Building a New Home for Impoverished Guatemalan Family

WATCH VIDEO REPORT HERE

Anywhere on earth, the loss of a loved one can decimate a family, but for Mayan families living in poverty in rural Guatemala, the absence of a parent can be especially trying. Such is the case here in Pajomel, a tiny hamlet located high above the shores of the picturesque Lake Atitlan, where Miguel and his two kids Miguelito and Sonia were left to fend for themselves after his wife passed away more than 5
years ago. Without steady work, Miguel has to support his kids (now aged 11 and 7), which is difficult as he is unable to travel to other regions of Guatemala to do seasonal agricultural work (as most men in the region do).
A few months ago, my mother Linda, while on a field visit with Feed the Dream, one of Cause & Affect's local partners (as seen in this field report here) a local non-profit organization, was appalled to witness the terrible living conditions young Sonia and her family were subject to. They inhabited a tiny shack made of the most basic materials and had no stove to cook on, so they had to cook in their home, inhaling fumes and smoke, which is very hazardous. There was only one bed for the three of them and no insulation from the cold or rain. Mold, insects and rodents were common challenges.
WATCH VIDEO REPORT HERE

Upon my arrival in Guatemala, my mother expressed her desire to somehow, someway, buils young Sonia and her family a new home. We set out finding local organizations that could assist us in our quest and through our network of non-profits in Guatemala, we discovered ConstruCasa, which builds homes for rural impoverished families in need. But before we could build the home, there were two obstacles we had to overcome:
1) They build new homes with durable materials for $4,000 but require at least $1,000 from the family. Since Miguel has to stay at home to support his kids, he has few opportunities to work, so for someone earning $80 a month, having to pay $1,000 is out of the question. Luckily, Cause & Affect was able to step in and pay the $1,000 with the agreement that Miguel will pay about 10% of his income over the next 24 months towards ConstruCasa for his home.

2) They only build homes for families that are integrated with other programs to provide educational and health opportunities, so as to assist these families on a more comprehensive level. So we contacted Feed the Dream and Amigos de Santa Cruz since they already work with families in the region, they agreed to integrate the family into their nutrition program. Thanks Pat!
WATCH VIDEO REPORT HERE

So all we had to do was donate $1,000 and construction would begin!

$330 of that amount was donated by my sister Julia, who is working with Cause & Affect on her Service Semester as an early graduate of Wheaton North High School. After weaving and selling friendship bracelets, she raised $1,200 to donate towards Cause & Affect projects in Guatemala and Brazil. Her donation is a wonderful boost towards making this family's dream a reality. Well done, Jules!

Two weeks later, construction on the home began and 5 days after that, everything was complete! My mother continued her amazing commitment to help by purchasing $400 of supplies, such as tables, chairs, a stove, 2 beds with pillows, sheets and blankets,
as well as kitchen and cleaning supplies for the entire family. As you can see from the photos, they are overjoyed to have a safe and warm home to live in. This will also help the kids excel in school as they will have light to read and do their homework. We are so happy for the opportunity to team up with ConstruCasa and Feed the Dream to provide such a wonderful boost to this wonderful family beset by challenges!
WATCH VIDEO REPORT HERE and CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE PROJECTS HERE.

Helping Seniors Regain their Dignity

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL -- In the midst of poverty, all too often the senior citizens suffer the most, due to of their lack of income, medical access and opportunity. This is also true here in the favela shanty-towns of Rio de Janeiro, where tens of thousands of seniors struggle to survive. With a desire to make a difference, Cause & Affect first sought out a local non-profit organization already doing effective work to address the situation. Working with our wonderful local partner IBISS, we discovered Novo Olhar aos Idosos, which is located in the Vila Cruzeiros neighborhood we have been concentrating on this year, as seen in out last two blog reports.
SEE VIDEO HERE

This project trains social workers to visit 25 seniors in need on a weekly basis. Once a week, they arrive to take the senior to the doctor, to the market, to the bank or just spend time to provide companionship, as many of these people suffer from neglect and loneliness. For those that live with their families, the social workers help train these families to address the needs and wishes of their elderly family members.

When Cause & Affect expressed our desire to help, we visited several of the seniors and it became obvious there are MANY needs to address. Some of these people are living in sub-humane conditions, such as 84 year-old Dona Augusta (upper right), whose roof had sprung a nasty leak, soaking her bed and tiny home in water. The ensuing mold created a horrible stench and very unhealthy living conditions. We quickly had the roof repaired and as the video shows, Dona Augusta is happy to report her home and bed are now dry.

