Travellers For Change

Baking Bread for Basic Rights
Susan Bellan, 54, Businesswoman/Fundraiser - Toronto, ON

The Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan has left an entire generation of women uneducated and illiterate. Prevented from attending schools, and denied the most basic rights, many of these women now lacking the skills needed to improve their lives during the country’s tenuous reconstruction.

Like many small business owners lacking time and financial resources, Toronto retailer Susan Bellan wondered how she could make a difference. Through the organization Breaking Bread for Women in Afghanistan, she helped groups organize regular potluck dinners to raise money and awareness. Anyone could do it: bring a dish, and make a contribution of $25 to $75.Since the first Breaking Bread potluck in 2002, half a million dollars has been raised through almost 400 gatherings—all of it going to a program that supports 600 Afghan teachers and funds literacy classes for women.

Inspiration
I spent three weeks in Afghanistan in 1976 and loved it. Since opening my store in 1979 I’ve sold many handicrafts made in Afghanistan. I’ve also gone through a lot of hard times in business and personally, so I had a very strong feeling about how difficult it must be for the women of Afghanistan, going through a 20 year war and then being so abused by the Taliban.

On Afghanistan
When I visited Afghanistan in 1976, I found the Afghans very friendly and respectful. They were very religious, praying five times a day, yet everyone was very kind to me as a western woman. They were curious about our lives; for every question we asked them, they had one for us.

Why pot lucks
I’ve seen what a huge amount of work it is to organize fundraisers. And I’ve learned from my business that some products sell constantly and take little effort. I realized that pot lucks are an easy way for a group of 10 or more people to get together, without it being a burden on one person. It’s fun trying the various foods, you have great conversation. It’s more likely to happen on a continuing basis.

Helping Society’s Most Vunerable
Marie Hackett, 73, Nurse - Ottawa, ON

Marie Hackett first arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, on a two-year CUSO posting to work as a staff nurse in a hospice for cancer patients. She could never have known she would stay on an additional nine years, launching a home visitation and nursing program that extended its work through the city, and to four towns in the hills nearby. “The outreach work was making a difference,” Hackett says, “and I felt it was important to continue. Also, it was personally the most satisfying thing I had every done. I loved the work, the Jamaican people, and the country.”

After returning to Canada in 2003, Hackett volunteered with Help the Aged, an NGO that assists seniors in Canada and developing countries. In her absence the nursing program continues; Hackett returns once a year, bringing medical supplies and used glasses.

Motivation
We really can’t truly understand what people are going through until we live in a developing country ourselves. Media reports and travel just don’t bring home the reality of the circumstances in the same way.

On Assisting Seniors
The nursing program serves the needs of anyone who needs help, people of all ages, but the majority of them are seniors, and obtaining prescription medications is the biggest need. Seniors are among the most vulnerable in society.

Frustrations
It takes a long time and a lot of effort to get things done sometimes. I had hoped to use the nursing program as a model and encourage other groups, in Jamaica and elsewhere, to undertake something similar. But it was not to be.

Rewards
A very ill, seriously dehydrated baby was brought to our clinic once. And I had to drive back down this dangerously rough, steep road to get the baby to the children’s hospital. The baby’s life was saved, and the child has been going to school for a few years now. That was just one of many high points. A lot of the time is spent in hard work, drudgery, coping with the heat and other discomforts. But then, every once in a while, something wonderful happens to give you a hot in the arm.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Volunteer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site. Add to del.icio.us.