During the last week in January, the New Beginnings Development Center in Belhar, South Africa received a brand new and much anticipated  classroom.  They now have room to expand!  They began receiving inquiries from people interested in the program as soon as the new sign went up.

Rudi Orange (along with wife Charlene) is presented with a bicycle by Pierre Roux of ATAIM. The bicycle was donated by an ER South Africa 2011 Christmas team member after he learned that Rudy walks miles and miles each week to oversee food distribution to hundreds of children. This gift will save Rudy hours of travel time each day. ER partners with ATAIM to feed children in the South African Karoo Desert town of Beaufort West.

A team of 13 from the U.S. and 3 South Africans are in South Africa celebrating Christmas with thousands… Here they sit after their third party of the day in Beaufort West.

What a great time the team had celebrating with about 150 kids at Little Baghdad in Beaufort West, South Africa.

Extreme Response would like to thank CCA&B, publishers of Elf on the Shelf and Light in the Night, for helping us bring the joy of Christmas to thousands of children in Africa, Asia and Latin America through their donation of plus toys.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

That is the quote on a card given to Dr. Julie Moss as a parting gift by a colleague in South Africa when she and the USC Upstate team left to return home last May. Reflecting upon it now, Moss also thought it seemed appropriate upon another team’s return from Ecuador in July.

Two teams of nursing students from USC Upstate’s Mary Black School of Nursing, led by Assistant Professor Moss, embarked on these trips designed to provide them with an opportunity to help meet the needs of people who live in extreme conditions and/or situations.

“Through these international trips, I can expose students to global health and a world outside the Upstate, even the United States,” said Moss. “Often, what they come back saying is ‘I want to give more’ either in this community or other places.”

In South Africa, Moss and a team comprised of 17 Upstate students and faculty, as well as two community participants, went to Cape Town and were able to work with counterparts in a certified nursing program there teaching sessions about diabetes and hypertension, as well as provide general health assessments for people in the community. The team also visited a private clinic and two public health centers seeing firsthand the significant need.

“In the clinics we visited, patients arrived for care early in the morning, standing in line all day waiting to see a nurse,” said Gigi Lattimore, a student participant. “Sometimes they were sent home without being seen and told to return the next day. And in the community health fair we conducted, people came from all over the community. For many, this was the only healthcare they received.”

In addition to the clinic visits, the Upstate team held an HIV Health Fair where they provided screenings for more than 200 people in one day. This was followed by visits to a local orphanage and an “informal settlement,” a title given slum areas, where participants worked with local healthcare workers from New Beginnings Development Center going door to door helping educate residents about tuberculosis.

“What surprised me most about working with the students at the New Beginnings program were the positive attitudes and amazing spirits,” said Kristina Kung, student participant. “Everyone was so eager to learn. One student I worked with listened so intently when I was teaching her how to take blood pressure. I thought I was confusing her, but after I explained it once, she picked up the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope and correctly took a reading practically on her first try! It took me weeks as a nursing student to perfect that skill.”

In Ecuador, Moss led the team of 18 Upstate students and faculty on a journey of comparisons and contrasts as they met with students and professors from Universidad de las Americas, local physicians and healthcare workers.

The team also had an opportunity to work in local kids’ clubs, provide assistance in local feeding programs and conduct health assessments in both cities and rural areas.

While everyone in Ecuador is guaranteed free health care, the team learned that it comes with conditions. Nurses, they discovered, are expected to be, more or less, the educators in terms of interacting with the people. The nurses, however, have learned to use this opportunity to make people aware of better health practices which can help minimize negative health conditions.

“Though the healthcare system is very different there, I was surprised to find out that the healthcare workers are very similar to the ones here in the U.S.,” said team member Kelly Pace, a 2010 Upstate graduate and registered nurse. “They are very hard workers and strive to put the patients at the center of their care.”

Overall, the Upstate students were intrigued, but they determined that it would be difficult, at best, to work in conditions with no real clinic and no supplies. However, there was no denying the gratitude of the people for any assistance that is available.

“The experiences I encountered while on this trip opened my eyes and heart to the people in a way that I never expected,” said Pace. “Whether it was playing with the kids, serving a meal, or checking their blood pressures, the people were always so happy. And these were people who were living in extreme conditions, conditions you or I would not enjoy. They made me realize that true happiness doesn’t come through material possessions but through time with family and friends.”

