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Treks,
Medicines, Mattresses, Floating Islands &
Mission
by
Barbara O’Hearne
originally published in Contact Unity Magazine Oct/Nov 2007 |
 When a friend from Unity
of Fairfax (Oakton, VA) asked if I would be interested
in going to Peru on a mission trip sponsored by SOFTLY
International and the church, I instantly said, “Yes!”
Did I also want to hike the Inca Trail? I agreed –
little did I know what a “spiritual” experience this
would turn out to be. One memorable pass was
Warmiwanusca (13,780 feet), also known as Dead Woman’s
Pass. We preferred to call it “Exhausted Woman’s Pass”.
Did I mention that this trek was rigorous, strenuous,
beautiful, physically demanding with knee-jarring steep
descents- you get the idea.
 The 13 hardy trekkers on the
trail arrived at Machu Picchu to see the sun come up on
the 4th day of the trek. We were elated and amazed at
our accomplishments and thanked God for such a memorable
experience.
Primary Purpose
The
primary purpose of the mission trip was service to
children living in extreme poverty. The living
conditions are harsh to say the least. As a group, our
primary goal was to bring food, medicines, clothing and
help to a village called Mayumbamba. This isolated
community was unknown to the Red Cross of Peru until it
was discovered by a SOFTLY representative in January.
High in the mountain, Mayumbamba is a “step back in
time” for those of us who are used to homes with running
water, toilets and bathing. Not an outhouse in site!
Chickens and their feed live in the same small huts with
the families.
Clearly this community
needed more than our Unity visit could provide.
Determined to do all we could, we solicited the help of
the Red Cross of Peru. However medicines were
unavailable so the Unity/SOFTLY tem and Mary Ann Hankin,
American Red Cross executive, gathered $23,500 in
medicines for the Peruvian Red Cross to dispense to the
children and families in this remote village. They can
now treat respiratory infections, intestinal parasites,
urinary tract infections, arthritis, and perhaps most
significantly malnutrition. We also delivered a high
quality, hospital grade vinyl mattress to each of the
300 children living in Mayumbamba.
 A trip to Lake Titicaca was another service opportunity.
Mattresses and pillows were shipped to Puno, loaded onto
a boat and delivered to over 100 children living on
Islas Flotantes, the floating islands with their
families. Built by hand these islands are the tribe’s
homes. The homes, boats and crafts are made from buoyant
totora reeds that grow in the lake, (partially edible-
definitely an acquired taste).
Mattresses Find Destination
One
young girl, who had no family, became my constant
companion upon arrival on the island. She kept pointing
to a mattress, and looking at me with big beautiful
eyes. Although we did not speak each other’s language,
she communicated her wish for a mattress and I was able
to reassure her that she would get one.
When I gave it to her, she
was elated, quickly moving it to a safe place on the
island. As I was leaving I tried to find her to give her
a pillow. She was right behind me with a smile I will
never forget.
Eloise Vincent, Executive
Director of SOFTLY International wrote, “We gave, but
more importantly we received. Love, acceptance and warm
hospitality that may be difficult to understand when
materially these people have so little. What they gave
was warmth, joy and they generously incorporated us into
their fold. One community elder said in her native
language, “If you promise to come again we promise to
continue to educate ourselves.”
Received With Love
Rev. Donna Dearmore, Senior Minister at Unity of Fairfax
shared the closing from a recent Sunday lesson. It sums
up the experience beautifully. “SOFTLY International’s
mission is ‘a bed for every child’ but SOFTLY stands for
‘Securing Our Future Through Loving Youth’. Every child
who received a mattress, a pillow, a baseball cap, a
T-shirt, a recorder, a Daily Word-had to receive with it
the love that comes from our hearts in a genuine way,”
says Donna. “The love of God that yearns to be connected
with other people so that it can be shared and
multiplied. These children of Peru will be on the global
playing field in the generations to come. When they are
better educated and able to take advantage of greater
opportunities, and they will look back on the
experiences they’ve had, and, no doubt, say they were
blessed that day the bus pulled in and by the people who
so warmly shared heart to heart, mind to mind, and
presence to presence.”
Rev. Donna Dearmore and Eloise Vincent contributed to
this article.
Photographs by Rev. Donna Dearmore, Carol, Roger and
Cole Tomhave, and Barbara O’Hearne.
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Oakton Church
Helps Peruvian Children
Unity Church delivers bedding, medicines to Peruvian
villages.
