottles of drinking water the day before!.A friend just left and has talked to the ruling board of the conference here and we can go to the camp-ground to get water. It is a ways, but it may be a good source as they managed to take care of the needs of the 25,000 at camp-meeting.

The hospital has pleaded with us to carry some bowsers of water for them. Where we recently sent a crew to dig down in the riverbed a distance of about 4 meters, that source has run dry as well. We did find one place 5km away which has some water, and will be using that as long as we can, but if that runs out--- There is one man, the counselor who has some water from his boreholes and says he will share, for a price! The leaves of our lemon and orange trees that we have nurtured for many months are shrivelling up.

Fed 150 or more pre-schoolers this a.m. Tomorrow there will be at least 144 more, since we are including first grade, and by Monday possibly grade 3 though I don't know how many will be who need nourishing. Have sent quite a bit more food with Sr. Saurombe for her feeding program.

Teachers are on strike-- our children were sent home yesterday except for a few of the higher grades. We hired another teacher here at the orphanage starting today. She has a small baby she'll have to bring, but the kids won't mind that!

We are upping our job skills training for the children. They have started sewing classes, and will be doing that. We are also teaching the boys domestic tasks which is foreign to their culture. Even assessing the weights of the children in the general population it is more girls than boys under-weight.

Two of our orphans need glasses, the first one child's glasses will cost $112. but not sure what the next will be. Poor little Solomon needs surgery for his hernia and undescended testicles. A friend just left and has talked to the ruling board of the conference here, I guess and say we can go to the camp-ground to get water. It is a ways, but it may be a good source as they managed to take care of the needs of the 25,000 at camp-meeting. When I got to the gate a few minutes ago was told that Dr. M had been looking for me, that it was an emergency. I had just arrived w ith an emergency of a baby that presented breach. The mother is very poor and doesn't even own a pair of shoes. I'm going to try to find her omething! --

The clutch on Big Blue is going out, and Martin is having the 4 new tires fitted. Much to do so will close.

Love,

Paula

Buddha’s Smile School Update: Child Murdered, Sukdev Saini Struck in Motor Accident

2009-08-23T11:29:00.001-04:00

By Rachel Davies - republished from www.spectrummagazine.org

Some sad news has come to us since the printing of our recent story on Buddha’s Smile School (BSS) in the summer edition of Spectrum.

Several weeks ago, the husband of BSS director and Unsung Heroes awardee Rajan Kaur Saini, was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. Sukdev was nearing his house in Sarnath, India, one dark evening when he heard the sound of a car coming toward him. Seeing no headlights, he moved his bike over to the side of the road to let the vehicle pass. But rather than passing, the vehicle sped up, struck him, and then bolted from the scene. Neighbors came to fetch Rajan, who quickly took her husband to the hospital. Things did not look good for Sukdev, and for nearly a week his life hung in the balance. Sukdev sustained numerous lacerations, broken ribs, internal injuries, a crushed hand, and damage to his right leg that was irreparable. After receiving 22 units of blood, Rajan finally made the hard decision to have her husband’s leg amputated.

Sukdev is doing well now. He is recovering at home and is keeping himself busy by searching for new recipes to try at his café once he is mobile again. He will be fitted for a prosthetic leg in a couple months. Meanwhile, the driver that struck him has not been found. It is likely that he was targeted because of the family’s commitment to serving Varanasi’s “undesirable” residents. Besides Dalits and the children of people with leprosy, BSS also educates Muslim children of the Bangladeshi immigrant community. Varanasi is one of Hinduism’s most historic cities, and the Sainis have already received threats connected with their openness towards Muslims. Some speculate that the accident was an expression of Hindu extremism.

More tragic than Sukdev’s accident is news we received only a few days ago. A twelve year old graduate of BSS, Pankaj Kumar, was murdered. Pankaj was attending a local middle school on scholarship funds and was receiving evening tutorials at BSS. He was a talented child, mentally strong, compassionate, and liked by all who knew him. Investigations have revealed that last week Pankaj came across four boys raping a young girl in Sarnath, which he threatened to report. Out of revenge, the four boys took Pankaj from his home later that night and murdered him, throwing his body above a temple. He was found several days later in a road drain with his hands tied behind his back.

The teachers, friends, and sponsors of BSS are grieving right now. There are no words to express the meaning of this act; it wounds us in our deepest inner places. Rajan is in the beginning stages of setting up a BSS scholarship fund in his name. Please join us in prayer for the friends and family of little Pankaj, who is yet another unsung hero.

News from Amistad International

2009-07-17T11:13:00.001-04:00

Webpage of this email: http://amistadinternational1.blogspot.com/

J U L Y 2 0 0 9

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Dear Friends of Amistad,

Has it been a tough economic year for you? It has for many of us. And when the economy suffers in the wealthy nations, those who live in poor countries suffer even more.

The recession has hit Amistad International hard. Our giving is down 35% from this time last year. We will reduce several programs, and as noted below, we were precariously close to closing Amri School/Kenya for the final school term, August-December, until an angel donor sent $3,000 of the $5,000 needed. Still, with your help we continue good work in Africa, Mexico and India and I thank all of you who have been able to continue helping us.

By the way, churches of several faiths have adopted specific Amistad projects and raised significant amounts of money through donations and fund-raiser events. If the place of worship to which you belong is looking for a project that has minimal administrative costs and provides lots of news about how your gifts are making a difference, please contact me. We'd love to personalize a project for your group.

If you'd like to send e-Notas to a friend, just send us an email. We'll be glad to add to our mailing list. Also, check out our Amistad Newslog, where you'll find our newsletter and other pictures and stories.

With deep appreciation,

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Zimbabwe:
Baby Found in Toilet Pit Recovers at Murwira Orphanage
Murwira Orphanage a spot of hope in a shattered country

Zimbabwean authorities recently brought a nearly dead baby to Murwira orphange. The tiny boy had been found in the pit of an outhouse toilet, where he'd been intentionally abandoned. Police were able to pull him up by the handles of a bag he was in. He had maggots in his nose and mouth and was very ill. Initially he was hospitalized, but Paula reports that he's now drinking a rich baby formula and gaining strength. She feels confident that the baby, who they've named Moses, will survive.

Other news from Paula:

"Unemployment here is 94%. 7 million are undernourished, and are eating bark, wild plants and roots, and bugs and worms. We now have 37 orphans, seven of them under the age of two. Sometimes the children are quite near death when they arrive. Their recovery and healing can be dramatic.

"We have 12 women working in three shifts around the clock taking care of the children. Older children help with the work. Both boys and girls are learning to wash, iron, cook and clean. The older children take care of the babies and it is wonderful to see how they care for the little ones.

"A number of our children have been either emotionally or sexually abused before they arrive. Some are developmentally delayed, and even though we don't have professionally trained counselors, it is rewarding to see how they thrive with love and care."

Mature volunteers are needed at Murwira. Please contact Sandy Schultz for an application.

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Zimbabwe:
Tons of Food for the Hungry
A coalition of donors and volunteers sends food to Paula Leen's program

Amistad has participated in delivering nearly fifty tons of food from South Africa to Paula Leen's Murwira Orphanage from December '08 to June '09, to feed thousands of hungry people in the Marenge/Mutare area. The shipment contained maize, flour, peanut butter, cooking oil, rice, powdered milk, beans, baby formula, and a nutritional drink.

This was been a team effort involving Amistad International, ZOPOM of Australia, the Maree Noble and Elizabeth Stumpf Memorial Foundation, Agathos Foundation, and others. Adventist Women's Ministries of Washington state paid the shipping, and Feed My Starving Children Foundation donated and packed the 22 tons of chicken flavored soya, rice and vegetable meals. Marc Fulmer of Agathos Foundation, Pilgrim Foundation, and Amistad International all worked together smoothly to get the food to Paula Leen's volunteers, who are now delivering it to the needy.

Thanks to the Noble/Stumpf Foundation another shipment of food will arrive in July or August.

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San Francisco:
Amistad Program Leaders from India named "Unsung Heroes"
Congratulations to Rajan Kaur and Urmi Basu

The founder/directors of two programs which Amistad International assists have been given awards as Unsung Heroes of Compassion from the Wisdom in Action Foundation in San Francisco, California, April 26, 2009.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presented awards to Rajan Kaur of Varanasi, India who is the founder/director of Buddha's Smile School; and Urmi Basu (pictured at left), the founder/director of New Light in Kolkata, India. Rajan and Urmi and 47 other honorees were the guests at a reception of 600 who came to pay them their respects. These Unsung Heroes were selected because "they have set the course of their hearts toward truth and love. In doing so, they have become beacons, lanterns, mentors, inspirations and exemplars for us all. "

The Dalai Lama gently, and with a spark of humor, reminded everyone that like the 49 awardees, we too can do something for the world. We need not see the results in our own lifetime: we do good simply because it is the right thing to do.

Since returning to India, Rajan tells us she has never felt more peaceful. She feels that she has even more strength and energy to teach and inspire her students.

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Kitale, Kenya:
Pathfinder Academy a Scholastic Success

Amistad is helping Pathfinder Academy in Kenya with strategic campus improvements, including building seven classrooms, kitchen and dining hall.

Pathfinder Academy is a school for 360 economically deprived students grades 1-8, many of whom are AIDS orphans, at risk-children, internally displaced children (from '08 political strife) and children who are heads of households. The school is one of the scholastically top ranked schools in their region. The students are also trained in sustainable agriculture methods which will enable them to grow their own food throughout their lives. (One of our partners in funding Pathfinder Academy has posted a video about it here.)

Pathfinder Academy has made good progress toward completion of seven ground level classrooms. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous family, the slabs for the seven classrooms were poured, the walls raised, and a staircase built to reach a second floor library that will be completed when funds are available. The slab for the second story library was poured thanks to Jeannie and Terry Dietrich.