Nursing student, Hannah Kerr, agreed, as she noted, “I was able to see how my material possessions at home are insignificant in the bigger picture. Their gratification for a simple life showed me it’s not material possessions that make us happy.”

Of course, with any international travel there will always be some challenges.

“The language barrier between our group and the people we served was, by far, the greatest challenge,” said Kerr. “However, I considered it a ‘great’ challenge because it forced each of us to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. The people we were serving never let this barrier limit our interaction. They didn’t care that we couldn’t speak Spanish fluently; they cared that we made the effort to help them.”

Coordinated with Extreme Response International, a nongovernment humanitarian aid organization based in Atlanta, these international study trips were designed to provide participants an opportunity to see, experience and address some very real issues facing many of the less fortunate in both countries.

“We also had great support from faculty and staff across campus as we collected travelsize lotion, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste for personal hygiene kits we shared with the children and families,” said Moss. “We are currently collecting these types of hygiene items for the trips in June and July 2012.”

Whether working to understand the needs of a city with 1.2 million people; an “informal settlement” of 40,000; children who live at the city dump or families in remote regions, Upstate students on both trips had their eyes opened to two very different parts of the world and two very different cultures.

“I realized that people are resilient and resourceful,” said Lattimore. “People living in desperate times sometimes take desperate measures. In order to help people of different cultures, it is necessary to monitor and adjust our interventions in a way that is useful given their circumstances and resources.”

One of the key lessons Moss felt both Upstate teams learned centered on understanding how to work with less; making do with what you have.

“Before I left South Africa, I found a book of photography showcasing shacks all around Cape Town. It was amazing to see beauty in something I initially thought of as not so pretty,” Kung added. “Because I was only considering the negative when we first visited the very poor township of Masiphumelele, I almost missed out on what was positive about that place.”

For Moss, the change in the students is exciting to see.

“They are no longer a round peg in a round hole, but a square peg in a round hole challenged to learn and grow from their experiences,” she said.

Experiences that now give them a broader view of what they are capable of, well beyond their comfort zone.

Nursing Students See A Different World
- by MEG HUNT of Upstate Magazine
Fall 2011 Issue

Music artist Jordan Anderson is preparing for a fourth trip to Ecuador, where he’ll lead music for volunteers and help with all the Christmas celebrations. He shares how the first three trips have shaped his world view.

Growing up you see a lot of pictures of poverty, images of kids who are hungry. But the first time I went to Quito was the first time I’ve seen it in person. It really impacts your heart when you go and see people who are hungry and don’t have much, and yet they somehow still have joy in their lives.

Last year we went with our daughter Lorelei. Having a child changes your perspective on other children. It’s interesting. There’s no difference between babies when they are born. It just happens that they are born where they are born into different circumstances. That creates a lot of thankfulness on our parts, but also we more clearly see the needs of children who don’t have much and probably never will. So anything small thing we can do for them, we want to do.

The thing that always touches me is visiting the children’s day care at the Zambiza Dump. I probably get more out of it than the kids do. They are so willing to jump in your arms and be loved on. I think it’s cool when you see people on your team who are more reserved, who keep to themselves, and during the course of the week you see them slowly start to reach out to other people.

I always enjoy going to Remanso de Amor (Haven of Love) and the school there. Having taught before, it draws me in. On one hand you have families, kids, broken homes, and poverty. But around them is incredible scenery. It’s like two different worlds. You have the poor with beautiful mountains in the background.

While these Christmas celebrations are going on, a lot of people forget about the situation they are in, whether that’s a job situation or their family life, or just not having anything. In America, we might try to get away from people with such needs. But they keep getting in lines at the parties because they know we’re there to help them. As much we’re there for them, it’s a huge impact on me personally, being able to serve them. Running a game for two or three hours straight is difficult physically, but the joy far outweighs it.

The first year we went to Quito, I spotted an American volunteer who was kneeling down next to a young girl he had befriended. He had spent a lot of the day with this girl, helping her play the games. She had gone through the food line and he was meeting her as she was walking out. For some reason I felt what he was feeling. And then he just started crying and he hugged her. He looked at me out of corner of his eye. He saw me looking at him and I started tearing up. He looked at me knowing that I saw what just happened, and that moment has always defined what I feel for these kids - to be willing to spend time with them and love on them. You can’t stay with them, but they have a special place in your heart.