Donna Manz
October 31, 2007 |
Bearing 400 mattresses,
medicines, sunglasses and gifts, 40 members of Unity of
Fairfax in Oakton made their way into rural villages of
Peru on a humanitarian mission coordinated by Softly
International.
"For many years, we have taken trips coordinated by
Softly," said the Rev. Donna Dearmore of Unity of
Fairfax. "We made a trip to Honduras last March, and so
many people from our church signed up for the Peru trip,
we created two overlapping groups."
The first group of volunteers left Dulles Airport on
July 22, flying into San Salvador, then Lima, and on to
Puno. The second group arrived a week later, and all
participants returned home by August 11. From Puno, a
short bus ride took the volunteers to their hotel in
Lake Titicaca, where they spent their first night before
their initial distribution of supplies.
THE FIRST DELIVERY of beds and supplies was made
to the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, islands built
of reeds tied together and layered. "We were
greeted in native dress in a receiving line by all the
inhabitants," said Reston's Rick Hartley, volunteer and
local coordinator of the Unity trip. From Lake Titicaca,
the Unity volunteers traveled to Cusco, where they would
pick up and load mattresses for distribution in the
small village of Mayumbumba.
"In Cusco," said Hartley, "we went to a warehouse and
loaded the mattresses daisy-chain into a large open-air
truck. It took about 1-1/2 hours to drive to Mayumbumba
from Cusco. The families in Mayumbumba were so happy to
greet us. They met us and we took the mattresses to
their homes." Mayumbumba, well into the Andes
Mountains, is a small village, home to only 60 families.
There is no running water or heating in the houses
there.
"The houses in Mayumbumba were so small, in no house
could you fit more than three mattresses," said Hartley.
"Wood-framed beds would not fit, so we just brought
mattresses. That gets the kids off the cold, wet ground,
at least."
The mattress material is unique, repelling water and
mold, Hartley said. During the day, the mattresses can
be stacked against the wall. Made in Peru by local
workers, the mattresses cost about $19 each to produce,
and any donor can "buy" a mattress for distribution.
Between 150 and 160 of the 400 mattresses were delivered
to Lake Titicaca inhabitants, and the remaining to those
living in Mayumbumba.
Recorders that were to be discarded by the school system
were collected by Roger Tomhave and distributed by Steve
Graham of Reston. Unity brought baseball caps and
pillowcases, too. The pillowcases were decorated
festively by the children receiving them. "The
children were fun, engaging, their beautiful black eyes
sparkled," said Hartley.
SOFTLY (Securing Our Future Through Loving Youth)
was incorporated 11 years ago by Eloise Vincent, a Unity
church member who had witnessed the poor health
conditions of children living in the underdeveloped
villages of Costa Rica. Sleeping on the bare, damp
ground promoted parasitic and respiratory conditions,
and frostbite.
The Vincents responded with a plan to build wooden bunk
beds for children in Costa Rican villages, and to secure
mattresses and pillows for them, as well. Since
that time, Softly, in cooperation with the Red Cross and
Unity of Fairfax, has made dozens of trips to Costa
Rica, Honduras and Peru.
In cooperation with Crosslink International in Falls
Church, an international nonprofit supplier of medical
supplies, Unity and Red Cross helped to distribute over
$23,000 worth of vital medicines to villagers of Lake
Titicaca and Mayumbumba. Unity and Softly member,
Mary Ann Hankins, contacted the Lions Eyeglass Recycling
Center of Northern Virginia, which contributed over 300
pairs of sunglasses distributed to children in
Mayumbumba, at one of the world's highest altitudes.
"We're definitely going to do something like this
again," said Hartley. "The church is very much
interested in maintaining a relationship with Softly."
Hartley planned the trip with Vincent, who now lives in
North Carolina, but maintains her ties with Unity of
Fairfax. Vincent keeps the costs down so lots of people
can make the trips, if they want to, Hartley said.
VOLUNTEERS paid their own way and were encouraged
to fundraise among friends and family to purchase
mattresses for distribution. "Peruvians are very earthy
people," said Hartley, part of the first outbound group
of volunteers. "Their soil is their heritage, and they
have a reverence for nature."
Dearmore does not look at humanitarian outreach as a
moral obligation, but rather, a spiritual awareness of
who a person really wants to be. "Our obligation is to
our own spiritual growth; everything evolves from that
point. Eventually, you understand we are all in this
together."