Thanks to those who helped us to purchase of building materials for both the classroom complex and for roofing materials on Pathfinder Academy's new kitchen/dining hall, and to the Worthington, Ohio Seventh day Adventist church for their gift to provide chairs and tables for the dining/conference hall.

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Kenya:
Amri School Needing Funds for Autumn Term

The 150 students of Amri school in Kenya have been receiving not only an education but also one nutritional meal per day day, thanks to Amistad International donors. These are often children who are in "child-headed households" (having neither parent), so there is little or no food at home.

We especially thank Don and Wanda Krein and Paula and Russell Owens who have shared their blessings with this school and have helped keep open the doors of Amri school this year.

Amri was in danger of closing their doors before the final '09 term (August-December) began until the Maree Noble/Elizabeth Stumpf Memorial Foundation donated $3,000 toward the $5,000 needed for salaries for teachers, principal, and cook schoolhouse rent, food for daily meals, books, and papers. We are still lacking $2,000 for the final term '09-contact me if you think you might be able to help.

If you are looking for a good place to get an excellent return on your investment, Amri School will pay rich rewards.

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From Amistad director Karen Kotoske:
Special thanks to Our Helpers!

Thanks to Maree Noble and Elizabeth Stumpf Memorial Foundation for your donation to purchase 30 brain shunts for hydrocephalic babies in Zimbabwe. We are deeply grateful to you for this compassionate aid for these children who'd otherwise not be able to receive surgery. Their generous gift included a one year grant of $5,000 for a nurse to monitoring the post surgery progress of the hydrocephalic babies.
The Noble/Stumpf Foundation is also providing a July-August 2009 shipment to Murwira, including beans, rice, flour, soya, infant formula, soap, peanut butter, and yeast.

Thanks to Donna and Larry Peters for tremendous help to our projects in India. Donna and Larry not only assist in the day to day operations of Buddha's Smile School but have purchased a video projector, science videos and new uniforms for the children. They've also just purchased a washer and dryer for Soma Home, the New Light home for daughters of prostitutes in Kolkata.

Thanks to all who contributed to the medical fund for Sukdev Saini, 37, husband of Buddha's Smile School director/founder, Rajan Kaur. Sukdev was struck by a hit-and-run driver on June 12 near the school necessitating his right leg be amputated. He remained in hospital for over one month due to complications of infection. We hope Sukdev will soon be able to be fitted with a prosthetic leg. (Sukdev is the owner and chef at Sarnath Café in Sarnath, India.)
We are especially grateful to Judith Steiner, Carol and Mahlon Hubenthal (and many of their wonderful friends), Hana Bagully, Karen Harris, Vipin Kothari, John and Inge Holman, Amy Symons, Mirian Sicherman, and other angels who gave generously for Sukdev's hospital bill.

Thanks to Lotte Cherin for procuring and shipping laptop computers for Joel Amutabi, director of Amri School in Kenya, and Dr. Talent Maphosa, medical director of Marenge Hospital in Zimbabwe - both of whom had had their computers stolen. Lotte also donated laptop computers for Local Solutions, a community-based nonprofit in Mongolia.

Thanks to Norrine Keesee and an anonymous friend for providing the funds for 49 windows and the doors for seven new classrooms at Pathfinder Academy in Kenya. Norrine also knits cozy bright sweaters for Amistad babies all over the world.

Thanks to Yvonne Wyer and her city of Canberra, Australia. Yvonne opened her beautiful garden to the public to raise funds for Zimbabwe food shipments, and the people of Canberra responded generously.

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Sierra Huichol, Mexico:
Ivett, Malnourished and Abandoned, Gets a Mommy

Maria Luisa is an employee of Casa Huichol, a place of refuge for Huichol people who have to come to the city of Guadalajara. She does work of all kinds for the lodgers, for very little salary.

One day at Casa Huichol, Maria Luisa faced a difficult dilemma. A few months before a Huichol mother arrived at Casa Huichol, unwrapping a severely malnourished child. The baby's mother, thinking her child would soon be dead, then disappeared. (Sometimes Huichol people will abandon a starving or deformed infant with an agency or refuge thinking that probably the child will die anyway.) Maria Luisa took baby Ivett into her heart and began to give her tender love, along with the simple diet provided at Casa Huichol. Discovering that she had fallen in love with this tiny mite of a child, 25 year-old Maria Luisa, deeply impoverished, had to decide what to do. As a single woman who wanted also very much to be a mother, and no marriage prospects in sight, Maria Luisa decided to adopt Ivett.

When friend of Amistad, Kay Prins of San Luis Obispo (herself a mother of a grown adopted son) learned about Maria Luisa adopting tiny Ivett she asked what she could do to help. Kay and her husband Steve are providing special pediatric nutritional supplementation and clothing for Ivett. Thank you, Kay and Steve!

Dagoberto Cirilo, Amistad's pilot for the Huichol project, writes, "Please remember Maria Luisa and her new adopted daughter Ivett. We're grateful for Amistad International's support for the Huichol air ambulance and clinic, that has helped hundreds of people over the last 29 years of service. God bless all the donors who have been a financial support for our work here."

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Pathfinder Academy

2009-06-23T18:17:00.005-04:00

Here's a gallery of some pictures from Pathfinder Academy, a school in Kenya that you help support through Amistad.

Fan Mail

2009-04-26T12:54:00.004-04:00

I want to thank you for the Amistad news. I really enjoyed it.

Better than waiting all year for the Notas.

Love

Iris Joy Donaldson

With Rajan's family at the Museum of Science

2009-04-25T13:04:00.015-04:00

It may come as no surprise to you by the time she left the Museum of Science at closing time yesterday, Daisy knew nearly every employee at the museum. I'm almost exaggerating. Their experience yesterday was probably the peak experience that the museum designers had hoped for in their dreams. My problem was moving them on from exhibit to exhibit, and no, of course we didn't see them all, but we saw most including the rainforest, planatarium, aquariums and lab and teaching center. The woman in the silver coat (auburn hair) you will see in some photos is Donna Peters, who came from Florida to meet Rajan. Donna has been a sponsor of Buddha's Smile School since 2005. She was in love with Rajan before she ever met her and after yesterday they are sisters. Donna bought a large sack full of science DVDs for BSS in the gift shop including the BBC's marvelous many-hour series Planet Earth. After presenting them to Rajan, who was overwhelmed, Donna and I were told that the school doesn't have a DVD player or screen. So guess what Donna has now offered to provide? Thank you, Donna!!!

Each of them saw the museum through a different lens. Rajan as a teacher, Daisy as an enviromentalist-in-the-making, Rosy as Alice-in-Wonderland, and Sukdev as a man on another wonderful planet. Daisy was just fascinating to observe. She made sure that after the museum guide had finished their presentation, or anytime she saw anyone at a desk who looked like they might have the secrets of this magical kingdom, Daisy would introduce herself and tell where she was from and why she was there in San Francisco. It went something like this, "Hello. My name is Daisy Saini, and I am from Varanasi, India. I am visiting San Francisco because my mother (who would be standing beside her) is being given a beautiful honor by the Dalai Lama for her school for poor children. I am going to be an enviromentalist. I very much appreciated the wonderful information which you just presented to us. I would like to know________? Or would you happen to know how I could learn more about ________? Or would you be able to share any of those brochures with me? By the time she left she had their e-mail addresses and everyone was going to be in contact. Daisy our networker. I stood back in awe. I told Rajan and Sukdev "Your daughter is going to be the president of India someday." He said "shhhh, don't say that in front of Daisy" as he smiled.

The Academy of Science is something we in the Bay Area can be very proud of. It truly lifted this family from India off into another realm of dreams for the children in India. Daisy, intent to the point of ignoring the African lion and gazelles we were standing near, had a light burning in her eyes asking me, "This city is so clean, the air is to pure, the streets have no garbage. You have something called recycling. How does this work? You have bins where people put their bottles and glass. Where does it then go? How do you get people to put them in the bins? We want to do this for India. How can I do this for India?"

What would you have said?

I hope that next week Daisy can have at least a few minutes with some of the enviromental movers and shakers who are coming to the fundraiser. I confess I did tell Daisy that Stanford has a fabulous Enviromental Science course of study. I told her that she will be able to see the campus next week :)

Karen

in the tower of the De Young before going to the Academy of Science. You can see its Living Roof in the background.

Little Rosy and Big Giraffe

Daisy holding a butterfly in the Rain Forest

I'd like to be under the sea with an octopuss' garden in the shade.

Penguins in San Francisco? Karen Kotoske, Rajan Kaur, Donna Peters and Daisy Saini (Rajan's daughter)

Rosy

Dalai Lama Honors 49 heroes of compassion; honorees from 13 countries in San Francisco for event

2009-04-25T13:02:00.002-04:00

San Francisco, CA, April 26, 2009 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be the honored guest at a luncheon at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, California, on Sunday, April 26, 2009. His Holiness will acknowledge and thank the 49 highly compassionate individuals who are the honorees of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion 2009 event.

The honorees—25 women and 24 men—range in age from 12 to 77, hail from 13 countries, and come from a variety of ethnicities, cultures, religions and backgrounds. Gathered from the far corners of the earth, each demonstrates the timeless and universal human goodness celebrated by every wise culture.

“These individuals have been selected as representatives of the tens of thousands of people worldwide who quietly serve the disenfranchised and work to improve our communities through their personal efforts,” says event chair Dick Grace, founder of Grace Family Vineyards and board chair of Wisdom in Action, the organization hosting the unique celebration. “We don’t see them or hear about them in the daily news, but they exemplify a humanism and heroism to which we must each aspire.”