We also followed the lead of the Make-A-Wish project, granting her decades-long wish by buying her a plane ticket to visit her family in Bahia, in the Northeast of Brazil, as Dona Augusta had migrated to Rio 40 years earlier and had never had the money to visit her long-lost family. We put her on a flight for the first time in her life and as she explains in the video, once she took off into the blue sky, she just wanted to reach out and touch the clouds. Ah, the child reawakens...
SEE VIDEO HERE
For Dona Belinice, a 95 year-old woman very dear to our hearts, home improvement was also the major need, so we rebuilt her patio that had been destroyed years earlier by rain so that she can now sit outside and actually get some fresh air and sun.
For a woman confined to a dark little home, you can imagine what a refreshing joy it is to now be able to enjoy the outdoors. As she told us, "The sun brings life." Gospel, indeed. We also installed some hand-rails in her home so she can get in and out of bed and go to the bathroom without falling, as had happened numerous times earlier. As she blessed me (see video), the strength of her wonderful spirit was on full display.

For other seniors, we provided reading glasses and dental prostheses. Looking at the before and after smiles, it is obvious how much appreciated our assistance was in improving these wonderful seniors lives. Cause & Affect spent a total of $2,600 to address these many mini-projects. Special thanks to Peter de Jong, who visited the seniors' homes with us and passed along a very generous donation!

"Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members."- Pearl S. Buck

Thank you to all of our wonderful donors. To help more seniors like this please give here.

Emergency Family Assistance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL -- Though our focus at Cause & Affect has been assisting pre-existing non-profits, in some cases, we encounter particular individuals and families in such dire need that we feel obliged to help. [ WATCH THE VIDEO HERE]
While visiting Vila Cruzieros, one of Rio de Janeiro's most destitute favela shanty-towns, we were introduced to Dona Rosangelina, a single mother of three who does not have the resources to feed her children. Since her documents were destroyed, she has not been eligible to receive even the most basic government assistance. Our first step was taking her to get replacement documents, so she will start receiving help in two months. But until then, it is imperative to help this family with the most basic necessities.
Dona Rosangelina earns only $50 a month ironing clothes, hardly enough to feed a family of four. With the assistance of our friend Tim Shirk, we jumped into action. Our next step was taking them to the supermarket to purchase food to fill their nearly-empty refrigerator. It is hard to believe that for most of her children's lives, this mother has NEVER been able to buy items we take for granted like fresh fruit or meat. Under normal circumstances, Rosangelina enters the supermarket with $7/week. Try feeding four hungry mouths with that! Over the course of two months, we have purchased $300 worth of food for the family. The kids, who were on the verge of malnutrition, now find it easier to concentrate in school and once their government assistance kicks in, the family will be able to maintain a more healthy diet. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

In addition to food, we have provided some small improvements to help the family at large, such as a fan to ease the tropical heat and a used stove ($200) to allow the family to cook meals. We are also installing a showerhead ($100), so the family does not have to wash themselves out of a bucket.
As you can see from the video, the family is overjoyed to receive this emergency assistance that seemed to fall from the sky at the most crucial moment. Cause & Affect will be assisting more families facing especially desperate situations. IN this case, Tim Shirk stepped forward to contribute the money needed to keep this family from the brink; there are so many families faced with similar predicaments, so we can earmark donations to be directed to other families, which is a great way to pair more better-off families with some of those needing emergency assistance.

Thank you to all of our donors. Please pass this on and give here.

Helping Teen Mothers Achieve a Better Future In Favelas of Rio de Janeiro

"What is your dream in life?" That is the first question these teen mothers hear when they walk in the door of the wonderful new project Cause & Affect has helped establish here in the favela shanty-towns of Rio de Janeiro. In a stark environment in which many of the life dreams of young women are permanently hijacked due to unplanned pregnancy, it is refreshing to hear 17 year-old Roberta reply, "I want to be a lawyer. I want to provide a bright future for my baby girl."

WATCH THE SHORT VIDEO HERE WITH FOOTAGE FROM LAST YEAR'S BATTLE TO RETAKE THE COMPLEXO AND THE YOUNG WOMEN BENEFITING FROM THIS WONDERFUL PROJECT!

Sadly, without assistance from social programs like this, most of these young mothers drop out of school, and without an education or encouragement, depend on their family or government assistance to support them. Furthermore, many do not know how to properly care for their baby. Looking to address this problem, Cause & Affect visited some of these neighborhoods in search of a way to improve the situation. In Vila Cruzeiros (in Rio's impoverished North Zone), we found a wonderful program called Meninas Maes which was created by the amazing Brazilian-Dutch organization IBISS.