I love seeing ER’s partnerships with other people around the world. ER’s mission is to team up with partners as long as the partner needs. And when that partner is sustainable, ER will step away without asking for any honor or glory from it. That’s the way it should be.

To listen to Jordan Anderson’s music, visit www.facebook.com/jandersonmusic.

As music artist Jessa Anderson prepares for a fourth trip to Ecuador, she shares the highlights of her first three trips.

My first trip to Ecuador was a great experience - it had been several years since I’d been on an overseas trip, and it was the first time Jordan and I went as a family. It was refreshing to be reminded of how things are in the rest of the world, versus the small world I live in.

That first trip really renewed my passion to be involved in global work. Throughout the three trips, we’ve been impacted in different ways as we’ve interacted with the families we serve. Last year we had our four-month-old daughter with us, and I felt like I experienced the week differently than the previous years. My heart had totally changed for all those mothers and children we worked with. I felt so connected to them; it really drove home the point that we are equally valuable, no matter what our circumstances.

For me, the biggest impact overall has been the reaction of the kids. They are so excited to get a small portion of food or a tiny gift. To see the joy on their faces for what they receive is almost heartbreaking because of how happy it makes them. When you compare that with our lifestyle, you realize how much we have we don’t even need. I love to do all this because of the impact we’re making in the children’s lives.

I love to spend time at (partner site) Pan de Vida. It’s located downtown, so the people are from the city. It’s been very powerful to see them come and stand in line, often in the rain, and then cram into a very small space to participate in the Christmas party.

The Zambiza Dump party is always amazing - the sheer number of people who come from every direction. They stand outside with their entire families, and you realize just how important these parties are to them. And then the food lines are always so long, but they line up an hour or more early just to make sure they are in line for their food. It touches your heart to see how important it is for them to take home a bag of basic staples.

I feel really privileged to know a lot of the key staff members of Extreme Response. When you come and work with people for a week, you get the benefit of seeing what they are doing first-hand, but sitting down one-to-one and getting to know them has been so affirming. Over the years I’ve gotten to know the founders and see the kind of people they are - genuine and passionate. What gets them up in the morning is Extreme Response because it is making a huge impact on the world.

To listen to Jessa’s new CD, Not Myself Anymore, visit www.jessaanderson.com

ER Canada received this note and donation this week. Every little bit helps in changing lives :). Thanks, Sophie and David!

We love what we do.  We love making a difference.  The daycare that we run at the Zambiza dump has become a testimony to the love of many.  Six years ago, the future for the children of the dump was bleak.  Most had no hope of ever going to school, and they didn’t dare dream of another life.  My friend Dawn wrote a while back that “the poor don’t dream”.  They don’t.  Dreaming creates the expectation and the hope that someday things might be different, while reality paints a very dark, very harsh reality.

Today, that reality is changing.  100% of the children who have gone through our daycare are now enrolled in school.  Their teachers marvel at how well they are doing.  They can dare to dream that perhaps tomorrow might be different.  The future looks brighter…sunnier…hopeful.  This has happened because of the generosity of others.  People who make sure that they have food to eat and clothes to wear…people who send money so that they can receive vaccines that protect them from disease…people who encourage them.  People like you.

Several weeks ago, Nestle contacted Extreme Response to let us know that they wanted to donate “some food”.  “Some food” translated to two tons.  4000 pounds. It was overwhelming, for a couple of reasons.  The first reason was that this was a local company, reaching out to help their own.  This is exciting for us to watch.  The second reason is that it was 4000 pounds.  Have you ever seen 4000 pounds of food in one spot?  It’s a LOT of food!  Several people from Nestle came and put on a program for the children, which they loved.  After that, Dan and the rest of the ER team (Nick, Dan Smoker, Paul and Susan and Mayra) were faced with the delightfully challenging task of making sense of all of that food, and figuring out how to get it into the hands of the workers at the dump.  Last Thursday, after much sorting and calculating, they were able to do a “food distribution” day.  Each person went home with a box of food that would last for a couple of weeks.  For people who work to earn just enough for each day, it was a huge blessing to have a little extra.

Thank you, friends, for standing with us and being a part of what is happening here in Ecuador and around the world.  Know that you are making a difference.  A huge difference.  You are bringing hope.

By Cyndi Maloy