Among the honorees to be acknowledged are:

Mohammed Abdul Wohab: Wohab transformed two rupees and a desire to aid those in need into Southern Health Improvement Samity, one of India’s most accomplished and effective nonprofits serving the poor through medical, social welfare, educational and economic initiatives.
Olga Sanchez: Founder of Albergue Jesus el Buen Pastor Shelter, Olga overcame her own poverty and life-threatening illness to found a temporary home providing safety and desperately needed medical care to injured and ill migrants.
Dr. Geoffrey Tabin: As a mountaineer, Geoffrey became the fourth person in the world to climb the highest points of all seven continents. As an ophthalmologist, he has reached equally impressive medical heights, co-founding the Himalayan Cataract Project and empowering more than 75 doctors in 16 countries to perform 200,000 sight-restoring cataract surgeries throughout Asia.
Ibtisam Mahammed: An Arab-Muslim citizen of the State of Israel, Ibtisam has challenged religious, racial and sexual stereotypes to create interfaith dialogues that result in lasting friendships between Jewish, Muslim and Christian women dedicated to ending the violence in the Middle East.

The 14^th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the exiled leader of the Tibetan people and a Buddhist teacher. The 1989 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Dalai Lama is an outspoken proponent of nonviolence and compassion, and is loved and revered internationally. Wisdom in Action (WIA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of compassion in action. WIA is hosting Unsung Heroes of Compassion 2009, the third event of its kind since 2001, to raise awareness that it is each individual’s obligation to help the disenfranchised among us and to acknowledge that each act of compassion makes an important difference to the world.

Co-hosting the event with Dick Grace will be internationally renowned author Isabel Allende, actor Peter Coyote, 2001 Unsung Heroes of Compassion honoree Dr. Grace Dammann, and teacher and author Jack Kornfield.

Rajan Kaur & family tour San Francisco

2009-04-24T21:39:00.004-04:00

Rajan and family, with Karen Cheng, at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Rajan and Daisy at Ocean Beach. We ran into a primary school class on a field trip and Rajan couldn't stay away. All were invited to Buddha Smile School.

Rajan and family, with Karen Cheng, atop Turtle Hill in San Francisco.

Rajan Kaur arrives in San Francisco

2009-04-24T16:52:00.005-04:00

April 22 at 7:16PM — Rajan Kaur and her husband, Sukdev Saini, and daughters Daisy, 12, and Rosy 7, arrived in San Francisco for the beautiful event on Sunday when Rajan will be given the award as Unsung Hero of Compassion by the Dalai Lama at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. The family's radient faces told us they survived and even enjoyed their first plane flight and their first trip to the US. None of the family has ever traveled outside of India. Their excitement and happiness at being here is complete. I asked Rajan, a teacher in her very soul, what she felt about her first plane ride. "I was a little dizzy as we lifted off from Varanasi. Then Rosy had many questions for me about what we were seeing out the windows, about the clouds and so forth, so I turned the flight into a science lesson for her."

Peter Lemieux, Rajan's host until Saturday, met us at the airport and took Rajan and her family home with him to San Francisco. Rachel Davies, from Ohio, and a long time Buddha's Smile volunteer and friend of the Saini family, flew in at the same time so was there also to welcome Rajan and her family. Thursday, April 23, Peter and his wife Karen took Rajan and family on a tour of San Francisco, the Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate bridge. And in the evening, Margaret Cullen in Berkeley hosted Rajan and family and the Lemieuxs for a dinner at her home.

Urmi Basu visits Los Angeles, hosted by local supporters

2009-04-18T19:08:00.010-04:00

by Amistad treasurer Melanie Boyd

Urmi Basu, the Founder and Executive Director of the New Light Center in Kolkata India is on her way to San Francisco where she will receive the “Unsung Hero of Compassion” award on April 26.

I met Urmi in Kolkata last year while traveling with Karen to visit the New Light Center and Soma Home the two projects that Urmi has established to provide opportunity and hope to the children of the sex-workers in Kolkata’s oldest and largest red light district, the Kalighat.

I was quite excited to learn that Urmi was passing through Los Angeles and I would have the privilege of spending a day and an evening with her. We spent a glorious afternoon at the Getty Museum enjoying their cuisine, the incredible architecture, panoramic view of Los Angeles, contemporary garden setting and museum exhibits.

Then, in spite of her jet lag, Urmi generously spent the evening at the West Los Angeles home of Devon and Hank Williams, speaking with an interested group of our friends about her projects and the enormous need to provide opportunity and hope for these precious children of the Kalighat. Though her stature is tiny, the power that emanates from her is anything but. Her enthusiasm is contagious, the incredible work that she is doing is inspiring and we all ended the evening more aware and touched. Her Brahmin upbringing, her compassion and spirit have molded Urmi into a fascinating, well-spoken and compassionate woman that I am delighted and honored to call my friend.

The evening was made even more special by the generous hospitality of the Williams who opened their home and provided a lovely venue for the evening. Dr. and Mrs. Williams are strong supporters of Amistad International, and their generosity of spirit plus the inviting environment of their home combined to create an evening of warmth and laughter, a perfect setting for everyone to meet and chat with Urmi.

Evalena Heinrich makes blankets for the needy

2009-04-18T18:48:00.009-04:00

Amistad volunteer, Evalena Heinrich, is an Oklahoma seamstress who donates her time to sew blankets for needy children in other countries. She's a dear friend of Amistad International

Evalena is in need of fleece fabric for the blankets which she turns into cozy warm blankets.

Volunteer Denice Duffy will be taking Evalena's blankets to Georgia (formerly Russia) in November. Here's a newspaper story about this wonderful ministry.

If you are able to donate fleece fabric, please contact Evalena at (580)883-2839, heinrich@pldi.net or Evalena Heinrich, Rt. 1, Box 204, Ringwood, OK 73768

From Urmi Basu: "My Mother"

2009-03-22T15:33:00.004-04:00

Urmi Basu is the founder and director of the New Light school, for children of Kolkata's prostitutes. Recently she wrote this tribute to her mother, which I think you'll find very touching.

Dear friends

As my life is gradually getting back to normal after ten days of the demise of my extra -ordinary mother , Sabita , i thought of sharing a bit about her life with all of you. At this moment both Arnab and I are at a complete loss of words to express just how overwhelmed and grateful we feel for all the strength, support and love that each one of you have given us over the past few days to deal with the greatest loss of our lives.

My mother was born ordinary but rose to the position of an extra-ordinary woman simply because of the life that she had chosen to live. Born to an affluent conservative Brahmin family as Sabita Chatterjee of north Calcutta on 24th of October 1929 she lived the life of a rebel. Her childhood was quite like that of many during those days. Not knowing where they belonged in a society that was making a huge transition under the influence of Gandhiji on the one hand and the last strong holds of the British rule in India on the other she did almost everything that was expected of a person of her background and stature at that time. I remember her telling me of her days at musical soirees and escorted trips to the Ladies` Park and her forays into the unknown territories of Brahmo homes and Parsee families.I also remember her telling me stories of the days of fear during the World War II and the great famine of Bengal.

Being at the middle position of nine daughters she moved from being the brightest and the best loved to the most disliked and criticized for her outstanding aspirations as an adolescent.

She was considered as the bad influence on her younger sisters and the family tried hard to reform her more often than not. Her early life education took place in an Irish Missionary school very near the house of our grandparents in north Calcutta. That education opened up the world of western art, music and knowledge for her without alienating her from the cradle of her own culture and sensibilities. During her growing up days the biggest influence on her life was her second sister lovingly called Mejdi. I have to say that even during the last hours of her life my mother in her delirium pleaded with Mejdi to be allowed to play in the veranda and the courtyard. Much of what my mother held close to her heart about music and art also came from Mejdi.

By the time my mother became a young adult her life began to be shaped and influenced by Marxist philosophy to such an extent that she plunged headlong into a serious leftist political movement. That was also the time when through my only maternal uncle and some common friends that she met our enigmatic father who was a new entrant into the leftist political circle of Kolkata from Nagpur with rather limited knowledge of Bengali and the ways of Kolkata. Their acquaintance soon blossomed into a love and commitment for life through all the storms and sunny days that followed. In the early part of their relationship it was more of a combined love for a belief and the dream of a revolution than for each other I would like to believe. It is hard to find out what they both cherished more at that point...the concept of social justice and equality or each other. Taking part in protest marches and political rally was a part and parcel of her life. Once she and her inseparable dear sister Kabita Basu were both arrested and spent a few nights as political prisoners in the Presidency jail. Ma said that our father had found that act rather charming. Only later their love became more personal and both were forced to make very serious choices about the kind of life they wanted to have together. I heard my mother say that never there was any doubt in her mind that she was the luckiest woman on earth being with our father .They were married through a civil ceremony on the 10th of July 1953. Their inter caste marriage those days was like a signal to many young people about following one`s own conviction.

My mother left the comforts of her established home and moved in with some relatives after marriage as my father did not have any permanent place of residence. He went wherever the Communist Party wanted him to go including living life as incognito in the Dooars region of North Bengal. Once our father returned to Kolkata he took up a job as a medical officer in Bata Shoe Company and went to live there. It was also during this time that my father began working among the jute mill workers of Budge Budge and my mother was his constant companion at work.

During those years my mother met and made friends with people who remained a big part of her life till the very end. I cannot but mention the names of friends of my mother like Asha Majumder, Dr Gita Sen, Dr Arun Sen, Dr Usha Pal , Dr Mrs Gita Mukherjee, Phool Chand Jain, Amal and Rikta Das, Dilip and Dipali Dutta , Manindra and China Sarkar , Sachi Banerjee, Arabindo Ghosh, and many others. Life then was frugal and hard but full of impossible dreams. Together with the support of innumerable friends she managed to give shape to many of her dreams. Along with her political activities she also was an active member of the International Peace Movement. No act of violence anywhere went without her critical opinion and protest.