Softly commits itself to return to the same communities
in Central America. It is, Dearmore said, a small group,
and it does not want to spread itself too thinly. A
non-profit that depends solely on donations for
financial support, Softly works with international
service agencies, such as the Red Cross, to fulfill its
mission in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Peru.
This summer, Dearmore expects the church's youth group
to do international service in Costa Rica in one of
SOFTLY's targeted communities. "These trips to
Central America are not just service-oriented," Dearmore
said. "It's more like a vacation with a humanitarian
component."
Many Unity participants hiked the Inca Trail, "awesome
and demanding in a lot of ways," Dearmore said. There
were shopping and dining opportunities, as well.
ANYONE can participate in SOFTLY's humanitarian trips,
either through Unity of Fairfax or directly through
Softly International. Children's books, written in
Spanish, and financial contributions, are needed, Unity
member Julius Hankins said.
"I came away with a lot of satisfaction," said Hartley.
"Everyone seemed to be so happy with so little in their
environment. It puts things in perspective; it's so
silly to get perturbed because you're stuck in traffic
for 15 minutes.
"This trip furthers my sense of connection with all
life. Fundamentally, we're all the same."
The
Connection Newspaper |
|
News Release –
Monday, September 19, 2005 Online Edition 38 |
Sleeping Potential - By
Don Peat
A small Honduran child sits on a pile of pillows
listening quietly to a blonde-haired lady speaking at
the podium beside the pillows, his name is Jose and for
the first nine years of his life he lived on the street,
the woman speaking is Aguas Ocana de Maduro, the first
lady of Honduras.
It’s a strange pairing for a press conference.
It’s been three years since Jose lived on the streets
but signs still show. Scars dominate most of his head,
leaving his hair patchy, and he favours one of his arms,
though surgery has fixed it long ago. Today, he sits, on
the pillows, in an ornate room of the Honduran
Presidential House smiling happily.
“Words cannot express how thankful I am to everyone
involved today, I think the faces of the children say it
best,” said Maduro before meeting Jose and giving him a
hug.
Jose represents one of the thousands of children in
Honduras that go to sleep every night on a bed donated
from Softly International. Before that, he was one of
the 50 per cent of the world’s children who went to
sleep every night on a dirt floor. He and the first lady
are at this press conference to recognize a gift,
arranged by Softly, from Serta International, the gift
of 400 beds for homeless shelters for children in the
Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.
“We hope this gift will help many children sleep well
tonight, and for many more nights to come,” said Robert
Malin, vice-president of Serta International, on hand
for the presentation.
The donation was borne when Softly International
officials visited a Tegucigalpa homeless shelter for
girls in January. They found that for all 36 children in
the shelter that night there were only three beds.
“I hope that this gift is not an end but a beginning,”
said Eloise Vincent, the founder and executive director
of Softly.
The organization began when Vincent visited Costa Rica
for a conference in 1997. She visited refugee camps of
Nicaraguans displaced by the Sandinista conflict. There
she saw the impact of substandard living conditions on
children.
“It was the first time I saw children with the bulging
bellies of intestinal parasites up close,” said Vincent
in an interview before Monday’s press conference. “My
first reaction was to try to take as many of the
children to a doctor as possible.”
What Vincent quickly learned was that no matter how many
children she took to doctors, if the children continued
to drink polluted water and sleep on dirt floors, the
parasites would come back in two to four months. Turning
the tide on the water situation in Central America
seemed like too Herculean a task for Vincent but
ensuring they had a bed to sleep on at night seemed
possible.
“I said we can build beds,” recalls Vincent.
And so, at an age when many people are beginning to
retire, Vincent, a North Carolinian child development
specialist, began to organize her first “bed-build” in
Costa Rica. The experience of placing the first bed in a
home confirmed Vincent’s feeling that she was filling a
tremendous need.
“The first bed we built was a bunk bed for three
brothers who had been sleeping on a dirt floor on
nothing but a thin piece of foam rubber,” said Vincent.
“When we rolled up the rubber we found hundreds of
thousands of tiny bugs crawling around underneath it.”
The fact that every night the brothers had to sleep on
all those bugs shocked Vincent and spurred her on in her
efforts.
“Children are our future, and they can’t be tomorrow’s
leaders, scientists, teachers, and parents, if they
aren’t healthy and educated. A bed can help make that
difference. It is a very small financial investment for
a very large payoff,” explained Vincent on why she felt
so strongly about providing beds for children.