We soon learned that despite the success of this project, in the nearby Complexo de Alemão (a collection of 14 smaller neighborhoods), there are NO programs set up to assist teen mothers. For decades, this complex was controlled by drug cartels, but after after a bloody but necessary battle last year, was the neighborhood "pacified" and the drug dealers forced to flee. As a result, the government is finally able to deliver basic social services, such as health clinics, garbage collection and other programs. On the heels of this battle, faced with the brighter future in the Complexo, IBISS, Meninas Maes and Cause & Affect were able to establish an additional project in this neighborhood, which will help countless mothers (and their families) overcome this challenge! We secured a great new facility and jumped to action to prepare the space for the project to begin.

As always, Cause & Affect arrived and asked, "What are your immediate needs?"
The director Isabel Monteiros alerted us that the pressing need was to prepare the space for the project, as they already have social workers collecting girls to participate and materials to distribute. While not as glamorous as providing baby food or paying for life-changing surgeries, getting the doors open was the pressing need here, so we made their wish a reality. That is how our micro-philanthropy model thrives: addressing the local needs at that very moment. The $1,403 (2,217 Brazilian Reais) we spent covered cleaning materials, new windows and floor tiles (and installation in the new facility). In addition, we provided lunches for the new participants.

WATCH THE SHORT VIDEO HERE.

As the video illustrates, this project is essential in keeping these girls' hopes alive. Hope for a well-paying job so they can provide for their family, hope for a better education and hope for a better future. By empowering these young women and letting them see their true potential, we are helping them re-write their life stories. Thanks to your contributions, Cause & Affect has ensured a brand new start for these wonderful young women. Thank you!

Repairing Cleft Palates for Guatemalan Babies

Approximately 1 in 700 children worldwide are born with one or both congenital facial deformities known as a cleft lip or cleft palate. In most developed countries like the United States, babies born with this condition are operated upon within the first 2-3 months after birth.
But here in Guatemala, most of the rural families are too poor to afford the surgery. As a result, their babies' cleft lips and palates go untreated, which in many cases leads to malnutrition and death, as the babies often have trouble breast-feeding. Those babies that DO survive are often marginalized from society and become outcasts in their villages. I have seen fully-grown teenagers that rarely leave their house or always wear a bandana in front of their mouth to avoid shame. What a sad reality knowing that for $200, their deformity can be easily corrected.


With that desire in mind, Cause & Affect searched out a Guatemalan organization that conducts this procedure for families in need. T.E.S.S. Unlimited, founded by Tessa de Goede de Ordoñez, locates babies in rural Guatemala whose families cannot afford the surgery. They bring them to a social-welfare clinic to be diagnosed and operated on by a team of Canadian doctors that volunteer their services for these (and other) operations. $200 covers the costs of transport, medicine, follow-up care, speech therapy and the surgical procedure. Based on the needs presented by T.E.S.S. Unlimited, Cause & Affect stepped in to sponsor the three babies whose surgeries needed to be funded.

As you can see from the video, it is incredibly easy and cheap to completely transform a baby's life and opportunities. Looking at the before & after shots, keep in mind just how far $200 can go.
In the holiday spirit, please contribute to wonderful projects such as this on our website. Simply click here to donate via Paypal or credit card. As you can see, every dollar goes a long way towards improving peoples' lives! Thanks for your continued support!

Continuing Fight Against Malnutrition in Guatemala

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
Last year, we reported from Antigua, Guatemala where we addressed the epidemic of malnutrition in Guatemala. Our contributions were important in helping Guatemalan children recover from this condition, which manifests itself due to their family's lack of medical care and insufficient income. It is hard to fathom that half of the country's children suffer from chronic malnutrition - imagine if half of the kids you knew simply did not have enough sustenance to develop in a healthy manner!

Malnutrition manifests itself in stunted growth and lowered IQ scores. Half of Guatemalans are of Mayan descent and due to poor land distribution and a variety of other social, economic and political factors, most of these people live in abject poverty. In these indigenous areas, chronic malnutrition affects 80% of children under five years of age!
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

(When interviewed on Capture Your Flag program earlier this year, I spoke about the debilitating effects of malnutrition on childrens development and the most effective ways to address this epidemic. To watch the interview, click here.)

Last year, one of the ways Cause & Affect helped address this issue was by providing assistance to Casa Jackson, an amazing clinic that was created to house and rehabilitate babies that are severely malnourished. The babies receive around-the-clock care from medical professionals and are put on an intensive feeding schedule in order to regain their health. Once their weight has improved, their families take them home again and receive nutritional guidance as well as visits from social workers to assure the children develop in a healthy manner. Though the diapers and milk formula we purchased have been used up by now, the industrial blender we purchased is still being used around the clock to liquefy food for the older babies.