Most people would be hard put to remember our mother with any kind of jewellery or ornamentation except her little dot of vermillion on the forehead. That was her signature style. The most important ornamentation that she carried always was her smile and gentle sense of humour. Many people have been recounting moments of rip roaring laughter with her over the past few days. For all of you I say please hold on to those moments because she will never laugh with you like that again.

My earliest memory of my mother`s courage floats back to the days of communal violence in the early sixties when she and our father long with some friends risked their lives and possessions to protect and save people whose lives and livelihood were being snatched from them. Those were moments of great turmoil and fear but what I learnt from her was to look at fear in its face. Those years were followed by the dark period of Bengal`s political situation and our family was subjected to untold loss and suffering by unknown assailants. Any other woman in my mother`s place would have left the ground and run for cover. Not our mother. She stood her ground, fought and saw to it that innocent lives were saved. It would take me another lifetime to recount all that happened in a short span of five years that followed.

Life dealt her that hardest blow when our father was diagnosed with cancer in 1973 and his life was abruptly brought to an end in 1976. Overnight her world was altered in ways beyond imagination. She accepted the transition of her role of a home maker to that of a bread earner with the grace befitting a ballet dancer. It was also at this time that she had to accept being separated from her two sons. My elder brother Basab went abroad for his studies and my younger brother Arnab went to live and study at the house of her dear sister Kabita and brother-in-law Sukumar Basu who had promised to take care of little Arnab. Not for a moment was there any remorse or laying the blame on fate. She did not believe in fate but just in her ability to change and control it. I continued to be with her and soon became the focus of her life. In a few years we were no longer parent and child but friends with a deep bonding and unconditional love. Much of my life today was shaped watching my mother go through the motions of everyday living. A life lived with courage and grace. Her love was not contained only for her biological children. She opened her heart to her other sons, Pulaha, my chhorda and Monojda, her foundling son. The influence of her life on them is to be equally remembered and noted.

At work she was much loved and respected and always gave her support to her colleagues who depended on her. Amidst all that was happening in her life she never forgot her responsibility either to her own family or to that of her ailing mother-in-law. I remember her visiting my grandmother every Friday afternoon after work. Hers was a life of action and mission. Not a day passed when she didn’t have something planned to do. Even toward the end of her life she continued to visit her friends and neighbours who were sick or having any kind of difficulty. Two weeks before her last illness she had drawn up a list f people that she needed to see and comfort forgetting all the while that she herself needed help to carry on her daily living. In her moments of extreme physical pain and suffering she never forgot to say thank you o those who took care of her.

Of all the gifts that our mother, Sabita has left us the greatest is the gift of courage. We hope we have the courage to look at life squarely at its face and say that we are ready. We hope we are ready to shoulder our responsibility and take it one step further. We hope are ready to carry on in the legacy of justice and compassion.

And for the grand children of the family I would say that all of you have been gifted with a very special station in life. Treasure it...honour it.

The history of the Huichol Flying Clinic

2009-03-17T13:39:00.006-04:00

Melanie Boyd: our Amistad International Treasurer

2009-02-27T11:50:00.016-05:00

I asked Melanie Boyd, our Amistad International Treasurer, to tell you a little about herself. Melanie is one of the central people of our organization: we really appreciate her good judgment and financial organization.

I have been involved with Amistad International since the beginning. When Karen returned from her first visit to the Huichol Indians so overwhelmed with the need there I caught her contagious enthusiasm and have been a strong supporter of Karen’s work since.

I am a Dental Hygienist by education and had the privilege of traveling in the early years of Amistad with Karen and a dental team to the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains, staying in a village for several nights as we provided dental work for the Huichol that lived in that area. The only way for us to reach the Indian’s village was by small plane. The Huichol had cleared a landing strip on the nearby hill top and then we hiked several hours into the floor of the valley where the village was located, carrying all of our supplies, including a generator. I returned with Karen just last year to the Sierra Madre Occidentals and what a transformation! The food and the education that Amistad has been providing have given an entire generation of Huichol children a healthy childhood. The children that we see today in the villages that Amistad has a presence are so healthy-with shiny hair and laughing eyes, These children are receiving not only a hot meal, but access to medical and dental care, a good education and opportunities that their parents didn’t have. What a joy for me to see the long term benefits of Amistad’s work.

Though Amistad International is my first and deepest love, I am also on the Board of the Children’s Bureau of Los Angeles, this 100+ year old non-profit works with the families that are at risk in the heart of Los Angeles. The Children’ Bureau provides social services and support to abused children, including foster care and adoption.

As a Certified Financial Planner I consult with start-up non-profit groups to help them develop their strategy and business plan.

I am married with two grown children, but no grand children—yet. I am a golfer, a skier and a seamstress. I facilitate a women’s community Bible study group and when there is nothing left on my “to-do” list I garden.

Applause for the launch of eNotas

2009-02-22T18:34:00.005-05:00

Thanks for all the warm compliments about our new eNotas! Below, a sampling of our eNotas fan mail. (If you've not subscribed yet, you can do it easily—just click here!)

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Dearest Karen:

WOW!!! I am so impressed with your e-news and the YouTube video. Good for you. You are an amazing woman and I just love all the projects that you are supporting. I keep praying for you and all that you do.

Love and hugs!!! Iris Landa

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Thanks, Karen. Keep us on this list! Will try to send a check a bit later this year.

In His love, Warren and Shirley Zork

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Thanks so much. Julia and I are pleased to receive your messages. We'll help when we are able.

Maranatha. R and J. West

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YEA!!!! You've come a long way baby!

Marty Rudolph

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Karen

Wow, this is wonderful. I am so impressed with the information and pictures. We are so lucky to have people like you in this world who can make things like this happen.

Dr. Michelle de Marta

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Dear Karen,

Thank you so much for your newsletter. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but hopefully I will soon. When we are able we'll send something.

You and Paula are sure doing a good work. May God Bless you tremendously!

Love always,
Valerie Tenneson

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Dear Karen,

Thanks for sending us the email newsletter. We really appreciate the updates.

We are always inspired by your projects and thank the Lord for all the work you and so many others are doing around the world to relieve suffering.

Blessings to you, Nancy

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Wow Karen! This is great, really, really fantastic!

Polly Ogden

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Good Morning Hermana,

Thank you for thinking of me...I am having a bit of a problem reading this because i have to go back and forth from left to right to get the entire sentence. Therefore I have not read it completely but I like the idea of receiving the newsletter. I will copy and read it...

Julie Cimmer

[We are working on this problem, Julie! The next one will be better!]
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Dear Karen –

I know that the newsletter was a lot of work – good job!

I continue to send you my positive energy; thank you for your continued commitment and hard work to make our world a better place.

All my best, Bruce Lahey

Introducing Susan Shapiro, one of our Amistad family

2009-02-20T11:33:00.007-05:00

Karen met Susan last year at an art sale held for Amistad, in Southern California. Susan writes:

"Hello Karen,

Thank you all for the wonderful work you are doing at Amistad. I love the eNotas, and the blog! Am so grateful to be able to know more about what's happening. I would love to be on the mailing list to receive eNotas and any other updates. Will forward to clients and friends, you are doing such important work! Glad to hear you have a facebook page, will check it out!

Again, thank you for the opportunity to help in any way.

All the very best,
Susan"

Besides being a life coach and massage therapist, Susan is also an artist! You can see her website here.

From Peggy at Lambano Sanctuary, an update

2009-02-20T11:31:00.002-05:00

Hi Karen

Thanks for letting us have a copy of your on line newsletter – what wonderful work is being done by the money donated to Amistad.

Just to correct your understanding of our numbers. We have 25 permanent children, but we also provide a medical service to sick or dying HIV+ children who we care for under a “Place of Safety” mandate. Since we cannot take any more permanent children, once these children are stabilised, they have to go to other facilities if they don’t have any family to return to. We have 5-8 of these children at any one time. Since this overloads the home they are in and we are limited to the number of children we can look after, we were trying to get the 10 bed Hospice set up.

The building that was built by the church through missionary teams is situated in the middle of a squatter camp and, after much thought, we decided that it would be too dangerous for our caregivers and other staff to come and go from work. It would also mean that Lyn couldn’t go to sit with a dying baby if the call came late at night. That squatter camp is known for attacks and hijackings so we felt it was not a good idea to finish off that building. What we have done is buy the property next door to one of our current homes and we are renovating it to make it suitable for a Hospice. We have received the funding for the purchase of the home and some of the renovations from Luxemburg – the government has given two thirds and one of our sponsors a third. After 2 years of proposal after proposal, the money has finally been cleared and, once the house is in Lambano’s name, we will begin renovations.

What we still have not received funding for is the rest of the renovations and the running costs. As you can imagine, the running costs are high because, according to the law, have to hire trained nursing sisters to run a Hospice. Still, we believe this is something the Lord wants us to do and we believe He will make funds available.

Warm regards

Peggy

Peggy Burger
Bookkeeper
Lambano Sanctuary

From our friends, Ron & Nancy Franzke

2009-02-19T16:55:00.003-05:00

Dear Karen,

Thanks for sending us the email newsletter. We really appreciate the updates.

We are leaving for Ethiopia in March with plans to establish an Adult Learning Center in the town of Awasa. We understand that the illiteracy rate among adult women in that country is 70%. We're taking a team of educators, builders and high school students to help out. Ron will have a medical team working as well.

We are always inspired by your projects and thank the Lord for all the work you and so many others are doing around the world to relieve suffering.

Blessings to you,
Nancy

News from Amistad International

2009-02-18T12:25:00.000-05:00

Webpage of this email: http://amistadinternational1.blogspot.com/

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9

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Dear Loren,

Welcome to our very first issue of e-Notas! So many things happen from month to month in our Amistad family, that I wanted to have a way to communicate with you more frequently than just once a year.

