It’s been a dream of mine for some time to provide an early reading and writing intervention for these children.  A child that can’t read at ten or eleven years old has a huge problem catching up with his class and is a big drain on our resources when they show up at the Help and Hope Center.  My hope is that this becomes a continuing program and provides poor children a big head start in school and success.

The restaurant is coming together.  Our cook is renown for her Venezuela and Colombian cuisine.  The format is self serve which is a fairly new concept there.  Some menu items will be paisa, pabellon, pollo guisado and carene guisado.  Hungry yet?  Good.  Come on down and I’ll save you a seat.

You can imagine Bladimir’s life as a young boy carrying this burden.  He had endured several operations in Venezuela to treat the condition and nothing more could be done there.  The Help and Hope Center was a place of refuge for him.  It was a place that he could just be another kid.

In 2005 we were asked if any organization in the United States would help Bladimir.  Tom Colandrea, a friend and Andean Aid supporter took the lead in finding help.  Initially all we received were rejections.
In August 2006 Andean Aid teamed with International Kids Fund in Miami, Florida to bring Bladimir to the United States for treatment.  Andean Aid provided all transportation, visas and passports for both Bladimir and his mother Aydee Ramirez Ballesteros.  He had been separated from his mother since age two but he needed a guardian to travel to the United States.  Also, his mother is Colombian and could not travel from Caracas.  So, Andean Aid arranged for Bladimir’s dual citizenship and he came to this country under a Colombian passport.  This arduous process took eight months and many miracles.  Bladimir and Aydee arrived in Miami on April 6, 2007.

International Kids fund provided all medical treatment at the Holtz Children’s Hospital and the Bascom Palmer Eye institute at the University of Florida Medical School.  Dr. Jesus Gomez, a renowned maxillofacial surgeon performed the treatment.  Dr. Gomez’s original estimate for the extensive reconstruction was three surgeries over six months.  This turned into seven surgeries over two years.  Ronald McDonald House became their home away from home.

Bladimir returned home to Rubio, Venezuela on October 13, 2009.  Today he enjoys sports, especially soccer, plays music and works at the control panel of a radio station affiliated with Andean Aid.  He has many friends and participates in Vida Joven routinely.  The transformation in this young man’s life has been miraculous.

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Now, I respect what TOM’S Shoes is doing to meet the needs of poor children.  And I understand that it’s wise to keep the same kids in a pair of shoes as they grow.  But 17,000?  Every six months.  A participating organization also has to keep records and provide stories of how the shoes are positively impacting the child’s life.  All this is good.

My question is, what organization that has its’ own mission to carry out has the surplus resources to create a system to distribute 17,000 pairs of shoes every six months?  And remember, 17,000 pairs is the minimum requirement.  If we were to create such a system our kids would not be receiving help with their studies at the Help and Hope Centers.  They would be getting shoes period.

The ads for TOM’S on television show a company representative going into a village, getting hugs, and giving away shoes.  What the ads don’t say is that more than a hundred such villages would have to be visited each six months.

So, we at Andean Aid will continue to provide a superior place for young minds to grow and develop.  We will stay out of the shoe business.

Andean Aid is participating in Toms Shoes “One Day Without Shoes” event on April 8th.  This event is to bring attention to the need to provide shoes to the poor.  TOMS gives a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair purchased.  So, why is Andean aid participating?  Yesterday I found out from our Help and Hope Center director, Gaby Andrade, that a huge need among our students is shoes.  Just in villa Bahareque it is estimated that 200 children need shoes.  In our Cúcuta, Colombia location the need is even greater with an estimated 500 children without proper footwear.  The same with our new Chinácota, Colombia location.  That’s why we’re spending the day shoeless to get a feel for these kids needs.  Wouldn’t it be great if Andean Aid joined forces with Toms Shoes and our location in La Frontera of Venezuela and Colombia became one of their shoe drops?  Learn more about One Day Without Shoes at the following link and go barefootin’ with us.

One Day Without Shoes

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a school property that Andean Aid would like to acquire.

We professionals have been asked to give one piece of advice for the student networkers.  My advice is to be interesting and “interested”.  Networking is a two way street.  As I thought about this concept a rather strange example came to mind – Hugo Chavez.  Though our politics are a world apart I have heard that he has a great ability when he meets with someone to give them his full and undivided attention which is no easy task.  People who have spent time with him say that he gives the impression that you are the only person in the universe during that time and that he is completely interested in and focused on what you have to say.  Hopefully I can do Hugo proud on Friday.