As word of her efforts spread and more and more people,
mostly in the United States, began to get involved
Vincent and her husband Jack founded Softly
International as a non-profit corporation. “Softly is an
acronym for securing our future through loving youth,”
explained Bonnie Garin, field director of the bed-build
project in Roatan.
The Honduran island of Roatan, in the Caribbean Sea, is
a major hub of Softly’s activities. “Many people see
Roatan as an island paradise and don’t realize that the
poverty levels there are quite high,” explained Vincent.
“Because Roatan is an island, it is a microcosm of what
Softly can do.”
“We can clearly see our impact, we can train volunteers
there, and we can use it as a model for how Softly can
work in any community,” added Garin. Softly has been on
Roatan since 2000 but there work in Honduras goes back
further.
Softly’s role in Honduras began like the organization,
Vincent on her own in a country fulfilling a need for
beds after a crisis, the crisis was 1998’s Hurricane
Mitch.
“An American donor gave Softly $1,000 and asked that it
be used to help build beds for children in Honduras in
the wake of the hurricane,” said Vincent. With the
$1,000 as seed money she traveled to Honduras in
December 1998. Vincent came to the devastated nation
knowing no one but quickly made contact with aid
agencies and the American embassy, securing more funding
and volunteers.
“We began building beds almost immediately after Mitch,”
recalled Vincent. As the floodwaters subsided more and
more beds raised up. By then Vincent had moved beyond
building beds from scratch to having prefabricated bed
frames and hospital grade vinyl mattresses manufactured
in the local communities. Computers worked out how many
boards and bolts would be needed. Volunteers and the
families receiving the bed performed the onsite
assembly.
For $75, an entire bed could be purchased.
The bed frames keeps the children off the ground and
away from parasites. The vinyl keeps the damp climate
from ruining the mattress and the bed from becoming
unhygienic.
The work has made an impact.
Since 1997 Softly has placed over 4,000 beds in Honduras
and Costa Rica. They plan to continue to expand their
operations, moving into Peru next year. Beds have been
placed in homes, hospitals, schools, and boarding
schools for orphans, like the one Jose lives in.
Back in Presidential House the first lady is handing out
toys to the children that came to watch the press
conference. They wait patiently as the toys are handed
out one by one. A transport truck to one boy, a board
game to another, a Barbie doll for a little girl. Jose
waits patiently and is handed a brand new toy truck.
The other children go back to their seats to examine
their new toys as the adults talk among to one another.
Some pose for pictures and the first lady gets caught in
a media scrum. Jose waits patiently by her side but she
can’t see him for all the reporters in front of her.
Finally the crowd breaks and Jose moves forward catching
the first lady’s attention. She bends down to talk to
him.
“Thank-you,” he says just before she hugs him. |
|
News Release – Monday, August 26, 2005 |
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U.S. Serta Mattress Company & Seaboard Marine have
partnered with
SOFTLY International to celebrate "The Day of the Child" in
Honduras, Central America
SOFTLY International
is a humanitarian aid and children’s service
organization that has pioneered unique programs over the last ten
years rescuing endangered children and helping impoverished families
in Central America. We are now seeking funding to extend the
development and establishment of these programs over the next five
years.
The number of abandoned street children, ages 7 to 18, who are
typically malnourished, uneducated and often sexually exploited is
appalling. Sadly the aftermath of natural disasters in Central
America such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 have greatly raised the
numbers of these at-risk children. SOFTLY has joined with other
humanitarian organizations to establish and equip street shelters
and other facilities such as schools to address this situation. Our
major contribution has been our widely acclaimed “Bed for Every
Child” program furnishing beds to street shelters, orphanages, and
individual families living in severe poverty.
Of equal or even greater concern are the children we do not see.
These endangered children are the infants, toddlers and youth ages 0
to 6 left abandoned in dangerous, unsanitary shacks while parents or
older siblings work at a meager job or roam the streets themselves.
As child development specialists we contend that the worst damage is
being done at this early stage even before these children reach the
streets and cruise ship docks to beg and steal. SOFTLY believes the
family unit is fundamental and should be the essential cornerstone
for programs designed to address the issues of health, education and
psychological well-being for these endangered children.
SERTA has donated 400 mattresses and SEABOARD MARINE will provide
shipping services for the beds. SOFTLY INTERNATIONAL is coordinating
this humanitarian project. Officials and dignitaries of the
Honduran Governments will meet the ship at the port in La Ceiba on
September 10, 2005, “The Day of the Child” |
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Our mission is clear and easy to
understand--we provide beds to children who
have none. |
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