It's very important to us that we don't add to the stresses of your life though,so if you don't want to receive our e-Notas newsletter, just click the SafeUnsubscribe link at the bottom of this letter.

Those of you who have been with us for awhile know our Amistad philosophy: we find a limited number of worthy projects run by people with a high degree of responsibility, creativity and accountability. We try to stretch the money we receive to help as many as we can (we use only a minimal amount, about 8%, on running the foundation!) And we're very proud that we communicate to you clearly and directly what effect your gifts are having on those we help, and seek your help in solving problems. In this issue, we'll get you up to date on a lot of wonderful things that are happening among our matchless Amistad recipients-and some major challenges, too.

Please note, too, that we are facing especially desperate needs at our orphanage in Zimbabwe. Our own Paula Leen continues to work in the midst of this terrible situation. Please see the story, below. You may also see our blog page for frequent updates on all Amistad projects. Our contact information is at the bottom of this page.

With love and appreciation,

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Murwira Orphanage: Continuing Crisis
Cholera, starvation surround our Murwira Orphanage

Reports from our Murwira Orphanage in Zimbabwe paint a desperate picture. You have heard in the news about Zimbabwe's collapsing economy, civil unrest, and cholera outbreaks. Paula Leen and Murwira are in the front line in trying to care for these folks. Here's what we know so far:

Paula is feeding an average of 2,200 people every day. Amistad and ZOPOM of Australia just purchased and delivered over 6 tons food - but we need more. The cholera epidemic is all around the orphanage - none of our students afflicted so far! With the help of the Maree Noble and Elizabeth Stumpf Memorial Foundation, and the Agathos Foundation, Amistad has arranged to send several more tons of food in late February. More information, below.

Our crucial needs? Food and medicine. Two volunteers from Walla Walla University, Becca Parshall and Ryan Eggers, have delivered hundreds of latex gloves, but we also want to ship as much medicine as we can. We will continue to need to send food, until there is a change in the political scene there.

We know this is a hard time for everyone: but even pinched a bit in our domestic needs, we have so much more than those at Murwira! If you have a little extra (perhaps a tax refund you didn't anticipate?) would you consider designating it for Murwira Orphanage?

Pictures: Above, HIV positive Vaiso carries another orphan. With medicines, good food and love, she is enjoying fairly good health. Left, a food line at Murwira.

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Two Members of our Amistad Family to Receive Awards from the Dalai Lama
Urmi Basu and Rajan Kaur receive the Unsung Hero award in April

We've always known these two women were heros, but now their work is being recognized by Wisdom in Action, a San Francisco group that recognizes great people for their contributions.

Urmi Basu is the director of the New Light Center and Soma Home, serving Calcutta's prostitutes and untouchables. Rajan Kaur runs the incredible Buddha's Smile School in Varanasi. See this page for more information.

Thank you for supporting these wonderful programs through your gifts to Amistad!

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Amistad Ministries Featured in International Magazines
Two international stories about our wonderful Amistad caregivers

In the October issue of Adventist World, a Christian magazine with a global circulation of 2,000,000, Loren Seibold wrote about Amistad's connection to Urmi Basu's New Light Center for the prostitutes of Calcutta. You can read the article here.

In the November 15th issue of World magazine, Mark Bergin writes about "Auntie" Paula Leen's orphanage in Zimbabwe. As you know, Paula is working against incredible odds to keep the orphanage alive - and so far succeeding, with your help. (This article requires a subscription to read on line, but you can see the beginning of it here.)

The online magazine for ADRA Canada also had a story about Paula, which you can read here.

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Visit to the Sierra Huichol
In January Karen visited our lunch program in San Miguel Huaixtita

In the tiny Mexican village of San Miguel Huaixtita we sponsor three food programs at Huichol schools for 310 students. At 11AM we found cook Leticia and her volunteer mother helpers making hundreds of tortillas for the 75 children who'd soon arrive for lunch. Also cooking on the open fire: a kettle of beans and another of thick soup, and I saw a 10 gallon pot of posole, a warm milk and corn drink that the children love. Just across the kitchen yard was the new chicken house where the cooks gather eggs daily. I couldn't help but think that our Huichol students are receiving better nutrition than American students who live on fast food.

The preschool children, ages 4-5, came first, followed by grades 1-3. They arrived in an enthusiastic but orderly line, first washing their hands in a big pot outdoors, then filing into the adobe dining room. The children ate with serious concentration: few spoke, for all interest was on the warm delicious food. It was clear this was their first meal of the day-for some, their only meal of the day.

Thank you, Amistad friends, for providing these children nutritious food to eat!

See more pictures of the San Miguel Huaixtita food program here.

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"Slumdog Millionaire" up close

"Slumdog Millionaire" is an award-winning movie currently playing in American theaters. The slum scenes you will see there picture the very people that Amistad serves in Varansi and Kolkata.

Last year Karen visited the projects that Amistad supports in India with Amistad treasurer Melanie Boyd. They found themselves in the midst of the children and families of the "untouchable caste". These people live by the side of the street under a small plastic tarp, on the edge of the dump, or in one room shanties in the back streets of the red light district. "Every day," writes Melanie, "we were overwhelmed by the need for food, education, medical care or even just a good bath and laundry soap." (You can read Karen's detailed account of our visit to these wonderful India projects at our blog page, here.)

The work that you wonderful donors support is accomplishing amazing things by providing an education, a safe place for the children, a daily hot meal, uniforms and some medical care. Amistad is changing lives in India one child at a time.

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Amistad Program Updates
Here's the latest news from our projects

By Karen Kotoske, Amistad Executive Director

Huichol settlements, Mexico: Drought has brought crop failures to seven areas of the Sierra Huichol. Mexican farmers have donated through Amistad 1,000 pounds of beans for distribution there.
Achlal School, Mongolia: This school in Ulan Bator boards children who used to live at the city dump. Just got news that they've harvested a potato crop to feed children. Amistad is sponsoring two months of food for entire school.
Buddha's Smile School, Varanasi, India: Two new classrooms for upper grades have been completed and a water well dug, as well as new desks for all classrooms. We received help for this project from the Flora Family Foundation and Herant and Stina Katchadourian. We are grateful to the tour group to India led by Judith and Hans Steiner of Palo Alto, California which took a large amount of teaching and art materials to BSS, and also raised funds for the medical needs of the students. On April 28, 2009 Judith and the India travelers will be hosting a fundraiser in Palo Alto, CA for BSS and Rajan Kaur will be there too! If you'd like an invitation please write us an e-mail: tomamistad@aol.com.
Murwira Orphanage, Zimbabwe: Cholera is sweeping the area of orphanage, and the hospital has closed its door to victims. Orphanage director Paula Leen has been given a list of 565 children under age of five needing food. Amistad and ZOPOM are shipping several tons of food from South Africa. A new orphanage co-director, Suzette Anderson, has arrived.
Lambano Sanctuary, South Africa: They're caring for 25 children infected with the HIV virus, and helping families affected by HIV in the Katlehong township. They've got a partially finished building for sick and dying babies that they've not enough money to finish.
Amri School, Kenya: Amistad is renting land for Amri to grow crops providing basic foods for 120 students and staff. We've purchased sewing machines so they can make uniforms.
Community Initiatives for Rural Development, Kenya: The third group of young girls, sponsored by Amistad, are graduating from a new program of community- and church-designed coming-of-age rites designed to replace the traditional female-genital mutilation.
Pathfinder Academy, Common Ground Program (CGP), Kitale, Kenya is building seven classrooms, library and learning center. This community-based program in Western Kenya was founded in 1995 by teacher and community organizer Joshua Machinga for 360 elementary and middle school students who are either orphaned, heads of households, or living in vulnerable situations. The school has one of the highest academic ratings in the district, and also teaches the children how to grow their own food. Amistad is helping Pathfinder build seven classrooms. The foundation and walls are completed. There is urgent need for funding for the floor, windows, doors, wiring, and labor. We thank Terri and Jeannie Dietrich for providing the slab for the second story library (soon to be poured.) We also give a special thanks to the Worthington, Ohio, SDA church who have provided $3,500 for purchase of 200 chairs, and 10 tables for the new dining-multi-purpose room.

If you want to know about any of these projects, please e-mail me! I'd love to tell you how you can help!

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Thank you for the compliment, Don and Wanda!

2009-02-15T18:35:00.004-05:00

From our friends Don and Wanda Krein:

"We would like to get the eNotas. One reason we became interested and have given to Amistad is because we don't always gets letters asking for more and newsletters every few weeks. We've always wanted our money to go to help someone instead of paying postage to send us stuff."

Paul Leen photos

2009-02-11T14:13:00.003-05:00

Paul Leen just sent us these pictures from Murwira Orphanage:

Huichol Weaving

2009-02-11T13:29:00.001-05:00

This is a Huichole woman using the traditional backstrap loom to weave
beautiful purses and other items.

Karen Kotoske's February visit to Mexico's Sierra Huichol

2009-02-09T15:58:00.001-05:00

Loading up the plane at the Guadalajara airport for our 50 minute flight to the rugged Sierra Huichol dirt airstrips, our morning passengers were a sixteen year old Huichol Indian mother and her four year old son, and the boy's grandmother. The young mother had been caring for her mother following surgery in a Guadalajara hospital. I asked the young mother if she'd been able to attend middle school. Unfortunately her child's birth had come when she was only twelve so she had to leave school for a new life as a mother.