Upon our return to Guatemala to check up on Casa Jackson, we discovered the clinic still had some urgent needs to address, so we jumped to action. The first task was to buy new mattresses for the babies’ cribs, as the old ones had been donated a long time ago and since they were very thin, they were not very comfortable for the babies, nearly detrimental to their physical development. We sought out the thicker, sturdier variety and ordered 16 of them for the center. Our second task was to repaint the cribs, as the paint has been peeling off. Lastly, we were asked to provide curtains for the center, so as to keep the sun out of the babies’ eyes.
As you can see from the video, we bought the fabric, contracted a tailor to sew them and then hung them ourselves. For the paint, the curtains and the 16 mattresses, Cause & Affect spent a total of $1,283. I think you will agree the clinic is much better-off after our two visits!

Another follow-up project this year involved the welfare of a darling little boy named Jose Anavesca. When Jose was admitted to a social welfare hospital in Antigua (Obras Sociales) 18 months ago (see top photo), he was a year and a half old yet only weighed five pounds! He was close to death but in the last two years, he has fought back with force and his magical smile has broken the hearts of nurses, doctors and volunteers like my mother (see photos here).

The good news is that over the past two years, Jose has finally put on enough weight (now about 15 pounds) in order to go back to live with his family! For a boy that spent over half of his life in a public hospital, this home-coming is the greatest thing that has happened in his life! The downside is that Jose still faces health challenges. He was recently diagnosed with diabetes insipidus, which is caused by the inability of the kidneys to conserve water, which leads to frequent urination and pronounced thirst. If inadequate fluids are consumed, the large amount of water lost in the urine may cause dehydration and high sodium levels in the blood.
In order for Jose to be able to survive at home, he needs to take a special medicine on a regular basis and the sad fact is that his family cannot afford this medicine. So, in order to reunite Jose with his family, Cause & Affect has teamed up with a number of volunteers in order to raise funds to purchase the medicine to allow for Jose’s homecoming. We purchased $400 worth of the medicine which we presented to the family when they took Jose home.

Our projects here in Antigua were spearheaded by my mother, Linda Champagne, who has been volunteering at Casa Jackson and Obras Sociales since our initial visit in 2009. Now retired and living in Antigua, her compassion and devotion to the babies of Guatemala has served as a guiding light for Cause & Affect’s operations in Guatemala and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with her in the years to come.

Please help support wonderful projects like these through our website by donating here.
Thanks for your support! SPREAD THE WORD AND BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THIS AND OTHER CAUSE & AFFECT VIDEO FIELD REPORTS. HERE.

EMPOWERING AT-RISK YOUTH in Inner-city Chicago

"HELP THEM MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND WATCH THEIR SELF-ESTEEM GROW"

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Being a product of Chicago's public schools, it saddens me to see how
gang violence and the drug trade is taking so many young lives in my hometown. With so many kids victimized by the violence and the hopelessness, I have been eager to find a way to make a difference on behalf of Cause & Affect.

WATCH THE VIDEO:
John Dudley is one of the "local heroes" I recently discussed in my interview on the "Capture Your Flag" program. As a social studies teacher at Collins High School in Chicago's rough-and-tumble Lawndale neighborhood, Mr. Dudley started the "Warriors With a Future" boys club. Now in their second year of operation, this group of at-risk youths have been engaging in service projects, tutorial programs and even traveled to New Orleans to help rebuild houses destroyed by Katrina flooding. Bravo!


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Before the school year let out last June, I spoke to the Warriors
about my philanthropy projects around the world. The boys were fascinated by the videos and stories; in fact, they took such an interest in the work, that they expressed a deep desire to engage in a similar project. We discussed the problems facing their community and decided to devote our attention to Pacific Garden Mission, a local homeless shelter. The boys designed the project: they called the shelter, set up our visits and explained our objectives. We met with the director in person to assess their immediate needs. When we were told about the budget shortfall and need for food supplies, we jumped into action and returned to order $1,000 worth of needed food. A few days later, the Warriors came in to volunteer. They helped make the food, set the tables and serve the food to the homeless people.

Once you watch THE VIDEO, you will see what a formative experience this was for the boys.
"I just wanted to show we care."
"It made me feel good about myself."

The homeless shelter and their hundreds of recipients benefited from our involvement, and the "Warriors with a Future" have been enriched beyond words. Overall, this domestic project was a huge success for Cause & Affect and everyone involved. Thanks for your support. Please help support projects like this by donating here.