We landed in San Miguel Huaixtita, and heading next up the mountain road for one of three food programs we sponsor at Huichol schools, for 310 students. Arriving at Tecolote about 11AM, we found cook Leticia and her volunteer mother helpers making hundreds of tortillas for the 75 children who'd soon arrive for lunch. Also cooking on the open fire: a kettle of beans and another of thick soup, and I saw a 10 gallon pot of posole, a warm milk and corn drink that the children love. Just across the kitchen yard was the new chicken house where the cooks gather fresh eggs daily. I couldn't help but think that our Huichol students are receiving better nutrition than American students who live on fast food.

The preschool children, ages 4-5, came first, followed by the grades 1-3. They arrived in an enthusiastic but orderly line, first washing their hands in a big pot outdoors, then filing into the adobe dining room. The children ate with serious concentration: few spoke, for all interest was on the warm delicious food. It was clear this was their first meal of the day - for some, their only meal of the day.

Thank you, Amistad donors, for giving these lovely children food to eat!

Pictures from Murwira Orphanage

2009-02-09T12:23:00.000-05:00

This is Vaiso, an orphan at Murwira who is HIV-positive. As you can see, she's healthy and happy, and helping to care for other children. This is a result of the medicines we are able to supply to Murwira Orphange.

These people are waiting in line for food at the Murwira Orphanage. Paula Leen and her staff feed over 2000 a day.

Travels in India, part 4

2008-02-14T12:08:00.000-05:00

Calcutta/Kolkata

Our hired drive Singh took us at 10 AM to Mother Teresa's home where the Sisters of Charity live, and where she is buried in a simple marble tomb about 3 ft. high. On the top of the tomb was a simple dedication to her life and a few candles. All appropriate to what she'd have accepted (though more than she'd have approved I am sure.) I couldn't help but think how good it was that the Vatican didn't somehow manage to entomb her in Rome. How different her final resting place would have been. God called Mother Teresa to India and it is here she wanted to stay.

A few Indians came to pray quietly beside her tomb. Cameras are allowed only in this room, and out in the patio one is allowed to take a photo of a simple bronze statue of her, which had not even one candle or flower beside it. I was impressed by the restraint at this great woman's tomb as practiced by this order and by the local diocese.

About 20 minutes after we'd been sitting on a simple wooden bench looking the nuns came in, about 30 of them novitiates, mostly in plain white saris, about six in the white and blue of the confirmed order members. They began to sing in English to Jesus, the sweetest chorus of voices I've heard in a while. Since so many are young in their 20's, you can imagine the beautiful sound.

We then went on to the red light district of Kalighat, where Amistad has been working with New Light, a Calcutta NGO founded and led by Urmi Basu. Urmi is one of the planet's more amazing women I have met.

As we passed through the terrace we came into New Light, Urmi Basu's shelter for children of sex workers in the red light district (Kalighat) of Kolkata. This program was initially, and continues to be helped by Shadhika of Palo Alto, California. Amistad began to assist New Light in 2005. In 2006-7, Worthington, Ohio, SDA church, and Walla Walla University's Amnesty International chapter joined in our efforts. We especially thank Loren Seibold, Mrs. Hezeibah Kore, Hope for Humanity, Rachel Davies, Kathleen Erwin, Janelle Walikonis and their colleagues.

Coming up those dark stairways, which ascended from an alley of desperation and depravity into New Light shelter/clinic/school we knew that the name was well chosen.

L-shaped New Light is about 1,000 sq ft.. The first room is about 15X by 30, and is a combination medical clinic, play area, napping for the children, dining room, dishwashing, pharmacy, business office, and in the evening classrooms for tutoring about 50-75 kids. These are children of sex workers who come to the shelter during the evening hours when their mothers are working. Before New Light was born in 2001, the children either played in the alleys or slept under the pallets where their mothers were entertaining clients. Some of the children come for breakfast, others spend the middle of the day there playing. They also nap there and receive a mid day meal.

New Light was just pulsing with life this noon, but nothing compared to the activity during the late evening. In the evening the students bring their books to study and be tutored by several teachers hired to help the kids.

This morning, on one side of the room the New Light physician was counseling with two prostitutes. The sex workers are given free medical care for TB, STD, and AIDS, and more. I don't know what happens when they are need to be put into a hospital. We did meet a women who either tried to burn herself to death (or her husband tried to burn her, Urmi hasn't figured out the story yet) and Urmi did rescue her from the public hospital where she was laying on a bare sheet-less bed, with no pain medicine except one analgesic given 12 hours before, her burns already infected. Urmi got her to a private 'nursing home"...what Americans would call a private clinic. The woman was doing well when we met her when she came to see her little girl at New Light.

When we visited the Dalit New Light later same day, about 8 pm, literacy classes for the sex workers were over for the evening. These two programs are funded by Worthington SDA church through Hope for Humanity. Three women of the 30-35 women, who are taking literacy classes were still there that evening. One I spoke to is happy because she is learning English. Another was proud to say she is learning to read and write Bengali. Urmi's brother and co-director, Arnab, told us another valuable lesson they are learning is to show up at class on on time, a a new concept to the women. This small act of responsibilty is a new valuable tool for their lives if they are able to seek another type of employment such as a housemaid etc. They also learn to read bus schedules, and write their name.

Arnab showed us the computer architectural renderings done by an architect in Toledo, Spain who has been volunteering at New Light. He and other Spanish groups are helping New Light and recently purchased land outside of Calcutta ($40,000 USD), Next they will build a clinic/hospice for sex workers, family members with AIDS.

Since the women are paid less for their services if they demand that their customers wear a condom, there is little incentive for them to demand use of a condom. Still, New Light provides 6,000 condoms per month to the women, so some are insisting that their customers use them. Yes, the AIDS rate is high among the women.

Urmi came bustling in to the room, her red glasses framing her big sparking black eyes, salt and pepper hair, red scarf, worn so gracefully, an art that seems to be in the genes for French and Indian women. We had a happy reunion before we set out for Soma Home which is a home for 30 girls, daughters of sex workers. Amistad gave New Light the funds in 2005 to open this home. It is now sponsored by a Spanish foundation, Meridional, colleagues to whom we give enormous gratitude.

Urmi deliberately chose a far away neighborhood across Calcutta so the Soma Home girls would not be able to easily return to their former friends and contacts. She also wants the girls to live in an area where a healthy life in the norm. Their mothers are allowed and encouraged to visit the girls but they must come to to the girls' new home. The mothers were all courageous to let their daughters go to Soma because they had been of potential economic value to the mothers. Often the girls in the Kalighat follow their mothers into prostitution.

Soma Home is located in a nice (by Calcutta standards) neighborhood. The homes are all 3-4 stories high. Lawyers, high tech, accountants, merchants etc. live here. A school bus comes each morning to deliver them to 2-3 schools they attend (depending on age and grade level.)

As soon as some of the girls saw us out the window about a dozen came running to greet us. The youngest girls came running first, and we were soon surrounded by about 15 girls from ages 6-12. Most of the older girls were doing their homework, tutoring the younger girls, or were themselves being tutored by professional teachers.

In India the educational system is so lacking that everyone who possibly can hires teachers to come to their homes after school to tutor their children. The Soma Home girls are no exception. They have access to all that middle class girls have, including dance and music. One girl is studying boxing! On the first floor is a computer lab. Their computer lessons includes all the basics for an entry level job that requires computer skills.

We passed one room where a psychologist was counseling with two teen girls, another service provided the girls. Soma's trained psychologist who is helping some of the girls work through complicated issues of their lives.

As we spoke with these graceful, open, smiling, friendly, pure-eyed, sweet young ladies and children, it was actually hard to imagine that may of them had, only months before, been living in the streets, witness to the harshest realities thrown at the unlucky. At least one of the girls we heard about had already been 'sold out', or raped. Now this young girl, who suffers from depression but is receiving help at Soma, has a life of hope. I wish that every donor could have been there with us to meet these girls, to know how very directly their gifts are literally helping to transform these girls' lives.

Urmi hopes to offer variety of careers to these girls, from computation, flower shop, airline attendant, etc. These girls are from mothers who are not part of a caste, therefore will not be able to provide a dowry to a potential groom's family. Therefore they are mostly unmarriagable by Indian standards. They must all have a career in order to survive. The oldest girl is 18 so the issue is urgent.

In 2005, I had asked Urmi what her dream was for the little children of New Light Shelter. She described for me how she wanted to create a home for the girl daughters of the sex workers. We listened to her dream and within several months, thanks to Amistad donors, Some Home was a reality, and there I was looking at the results! Now Urmi has another dream....she wants to create half way house for the older girls of Soma Home.

Urmi, in her rapid fire (amazingly American) English shared her new dream for these girls....

"This home would work as a half way shelter for graduating girls from Soma Home and also for other young women who have no safe shelter in this city to receive any training or further education to have a career that would allow them to have an independent life. The main idea is to assist them in getting education and training . If during the course of training they are able to earn some money they would contribute towards their upkeep. We have also thought about a name for the home taken from a collection of poems by Tagore ...Sonar Tori ..meaning the Golden Boat which signifies a journey from pain and suffering to the golden twilight of hope and future."

Hopefully, Amistad will help her be able to create this new and needed half way home for these lovely girls I was meeting.

Climbing to the roof top Soma Home, we saw what will soon become a new dining area and kitchen of about 10X 10, the cook was preparing a nice lunch for the girls in a closet sized kitchen.

The Some Home housemother, who is about 40, and a mother herself, was up and down the stairs, gracious, friendly, schoolmarmish in glasses, looking carefully and watchfully at the girls.

Urmi hopes to open a shelter just like Soma Home equivalent for the sons of the sex workers. Sooner or later, order to survive, most of the boys emulate the men in the streets, which means becoming a combination pimp/alcohol-drug dealer and thief.

We met many of these boys later that evening, studying hard at the shelter during the evening tutoring session, still dressed in their school uniforms. They are clean, well groomed, smiling, open, non-hostile, respectful boys, eager to learn. A shelter for the boys is possibly more important that Soma Home for girls. Uneducated and unemployed males have the potential for causing more social damage through anti-social behavior than the girls (my opinion only.) When the boys no longer have the secure arms of New Light around them, they will be prey to the depravity around them and can easily descend into the hell of their mothers' lives.

Nearly every prostitute we saw on the street was under the influence of a chemical, drug or alcohol. She is expected to provide alcohol to her client. Being drunk is the only way she can force herself to entertain 5-10 clients a night, receiving 30-50 rupees per client (75 cents to $1.25) (depending on her age and beauty). Many of the women are Nepalese by birth, either trafficked or somehow ended up here. Nepalese girls are stolen or sold to be house maids by their parents. These Nepalese prostitutes are sought by Nepali immigrant workers and young Indian men who prefer Nepalese beauty to Indian women's beauty.

After Melanie and I visited Soma Home we returned to the Kalighat district as the sun was setting. We then visited the shelter for Dalit (untouchable caste) children, also located next to a Hindu temple complex. Walking from our car up through a passage way lined by various styles of bas relief and painted Hindu art, the passage opened into an open paved courtyard of about 150X150 ft. On the left was a temple facade, to the right bigger Hindu temple.This was the Hindu Keoratala burning ghat..a Hindu crematorium where dead bodies are burnt on wood pyres. All the people who work there are traditionally of the untouchable caste ..who are denied all opportunities of main streaming.

Straight ahead was an ornate gate, leading out to a polluted river just ahead feet away from the temple. About 20 ft from this gate was the New Light Dalit evening shelter for children and literacy program for adult women.

We walked straight ahead to a building alongside a filthy river toward the shelter. During monsoon season the river floods the entire neighborhood of Kalighat during monsoon, flooding the streets, alleys, and homes to a depth of 2-3 feet twice a day.

Arnab told us they must enter and leave New Light only when the enter and recedes, according to the tides. They have to time their activities accordingly to the tides. I'd have to have thick fishing boots before I'd walk those streets during monsoon.    If you can, imagine the sewers in your town joining a large creek and then flooding your home two times a day for a few weeks.  Add to that cocktail some mosquitoes, malaria, typhoid and cholera. Consider that no one has protective shoes or boots, only flipflops or plastic shoes. Imagine if you happened to have to a small cut on your foot or leg?

Arriving at New Light Dalit shelter about 6Pm about 30 children began to arrive, settling themselves quietly on the woven floor mats. On the right side were tables serving as storage for teaching materials, dinner trays etc. After the children does lessons with their teacher, a big evening meal is served.

We noticed one skinny little sad looking girl about 8, short haired, dressed in a dirty drab olive sweater. Urmi mentioned this child's mother had either tried to commit suicide or was set afire by her husband in January '08. The child left the room about 6:30 and I wondered where she'd gone by herself (it was quite dark by then). In about 15 minutes a woman in a yellow sari appeared at the doorway with the little girl coming in just ahead of her. The child plopped back down on the floor with a big smile on her face. Her mommy had come to school! What a change on this child's face to have her mother there. It was impossible to imagine painful experiences this child and her mother had gone through since January. I could see the hands of this mother, Deepa Sikdar, were still bandaged and there was extensive scarring elsewhere on her body. It is not uncommon for men to burn their wives in north India, or for women to commit suicide by burning or hanging.

Over to the right was a pretty girl of twelve with enormous 'diamonds" in her ears smiling while working on her homework assignment. Urmi mentioned she'd love to bring this child, Puja Sardarto, to Soma Home. But the girl lives with her grandmother and is the only help her grandmother has and therefore won't let her go to Soma Home. Once she finishes grades school her grandmother wants her to work. ( I didn't ask what type of work.). This is the reality. And every one of the 30-40 children sitting before us has an an equal story of pathos.

After we'd spent a while at this shelter of hope and love, we returned to the larger New Light shelter where about 70 children were studying with the teachers Urmi hires for evening tutoring. The meal would be served later. Serving food in at schools run by charity is common. If the charities don't provide food, the parents often won't send the children. It makes more economic sense to put the children to work.

The next day Melanie and I  flew from Calcutta to Delhi, then after nearly 4 hours in security lines (there was a terrorist threat in Delhi that day necessitating multiple baggage and document and person search) we left on an 19 hour flight (plus a 3 hour stop in Chicago) to California. Stepping from the airport luggage area into the San Jose afternoon, I never realized before how sweetly the air smells in the Bay Area.

"India--monsoon and marigold, dung and dust, colors and corpses, smoke and ash, snow and sand---is a cruel, unrelenting place of ineffable sweetness. Much like life itself." quote from Traveler's' Tales India.

Travels in India, part 3

2008-02-09T12:08:00.000-05:00

Visiting Varanasi's Rajghat Leper Community.

Our visit to to Rajghat, a community set aside for families with leprosy, was deeply experience. Twenty of their children attend BSS and the families would like to send many more to school if there were room at BSS. There is not room for more.

We parked the school van in vicinity of the Rajghat train station. The rails run alongside the leper colony. We walked about 200 ft. over a dirt rough area downhill to a long paved narrow street, about 15 ft wide. On each side were small one room homes, opening to the street. The homes had no doors or windows. The families have public lives.

I was first of all impressed by the cleanliness of the Rajghat street. It wasn't long before I felt the deep sense of caring the families have for one another, and especially the joy and pride they have in their children. Grandfathers without hands carried their grandchildren with pride and tenderness. Young mothers brought their children to be photographed. Many of the teenagers asked me to take their pictures.

These kids were as cool as teens are everywhere, dressed in jeans and t-shirts. One group of boys brought their bike to be included in the photo.

At Rajghat leper colony, about 50% of the adults and 15% of the children have leprosy (Hansen's disease) caused by the Mycobacterium leprae. Though children are more susceptible than adults to contracting the disease, this is not a highly contagious disease and those in treatment are almost not at all infectious. This disease take a very long time of continual physical contact to develop.

The adults and children, elders, came pouring from their homes, crowding around Rajan, They are crazy about her. She is probably the only human being from the outside world who truly loves them. BSS is providing a free education for 20 of their children, but they begged her to take in more (as did the Bangladeshi families in the other neighborhood.) When I heard the parents' desperation for their children to be educated I could understand why Rajan opened BSS to twenty more students. If only we could wave a magic wand (over the world's millionaires and billionaires?) and build a larger school on a nice big piece of land! If only the Amistad donors who've helped BSS could have been standing there with me, they've have been covered with goose bumps of happiness seeing what hope an elementary education brings to these, the most humbled of humanity.

I asked Rajan how the families earn money for food and clothing. She told me some are beggars. Without hands and or feet, what manual labor could they do? They did not ask us for money. They treated us as honored guests, and as equals, with great dignity.

One moment I won't forget was seeing a handsome young man of about 25 years, a resident of the leper colony, who is the village medic. He set himself up in one of the small rooms along the street and tenderly changed the bandages of the hands and feet of those who were in need of this service. This was a work of extreme humility and my heart was touched to the core.

That same day Raj and her teachers handed out the large quantity of new, or like new clothing (underwear, trousers, jackets and medical supplies) which Melanie had brought from her prayer group in West Los Angeles. The teachers put the clothing on right over the childrens' uniforms (think camisoles, and undershirts over red checked uniforms) The kids were just beside themselves with happiness. I don't think that every single child got a piece of clothing but those that didn't seemed to be pretty excited anyway just to be a part of this event. We surely do thank Melanie's prayer group.

Rajan has a most pressing need (but no space) to open a small hostel for some of her students who live in situations of extreme violence or neglect. Some of her students are at risk for their parents selling them either outright for money or or as prostitutes. Many of the children I saw rarely, if ever, take a real bath. Consequently skin infections are common

Amistad will be providing funds for Rajan to build two more classrooms. The building will begin in spring. Amistad provided funds for the digging of a well, and the water began to flow (though more like a cough, drilling wasn't completed) while we were there. The school soon will no longer be at the mercy of the unreliable city water system.

What Rajan and Sukdev are accomplishing on a financial shoestring is nothing short of miraculous. Their monthly budget for educating nearly 240 students, including nine teachers' salaries, is about $2,500 per month. (The daily meal is a separate cost and is being paid by foundation L' Arche De Dolanji of France, whom we thank deeply.)

Our hearts go out to Ann Down, Donna and Larry Peters and Dr. Sundeep Rathore in extreme gratitude for their faithful support which has been providing nearly all of the funds for BSS support.

Leaving Varanasi a few days later our airport driver pointed out a jeep coming from the opposite direction. It had an orange shrouded body lying atop a layer of grass or reeds, atop the vehicle, the body covered with flowers. It was on its way to the burning ghat.

As we flew north 2 hours to Delhi (so that we could catch a plane to fly two hours southeast to Kolkata) from the window of the plane we saw the Himalayan mountains stretching as far as our eyes could see in the horizon. Looking at a map later on, I think one of the many towering peaks we saw may have been Mt. Everest.

Travels in India, part 2

2008-02-08T12:07:00.000-05:00

Visiting the Bangladeshi Refugee Community in Varanasi

Later that day we visited a slum community (which are called jhuggis) of Bangladeshi refugees (The Bangladesh government mowed down some poor communities and many fled to India. Bangladesh is only hours from Varanasi by train, sharing a border with India. India has, to some small degree, absorbed these hapless nomads (at least temporarily) several miles away in Varanasi, 19 of whose children are now students at BSS. Their housing was primitive. I saw only one one water spigot for the entire community. Women were bathing, fully clothed, washing through and under their saris as discreetly as a person could with dozens of people all around.

(Jumping ahead while I am writing about how women bathe and launder: In Kolkata the women have to get up in the middle of the night to bathe at the spigots. There the cultural norms is that no one is supposed to view the women bathing even though they do wear their saris while bathing. The men, on the other hand, strip down to their shorts and bath on the dirty sidewalks, which the women are pounding the family's laundry on the same dirty betel nut stained, cigarette butt-strewn, urine encrusted sidewalks. They have to do the laundry where the water spigots are located. From time to time I'd see a hand pump for water. It is clear that almost no one in India we saw has running water in their homes.

Electricity, when anyone has it, is sent through a dangerous snaky mess of illegal wires. We saw the results of dangerous community electrification later that day at Buddhas' Smile School.

BSS student, Amit Kumar, 12, was one of five children standing under electrical lines when the lines collapsed onto them. Three children were electrocuted to death, Amit and another child survived the electrocution. Amit was badly burned on his leg, arm and neck. His left leg is in need of a scar release surgery and hopefully Rajan can find a surgeon to do this surgery with Amistad's help. Amit's biggest sorrow is that he can't stand for prayers with the other boys.

A problem arose we were leaving the Bahgladeshi refugee community. A local Indian community politician came over to the van and lit into Rajan for encouraging the Bangladeshi children to come to her free Buddha's Smile school.

The local Indians, who let the (illegal immigrant) Bangladeshi squat in their neighborhood do so because the Bangladeshi families are doing the worst of the worst jobs, the ones that even poor Indians don't want to do. And they do NOT want the Bangladeshis to learn to read and write.

Most of Rajan's students must work before or after school, or both. Some of Rajan's little Bangladeshi students scour their area of Varanasi picking up garbage before dawn in the morning and again after school, selling the recyclable materials (plastic, cardboard, cans) for 9 cents American per pound, (5 rupees per kilo). Rajan's Bangladeshi students also make pies from cow dung, baking them in the sun and then carefully store them in round piles for sale as cooking fire fuel.

Travels in India, part 1

2008-02-07T12:07:00.000-05:00

2-14-08
Varanasi, India/ visiting Buddha's Smile School, an Amistad International project

Traveling to India with Amistad board member, Melanie Boyd, February, we landed in Delh flying to our first project visitation in the northern city of Varanasi, one of the holiest destinations for Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.

Varanasi (which used to be called Benares, and before that, Kashi) is over 3,000 years old. Some devout Hindus hope to die here or at least have their ashes scattered in the Ganges river flowing through to the Bengal Bay believing doing so ensures moksha--instant union with the Universal Soul and thus freedom from reincarnation.

Varanasi is also one of India's most fervently politically and religiously conservative cities, and one of the poorest. It is in the state of Uttar Pradesh, considered India's poorest region.

Ten minutes north of Varanasi is Sarnath, one of the world's most sacred sights for Buddhist pilgrims. It was here that Siddhartha Gatama (circa 563 BC to 483 BC), founder of Buddhism, gave his first sermon to his new diciples, a sermon on how to live a good life. (This is the era of Jeremiah the prophet when the Jews were in captivity in Babalonia.)

Buddha's Smile School (BSS) is located in Sarnath near the spot where Buddah delivered this sermon. The school was named Buddha's Smile School, not because it teaches Buddhism, but because it is in proximity to this historical site. Amistad International has been the primary sponsor of this school since 2004 when BSS had only 60 students. 239 now attend this free school for the poorest of the poor children in the area.

Officially, India guarantees all children 6-14 will be able to attend school. This program is called Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Yet the dropout rate is about 53%. The reasons for this are many: lack of teachers, poor school facilities many lack toilets and running water), lack of desks and chairs, books, play equipment, or any sort of enrichment. India has an extremely high rate of teacher absenteeism. There is also a strong component of child labor; many parents require their children to supplement the family income.

It took us about 12 hours in Varanasi to wonder where the women were. We saw almost none in the streets. I asked locals who seemed not to even understand my question asking, "where are the women?." This was not a question they seemed to understand. It turns out the men buy the groceries etc. so the women have no need to go outside the home. The women are, essentially, in purdah, or seclusion in their hovels, and dingy cramped apartments. There were one or two working at the desk in the hotel, but no women were hotel maids, waitresses, or selling in retail shops.

Just as soon as our taxi drove us along the madness of the highway from the airport to Varanasi, John Holman (a longtime wonderful BSS volunteer from Australia) and BSS volunteer Dana Kornberg, (who works at the Clinton Foundation in Delhi), took us to the Ghats , steep stone and concrete steps which lead from town steeply down to the Ganges river. Along the ghats are many Hindu temples and guest houses, destination for the dying, pilgrims and tourists. The Ganges ghats are where people come to bathe, wash their clothing, and bring their dead to burn.

The Ganges is quite low and in fact there were Save the River demonstrations that week. During monsoon season it can rise 40-50 ft up the steep ghats and flooding the city. India is making new dams along the Ganges, and of course Varanasi grows with more citizens, so they have a water shortage in non-monsoon seasons. The fate of a dying Ganges was the cover story on a recent National Geographic.

We hired a row boat man to take us at sunset to the ghat where they perform Puja at sunset. At sunset, with the lights, and the flames, and song, it was all dramatic from vantage point of being on Mother Ganges. At sunset you could see bodies wrapped in white, waiting to be burned.

Early the next morning we went to Rajan Kaur's Buddha's Smile school, first having a pancake breakfast served by Rajan's husband, Sukdev, who owns the Sarnath cafe, a clean (and delicious) dining destination for international students at the Buddhist Institute across the street. At 8:30 we jumped into the the new school van (recently purchased by Geir Davidson and his Norwegian community), a brand new beautiful white Japanese van that would normally seat 12 adults. We can never thank Geir and his community enough for this gift. The students not coming in the van arrive in open auto rickshaws, and they are stuffed to the rafters in these tiny rickety vehicles.

We had the great fun of traveling that morning in the new school 'bus' van to pick up students. Very exciting for us and even more so for the children. The kids were thrilled to have visitors showing up in their new school van.

We were able to meet some of the parents of the students who live in what one may think of as provisional housing. Perched right on the roadside, the homes are only lean-to's made of grass, plastic sheeting, rock, mud, and sit only feet from cars and auto rickshaws, carts and motorcycles whizzing by. Their cooking, bathing, all of life is done looking at the wheels of cars, tailpipes of buses, and bicycle rickshaw drivers' feet. The air they breath is vile.

One forward-thinking family had placed their home by a public water spigot where a large, 10X20 pool had formed, algae growing over it. No doubt a mosquito breeding pond also. This is the community's all-purpose watering spigot for cooking, drinking and bathing, and washing clothing. The women were hanging clothes to dry on the brick "tree saving" enclosures wrapped around saplings, part of a Varanasi, Delhi and Kolkata 'green India program" in which a huge public works program has planted millions of trees hoping to clean India's air. The brick enclosures are needed to protect the saplings from the cows roaming everywhere one can imagine.

Three young teen girls, about 13, came over to us to shyly greet us. They don't go to Rajan's school but are either family or live near the children that do come to Buddha's Smile School. The girls were dressed in raggedy clothing and were pretty dusty looking. Rajan told me these girls are at very serious risk for prostitution. They, along with other young girls from Rajan's school, work at weddings, carrying candles atop their heads for 8-10 hours, all evening into the early AM, for only a few cents pay. The girls are at risk for attack by predatory drunk male wedding attendees, of great concern to BSS founder/teacher, Rajan.

Rajan would like to be able to provide a training for these and other young girls in handcraft, or sewing, or other practical skill so that they don't have to work at the weddings or even worse alternatives.

Across from the spigot, there was one especially pathetic little thatch falling down lean to, about 4X5 ft in size. Rajan told me that one of her young students had lived there until the previous week when her grandmother, with whom she lived in the shack, had died. Some relative had taken the girl away to a family member in the countryside. I asked what happened to the grandmother after she died, did anyone provide the firewood for her to be burned? Rajan told me that "No, her body, like the other poor, was just dumped into the Ganges without burning." When people don't have the $2.50 USD for the wood necessary for the fire, they must give their loved one to the river.

School started a little late that day because our presence had disrupted the normal schedule. BSS' physical layout is difficult to describe. It is a 2.5 storey warren of unplastered brick rooms, built one after another when cash has been available. Rajan and Sukdev have personally sacrificed their meager cafe earnings to do some of the building, and donors have done the rest.

The seven classrooms are long narrow three sided rooms, open to the air, windowless, cement floored, lit by one bulb. A blackboard is on the wall at one end. Most of the children sit on the floor (desks needed). A few pieces of student artwork adorn some of the walls. There are signs hung around the school inspiring the students with virtues. In front of the two layers of classrooms is a small courtyard about 20X20.A gate to the street closes in front of this courtyard. The courtyard is where the children pray together en masse in the morning, asking God to bless their work. At noon, the children return to the courtyard for their one meal of the day, a large balanced hot delicious meal, which has been sponsored by the Flora Family Foundation through Amistad International for this past year. As of March, 2008, the French NGO, Arche de Dolanji, is supplying the food and we thank them so much! For most of the students this is their only meal of the day. Because of this meal, most of the children are energetic and healthy, though a few did seem in poor health.

One boy, the eldest child in his family, had tried to commit suicide the day before by swallowing pesticide. His unemployed parents, often out looking for work, are often not at home. The child's despondency that his parent could not feed the family overcame him. Rajan was able to take him to the hospital in time to save his life. He wrote a letter to his parents before taking the poison, begging them not to burn his school papers or school books (when they would burn his body.) Gishan's final words were "God is satisfied with my work. Don't burn my school papers." This child, like her other students, considers school their only place of peace and happiness in their lives.

This boy had no last name when he came to school. Rajan gave him the last name Kumar just as she does the many other students who have no last names.